Tallahassee State College board to be joined by new DeSantis appointment: Monesia Brown

Tallahassee State College’s District Board of Trustees is now whole again after Gov. Ron DeSantis recently named attorney and consultant Monesia Brown to the board.

The appointment was announced Friday, along with the reappointments of current TSC trustees Jonathan Kilpatrick — who currently serves as the board’s chair — and lobbyist Monte Stevens of The Southern Group 's Tallahassee office.

TSC’s board now has seven trustees, with Brown filling the vacant seat left by Eric Grant when he resigned in 2022.

“The college has such an outstanding reputation in our community as well as nationally,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “I am thrilled to join the District Board of Trustees and help continue that legacy of excellence.”

Brown — who earned her undergraduate degree in English from Illinois State University as a first-generation college student in 1994 and her law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1997 — is vice president of Government Relations for North Highland, which is an Atlanta-based global consulting firm.

The firm has contracts with the state of Florida; Brown is based in Tallahassee. Her career has focused on topics including economic development, state procurement and education.

Before her role at North Highland , she served as director of Public Affairs and Government Relations at Walmart for over 10 years. She also served as a member of the Florida State Board of Education from 2021-24.

In addition, she serves on multiple other boards, including the Board of Directors for the Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Boys Town North Florida, Leadership Florida and the Big Bend Minority Chamber of Commerce.

Brown also was one of Tallahassee’s 25 Women You Need to Know in 2022.

“We applaud the governor’s appointment of these community leaders to our District Board of Trustees,” TSC President Jim Murdaugh said in a release, referring to Brown’s appointment and the reappointments of Kilpatrick and Stevens.

“Each has an impressive track record of public service, is a tremendous advocate of education and values the mission of our college. I have no doubt they will be excellent champions for our students.”

The reappointment of Kilpatrick — founder and chief executive officer of Trulight Consulting — comes after he has been a member of the college’s board for about 10 years. He was originally appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

Stevens was initially appointed to the board by DeSantis in 2021. Trustees are appointed to four-year terms at a time, and appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

What's next

∎ Trustees are scheduled to meet Aug. 6 on campus, which will mark Brown’s first board meeting as the college's newest trustee.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_ .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee State College board to be joined by new DeSantis appointment: Monesia Brown