FCCC Staff

Donna Guzzo, CNE, CDE, CNC
President & CEO

Donna Guzzo an extremely well-connected leader in the Jacksonville, FL and surrounding areas has recruited substantial support for the Cultural Center. She is an accomplished businesswoman and has demonstrated her passion for the Cultural Center's mission as the leading provider of arts programs for St. Johns County.

Guzzo was recently recognized at the Association of Fundraising Professionals annual luncheon in Jacksonville and was the recipient of the 2021 Dr. Gail Pflaster ROWITA (Recognizing Outstanding Women in the Arts) Award. She has experience sitting on national boards for the American Cancer Society, United Way, the Arts and World Languages, to name a few.  

Following a career in banking, Guzzo held leadership positions in nonprofits for more than 30 years. No stranger to St. Johns County School District she founded the nonprofit Language Exploration Enrichment (LEE) established in 2003, a language-instruction program. Guzzo has been honored as a Florida Foreign Language Most Valued Educator five times. In 2018 Guzzo was inducted in the Educator’s Hall of Fame for the State of Florida. 

You may have read a recent article about her as the Top Ten who make a difference in St. Johns County. She is a graduate of The Jim Moran Institute Global for Entrepreneurship and Leadership St. Johns 2018 Class.
In recent years she has been a featured speaker at international conferences as Ambassador of the United Nations #Teach SDGs, Teaching and promoting the sustainable development goals at Harvard University, Providence University in Taiwan, The United Nations in NYC, and Geneva, and at The Vatican. 

Donna is married to Glenn Guzzo, an author, and the former editor in chief of The Denver Post. Their daughter, Scheherazade, is a former actress, was valedictorian for her entertainment business degree, and took Barry University School of Law for the first time to nationals. She now works for the State Attorney’s Office as a Prosecutor in West Palm Beach, FL.

Charlotte S. Chastain
Assistant to the President and CEO

For over ten years, Charlotte, a native of Thomasville, Georgia, worked for a major labor law firm in Atlanta as the administrative legal assistant to the founding partner and managing partner. She also served as the office manager and legal assistant to the managing partner of a small law firm. Upon moving to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida to be close to her family, she worked for the head of the legal department and CEO at AccuStaff/mödis, before later joining the PGA TOUR Headquarters’ legal department.

In 2008 Charlotte switched gears and became a US Merchant Marine. She joined the Seafarers International Union (SIU) and earned all of her Coast Guard endorsements, became a Chief Cook, and sailed the world on MSC ships, cooking for a crew of 32 or more. She even notified the bridge of pirates approaching the ship when sailing through the Arabian Sea.

Charlotte is also a life-long artist. She began her artistic endeavors as a child, studying privately under the founder of the Thomasville Cultural Center.

Her passion for painting became apparent during her college days when studying watercolor painting at the University of Georgia, and she continued to paint while raising her two children. In 2004, Charlotte decided to return to college, attending a summer history/painting program in Italy through the Rhode Island School of Design. Subsequently, she enrolled at the University of North Florida, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, magna cum, in painting and drawing, and achieved the Gray Scholar Award for two consecutive years.

Charlotte’s award-winning artwork has been recognized in exhibitions throughout the United States. Her first one-woman show was in Thomasville, Georgia in the early 1980’s and she continues to show her work throughout the southeast. Her paintings hang in many corporations and private homes.

A long-time active member of First Coast Cultural Center (FCCC), Charlotte was recognized as the center’s Volunteer of the Year in 2022. She is thrilled to have transitioned from a volunteer role at FCCC to the Assistant to the President and CEO in 2023. Charlotte is thrilled to continue serving the arts community in her new role.

Candice Sirak, MM, MT-BC
Senior Music Therapist and Sound Connections(r) Music Therapy Manager

Candice Sirak graduated from FSU with both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Music Therapy. Through Sound Connections(r), she can share her passion for music and helping others by working with students in St Johns County. Candice has been a Music Therapist with Sound Connections(r) since 2015 and became manager of the program in 2022. She has always loved singing and making music.

Aristotle said, "Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation."

Candice first became interested in Music Therapy in high school. Once she learned what a Music Therapist was, she didn't want to be anything else; she knew it was her vocation. She has a passion for helping others at every stage of life.

Her master's thesis was in music during pregnancy and its effect on mothers and newborns . Her internship was with Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee, using music during end of life care. And now she is working with young emerging minds, using music to help them grow and develop, as well as supporting their teachers who do the same. She believes that everyone can benefit from music in their lives, whether in a therapeutic relationship or not.

When Candice is not making music, she likes to make other things such as crochet and craft projects. An Orlando native, she lives in St Augustine, FL since 2014 with her husband and three sons. Every day she is grateful that she gets to go to her dream job!

Callie Johnson, CDE
Programs Manager

Callie Johnson was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL and has always had a passion for her community. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Jacksonville University in communication and Master of Science degree from the University of North Florida in communication management, specializing in nonprofit management. Aside from her passion for the art of communication, Callie is a certified wedding and event planner, a self-taught baker, and is involved in her church as a member of the worship team.

She has also been a volunteer in many different organizations over the course of her life, including Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Florida Forest Service, St. Johns County School District, and Women for Glory a local chapter of Grace for Glory Global Ministries. During her childhood, volunteering, music, and art were a crucial part of her development and will always be a passion of hers.

Callie has been a member of the First Coast Cultural Center team for two years and is very passionate about her role as the Community Connections Manager. Since she was hired, she has gained experience, and is a Certified Development Executive, and has begun her development training. Callie is excited to see where her future with FCCC takes her!

Kimberly Sheridan
Events & Programs Coordinator

Kimberly Weaver has been with the First Coast Cultural Center for one year as part-time Assistant to the President and Executive Director, Donna Guzzo. She works with General Membership, the FCCC Artist Market, exhibits, and administrative related needs. When Kimberly is not at the studio or is working remotely, she can be found in Duval and St. Johns County schools as a Kick StART instructor for FCCC. Kimberly has long had a passion for art and enjoys teaching art to children in our community.

Before her time with the Cultural Center, Kimberly graduated from the University of North Florida in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Minor in Creative Writing, after which she received teaching experience working at a preschool in Orange Park, FL. It is her enjoyment of teaching that first led her to the First Coast Cultural Center where teaching and art could be combined with Kick StART. Kimberly enjoys spending free time with her husband (newly married as of October 29th, 2022) and their families, playing board games with friends, caring for her pet quaker parrot, and dabbling in art and music.