Our Team

Marc Stanakis - President

Marc Stanakis serves as the President and Co-Founder of The Jobs Partnership of Florida. As the strategic leader of this thriving non-profit organization, his mission is to transform the lives of the chronically underemployed through the power of partnerships. Utilizing his business development and fundraising abilities, Marc co-founded The Jobs Partnership initiative in 1999, through which struggling people could find hope, purpose and employment opportunities, through the help of others. Marc’s exceptional ability to build cross-cultural relationships has brought a diversity of people and organizations together to serve struggling working families. The Jobs Partnership has formed more than 250+ strategic partnerships with churches, businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, government and social service agencies in Central Florida, with thousands of Graduates now active in the workforce.

Lorrenza Vandiver, MBA - LifeWorks Program Manager

Michele Ryder - Office Manager

Jessy Correa - Participant Experience Coordinator

Melissa Morris - Director of Operations

Elliott Drake - Director of Partnerships

Jonathan Harrison - LMS Administrator

Dina Hernandez - Manager of Philanthropy

Amanda Rocha - Assistant Program Manager

Brenda Teixeira - Program Coordinator

The JP team is growing -

The JP family gained two new members in September. Tony Pitts has joined us as partnership manager, and Brenda Teixeira has accepted the role of philanthropy associate.

Tony brings decades of experience in relationship development, higher education and coaching to this new role at JP. He will focus on developing current and new church partnerships.

“Tony brings a perspective on discipleship and the church’s role in missions that aligns with what we do at JP,” Director of Partnerships Elliott Drake says. “He understands how churches have the opportunity to partner with us to both disciple their members and make a difference in our community.”

Brenda worked for more than 20 years in Christian publishing – and is a LifeWorks graduate. The publishing company she worked for sold its Spanish-language department, and Brenda’s job was eliminated. “I was really lost,” Brenda says. She learned about JP and LifeWorks at a local job fair and graduated in fall 2021. She received three full-time job offers on the same day last summer – and chose JP’s invitation because she wanted to give back. After two months as JP’s program coordinator, Brenda was invited to join the philanthropy team.

“I thank God for bringing Brenda to JP,” Manager of Philanthropy Dina Hernandez says. “She has the skills – and the personal experience — to share our story.”