board of directors
Trina Searcy
board president (2022-2024)
Trina Searcy is a graduate of Leon High School and a Broker Associate with Keller Williams Town and Country Realty. She has sold residential real estate and protected private property rights for more than 20 years. Searcy is the Past President of the Tallahassee Board of Realtors and Past District 8 Vice President of Florida Realtors. She has served on and chaired numerous committees for Tallahassee Board of Realtors and Florida Realtors, including Florida Realtor Leadership Academy.
Much of her business and personal interest focuses on Florida land, water quality, public policy issues, and marketing all that Tallahassee has to offer and why it is the best place to live! Searcy has also served on In the Carpenters Footsteps, Junior League of Tallahassee, and Killearn Lakes Home Owners Association (President for eight years). She has lived in Tallahassee for 36 years. Searcy is married to Fain, and they have two adult sons, Taylor and Tanner. Kaili is her granddaughter, who very much enjoys The Tallahassee Ballet. She likes to travel, work out, and spend time with friends and family for fun!
Officers
Carla Ureña Hutchinson—immediate past president
Carla Hutchinson began dance training in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida. She attended prestigious summer programs including The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Boston Ballet, and The Vaganova Festival where she studied with Asaf Mikhailovich Messerer. She spent a year at the North Carolina School of the Arts and by the age of 15 began a pre-professional career as an apprentice of the Bay Ballet Theater in Tampa, and Orlando’s Southern Ballet Theater under the direction of Christopher Fleming.
After high school, Hutchinson moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, a Master of Science degree, and a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Design. Her research focus was skill acquisition in professional ballet dancers. She was mentored by K. Anders Ericsson, and Natalie Sachs-Ericsson and they published a peer-reviewed article together. Hutchinson has worked in both managerial and technical positions in large and small organizations, with clients including the US Navy, the US Army, and the EPA. Hutchinson’s attributes her academic and professional success to early involvement in ballet and exposure to various art forms.
As a wife and mother of two, she is delighted to combine her passion for learning and love of the arts to ignite creativity and fuel success for students in her capacity as Executive Director of Foundation4ARTS, a local 501(c)(3) organization that provides arts enriched after school and seasonal camp programs. Hutchinson is excited to serve on the Board of Directions for Family Network on Disabilities and now The Tallahassee Ballet. She enjoys spending time with co-workers, family vacations, and spending time on their 20-acre homestead with their four horses, and five dogs in Quincy.
Caitlin Waters—treasurer
Caitlin Waters is a Former TTB Dancer and Tallahassee native with a wide background in the arts and music. Her love of dance was born and raised in Tallahassee where she still works for the State of Florida, Department of Revenue. She adopted her seat on the TTB Board from her father, Jonathan Waters, a fellow dance enthusiast and involved TTB supporter. Her relationship with the company dates back to her years dancing under Kathryn Cashin and Joyce (Straub) Fausone. In her spare time she enjoys playing the flute, birdwatching, and exploring Florida's many State parks and waterways.
Gayle Grimes Sklar—secretary
Biography to come.
Directors
Shelby Kennerly Augustyniak
Shelby Kennerly Augustyniak is a Tallahassee native, an alumna of The Tallahassee Ballet, and a Florida State University graduate. She greatly values the discipline and lifelong friendships made through her ballet experience. In addition to her full-time employment at the Department of Children and Families as Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Child and Family Well-Being, Shelby is Past-President of The Tallahassee Ballet, Past-President of Big Bend Habitat for Humanity, and an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. She and her husband Dan have two daughters, Ella B. and Audrey. In her free time, Shelby enjoys running, baking, reading, and FSU football.
Karen Joiner Barineau
Karen Joiner Barineau has lived in Tallahassee for 35 years. She received her degree from Troy University and retired as a case manager. Barineau has served on the American Cancer Society board, and was involved with the Tallahassee Junior League, The Tallahassee Women’s Club, Springtime Tallahassee, and the Leon County Schools mentor program. She is a member of Thomasville Baptist Church. Barineau previously served on the ballet board for seven years. She is excited to return, and as a dancer of 12 years, she has a great appreciation for ballet. She plays golf with the Lady Links and other various women groups in her free time. She has a son, Thomas, and is married to Roy Barineau, Ph.D.
Betsy Caire Couch
Betsy Caire Couch, APR, serves as Executive Director for KCCI, the Knight Creative Communities Institute. In addition to her enthusiasm for the Arts, she is an avid proponent for improving the lives of children and families and enhancing the Tallahassee community. She received 850 Magazine’s Pinnacle Award in 2014, and she was featured on the cover of Tallahassee Woman Magazine as a “Generation X Community Leader” in August 2013. Couch also serves on the boards of the Foundation for Leon County Schools, Children’s Home Society, and the Gilchrist Elementary PTO. She was also a member of the Cultural Plan Review Committee. Couch was the 2010-2011 President of the Junior League of Tallahassee, and she served as President of the Florida Public Relation’s Association-Capital Chapter. She is also a former President of the Advent Parish Day School PTO. An avid Florida Gator, she is married to her college sweetheart, dentist Cory Couch, and they are the proud parents of a young dancer, Caroline, and sweet little gentleman, Tucker.
Carla DeLoach
Carla DeLoach has lived in Tallahassee for more than three decades. Growing up in Virginia, she moved to Tallahassee upon earning her Bachelors of Science in Marketing from James Madison University. Having been a “Dancer Mom” while her two oldest daughters were in The Tallahassee Ballet Company, she’s been involved with TTB for many years. Carla’s son was even one of the little boys in the Nutcracker Party Scene! Carla has been deeply involved in her community serving on several boards including Tallahassee Music Week, Friends of Maclay Gardens, Leon High School Foundation, Junior League of Tallahassee, Children’s Home Society, The United Way, and Opening Nights. She has also been involved with other organizations such as the Leon County Master Gardener Program and the Tallahassee Garden Club, to name a few. Carla and her husband of 35 years, Greg, have raised four amazing children and, with their three dogs, they are proud to call Tallahassee home.
Stephanie Jansen
Biography to come.
Agatha Muse-Lamb
Biography to come.
Andrea Lewis
Andrea Lewis has lived in the Tallahassee, Florida, for 27 years. She received her
degree in nursing from Jacksonville University and retired after being self employed as a health-care consultant working with numerous insurance companies. She is an active member of St. Peter’s Cathedral. Lewis has always had a passion for ballet and dance starting lessons at age four. Her grandfather owned a dance studio in New Hampshire, and she contributes her interests in part to his appreciation of the dance art form. Growing up, Lewis was involved with choir, band, and dance corps. She plays golf and enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling. She is married to Paul Lewis Jr, has two grown children, Chris and Courtney, and has six grandchildren.
Felicia Leborgne Nowels
Felicia Leborgne Nowels is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in International Law and is a Partner at Akerman, LLP, where she practices international trade law and federal regulatory administrative law. Nowels grew up in Miami and danced under the tutelage of Thomas Armour, Robert Pike, and Ruth Weisen. She also danced with the Miami Ballet. Nowels graduated from Davidson College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and a concentration in International Relations. She moved to Tallahassee in 2000, where she graduated from Florida State University Law School. She and her husband, Matthew Nowels, have three children, one of whom is a student at The Tallahassee Ballet. Having danced most of her life and interned as a student at the Louvre in Paris, Nowels is passionate about ballet, the arts, and her local community.
Sarah Villella
Native to Tallahassee, Villella has always had a love for the arts. Dancing from the age of three, Villella found a passion for ballet and went on to dance with The Tallahassee Ballet from elementary through high school. After high school, she continued to fulfill her passion by teaching dance to children. She is thrilled to have been asked back to the Ballet as a Board Member so she can continue to give back with her talents in marketing, relationship development, and innovative ideas. With a entrepreneurship gene, Villella started a small online retail store in high school that would set the stage for her to learn, grow professionally and allow her the opportunity to develop relationships with many people from varying sized businesses and non-profits. During college she began working at Pink Narcissus before becoming the leader of Narcissus, a multi-million dollar local business, as Store Manager and Buyer. One of her favorite aspects of her job is connecting with customers and helping them feel their best for life events, casual or formal. Villella is a graduate of Flagler College and has a rescue dog named Zina.
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