Mercy Quiroga, President

Dr. Mercy Quiroga believes that serving the community is her life-long passion. Now retired and living in Gainesville, Mercy was also very active with the Mental Health Clubhouse in Miami. She has seen firsthand how clubhouse programs like the GOC’s can make peoples’ lives better. Before retiring and moving to Gainesville, Mercy was a Campus President at Miami Dade College and Broward College along with Provost of New World School of the Arts. 

Bill Stephenson, Vice President

Bill Stephenson chairs the Department of Humanities and Foreign Languages at Santa Fe College (“SF”), where he has worked for the past 25 years and also served as a Professor of English and English Department Chair. Bill also taught courses in Humanities, composition, and British and World Literature at Santa Fe. Bill earned his PhD in Higher Education Administration at the University of Florida in 2022. Bill’s work in the community includes nearly 20 years mentoring middle school and high school students through Florida’s
Take Stock in Children scholarship program. He and his colleagues at SF are currently developing Free to Learn, a program to support Santa Fe students with a past history of incarceration.

Jennifer Elder, Secretary

Jennifer has a PhD in Nursing and Developmental Psychology and worked as an RN in psychiatry. Jennifer is a pioneer who started the Arbor House and Mom’s Place with her husband, Steve Elder, to help mothers needing assistance. Jennifer’s interest in the Gainesville Opportunity Center stems from her belief that its mission and values are consistent with her own. Jennifer has been particularly impressed with the success of one member with whom she and her husband helped for many years.

Joanne Edde, Treasurer

Joanne was originally from on Long Island, NY. She has two children, 6 grandchildren, two hens and one mean rooster. Joanne enjoys gardening and canning, blues music festivals, and traveling. Joanne started her career in banking as a teller and today works as a community banker with over 20 years experience. Joanne loves to help people!

Michael Conlon

Dr. Michael Conlon is an experienced administrator, biostatistician, informatician, IT expert, and emeritus faculty member of the University of Florida. Dr. Conlon joined the GOC board in 2018.

Manny Quiroga

Manny is a graduate of the University of Florida and is happy to be back in Gainesville for his retirement. Manny taught autistic high school children in the Miami-Dade public school system. Manny has been very active as a board member of the GOC and he has played a major role in planning several important annual fundraising events to support the GOC.

Jacob Rush

A Gainesville native, Jacob Rush graduated from the University of Florida and joined the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office as a cadet in the Santa Fe College Institute of Public Safety upon appointment by Sheriff Steve Oelrich. Working in the Court Security Bureau and the Uniform Patrol Division, Deputy Rush served on special teams including the Honor Guard and SWAT teams before resigning from service to attend Stetson law school in 2005. His law thesis paper was on International Money Laundering and included study abroad in The Hague, Netherlands. While in private law practice, Attorney Rush returned to ACSO as a Reserve Deputy where he served in aviation and taught new deputies legal testimony. Rush worked for over a decade as a litigator in state and federal civil and criminal courts in the region, a practice including police liability and civil rights. In addition to teaching law enforcement training, he served as the attorney for the Alachua Police Department. Statewide, Jacob Rush served on the Florida Bar YLD Board of Governors, on the Board of Directors of the 8 Judicial Circuit Bar Association, as a Member of the Adkins Inn of Court, and as Chair of the Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee. He has served as faculty at the CSI Academy of Florida, instructor for Florida CFO Patronis’s statewide investigators, and as a volunteer judge at the UF Levin College of Law. His professional memberships include the Federal Northern and Middle District Courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member and past-President of the Rotary Club of Greater Gainesville. Sheriff Watson appointed Rush to be the ACSO General Counsel in January of 2021. Since then, Rush has been a volunteer with Take Stock in Children and legal counsel for local business, Florida legislation, and the Lake City Police Department.

Reid Schreiber

Reid joined the board in 2018 as a Member Representative of GOC. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Florida. He loves the sense of community at the GOC. Reid’s life has transformed through his participation in the GOC as an active Member for the past 10 years. Serving on the board provides opportunities for Reid to increase advocacy for individuals living with mental illness.