Lastinger Learning
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Awards
Our success is driven by the passion, dedication, and expertise of our incredible team, and we know that transformative learning experiences wouldn’t be possible without them. That’s why we celebrate their outstanding contributions through our Director’s Achievement Award, Great Gator Award and Flamazing Flamingo Pursuit of Excellence Award.
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Flamazing Flamingo Pursuit of Excellence Award
The Flamazing Flamingo Pursuit of Excellence Award, created to honor the legacy of the Flamingo at the Lastinger Center, recognizes associates who embody our core values: balance, community, emotional intelligence, positivity, self-expression, and renewal.
Erica Lopez, Human Resources Coordinator, is unmatched when it comes to caring for associates. She listens with empathy, provides thoughtful guidance, and is always willing to go above and beyond to ensure her team feels seen, heard, and valued. Her actions consistently reflect a deep care not just for her immediate team, but for the broader mission of the Center.
With an ever-changing environment, she takes the time to make sure everyone is well supported and comfortable in moving forward with new challenges. She deserves to be recognized for all of her hard work and efforts to make the center a better place to work.
Tiffany Taylor-Jones, Early Learning Content and Implementation Manager, is the embodiment of the Flamazing Flamingo spirit. She leads with authenticity, empathy, and vision—balancing strategic oversight with deep personal investment in her team.
She creates space for innovation while keeping the team grounded in purpose. She fosters work-life balance by encouraging self-care, supports cross-team collaboration to strengthen our One Lastinger identity, and ensures every team member is aligned with work that fuels their passions.
Erica Lopez
Tiffany Taylor-Jones
Fall 2025 Recipients
Director’s Achievement Award
The Director’s Achievement Award is given to associates or teams who contribute to achieving a data point toward the Lastinger Center’s Objectives & Key Results (OKRs).
Matt Richmond
Everyone needs a colleague like Matt Richmond. As the early childhood product manager, Matt exemplifies the Lastinger Center guiding principles of creative agility, efficient collaboration, and stakeholder-centered quality. Matt played an integral role in the redesign of the early childhood product line, including three new micro-credentials – one of which launches as a pilot in September 2026!
Thorny problems are no match for Matt’s creativity, patience, and perseverance. He persists until a workable solution is found, especially during the process of adding a new transcreated Haitian Creole course to the LMS. Matt solved many hurdles that were not anticipated as we pursued our inaugural Haitian Creole offering.
He prioritizes the specific needs of our early childhood users, ensuring that every product conceptualized, developed, launched, and refined offers the very best learning experience possible. It is likely that if you work at the Lastinger Center, you’ve crossed paths with Matt, and it’s likely that if you’ve crossed paths with Matt, you wish it happened even more often.
Matt Richmond
Helen Martin
August 2026 Recipients
Helen Martin
Helen Martin is an exceptional choice for the Director’s Achievement Award for the breadth, intentionality, and impact of her work advancing associate development over the past year. She has built critical infrastructure to help associates grow their capabilities and do their best work in service of the Center’s mission. She stood up the Lastinger Center Competencies, creating a shared foundation for understanding what excellence looks like across the organization, and translated those competencies into ongoing professional learning opportunities that enable associates to continually develop and apply them.
Her contributions extend beyond individual learning to strengthening the Center’s organizational capacity for change. Over the past year, she operationalized a Change Management Office, establishing a more intentional and sustainable approach to helping associates navigate and adopt the changes necessary to advance the Center’s work at the enterprise level. Together, these accomplishments represent a significant investment in the people and systems that make the Lastinger Center’s mission possible.
Great Gator Award
The Great Gator Award is passed along bi-annually from one associate to another in recognition of a colleague’s hard work.
Summer 2026
Julie Banks was selected by Christian Tang for her dedication, high-quality output, and professionalism.
Christian describes Julia as someone who exemplifies the dedication and professionalism that helps drive the Lastinger Center’s success. In every interaction with her, she has demonstrated a strong sense of responsibility, exceptional work ethic, and a commitment to achieving high-quality outcomes.
Her perseverance and willingness to go the extra mile to ensure important work is completed speaks volumes about her dedication to the mission of the center. She consistently sets a positive example through her reliability, professionalism, and commitment to supporting those around her.
Julie Banks
Christian Tang
Winter 2026
Christian Tang was selected by Michelle Parker-McGriff for his consistent support, responsiveness, and problem-solving.
“As a remote employee, IT issues rarely happen at convenient times, but Christian is always quick to respond. Whether I am locked out of my computer at 6:45 in the morning or dealing with password issues in the middle of the workday, he answers immediately and helps resolve the issue without delay,” said Michelle.
“One of our biggest challenges occurred when our Regional Partners suddenly lost access to critical Google Drive documents, including event content and supporting documentation they need to carry out their scope of work,” Michelle added. This happened while we were traveling to Tampa for LAX, which could have caused major disruption. Christian responded right away and worked directly with UF IT to put a temporary solution in place so our partners could continue their work without interruption.”
Past Recipients
- Christian Tang
- Michelle Parker-McGriff
- Shalah Newsome
- Matthew Griffin
- Anna Clark
- Robin Gregory
- Lori Gully
- Dayna Galganski
- Cathy Cavanaugh
- Tim Mosunich
- Lucianna Grasso
- Shaunté Duggins
- Tiffany Taylor-Jones
- Mary Kay Rodgers
- Ron Viafore
- Sharon Jones
- Bryn Humphrey
- Lisa Langley