About Us

Carl Coolidge serves as a Financial Planner and is a Founding & Managing Partner of Jacobs, Coolidge and Company, LLC. In addition to serving as a member of the Southeast Georgia Health System Foundation Board of Directors, he also serves as an advisory board member for the Georgia Southern University Parker School of Business. He is a past graduate and Co-Chair of Leadership Glynn and a former Chamber of Commerce Board member.   He is a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) and The Retirement Advisor University (TRAU). Mr. Coolidge enjoys watching college and professional sports and watching his youngest son on the soccer field. He and his wife, Kim, reside on St. Simons Island with their family.

Donna Bryan Godbey received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Georgia in 1980. Mrs. Godbey worked as a buyer for Burdines Department Store in Miami, Florida, and then returned home to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in 1986 to work as a buyer for St. Simons Drug Company. In 1999, Mrs. Godbey received her teacher certification in Middle Grades Education from Armstrong State University. She taught fourth and fifth grades at Golden Isles Elementary School. Mrs. Godbey serves as the Secretary of the Southeast Georgia Health System Foundation Board of Directors and serves on the Special Events committee. She and her husband, Patrick, reside on St. Simons Island and have one daughter, Elizabeth.

Brad Brown is the Brunswick Market President and Senior Vice President of Southeastern Bank. He has served the Glynn County community in banking since 1989. Brad served as the Mayor of the City of Brunswick from 1998 to 2005. He is a life-long resident of Glynn County and a graduate of Glynn Academy. He earned his BBA in Finance and Human Resource Management from Georgia Southern University. He has been married to Deborah Brown since 1990, and they have one son Mccullough Reese Brown. Brad serves on the board of directors for the International Seafarers Center, Skylark, and the Southeastern Bank Community Foundation. He is a member of the Brunswick Rotary Club, Coastal Georgia Gun Club, and the Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of Leadership Glynn and Leadership Georgia. He is also a Deacon of First Baptist Church in Brunswick.

Ben Galland, born and raised on St. Simons Island, grew up exploring and photographing the pristine and unparalleled beauty of the southeastern coast. Aside from his artistic photography, he owns Volo Project and offers commercial marketing photography specializing in lifestyle, tourism, hospitality, food, and conservation.  With a passion for storytelling, the outdoors, and conservation, Galland uses his camera to portray the things that matter most to him. He has five books published with the University of Georgia Press: Island Time: An Illustrated History of St. Simons Island, Georgia; Island Passages: An Illustrated History of Jekyll Island, Georgia; Sapelo: People and Place on a Georgia Sea Island; Cumberland Island: Footsteps in Time; and Following the Tabby Trail: Where Coastal History Is Captured in Unique Oyster-Shell Structures.  Galland is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys kayaking, fly fishing, camping, and exploring.

William H. Gross is the owner and President of W. H. Gross Construction Company, a commercial construction and development company in Georgia and Florida. He has a Bachelor of Finance degree from the University of North Florida. He is dedicated to the well-being and growth of Kingsland, Camden County, and the entire Coastal Georgia area.  His civic service includes: Finance Chairman of Jekyll Island Authority Board, a member of the CHSI board for the Southeast Georgia Health System, The Camden Partnership Committee, member of the Coastal Regional Comprehensive Planning Advisory Council, Deacon and active member of the First Baptist Church of Kingsland, Member of the Kairos Prison Ministry Outreach Program, Past President of the Camden County Chamber of Commerce, a member of Leadership Georgia, and benefactor of many local charities, churches, and other non-profit organizations.  Mr. Gross resides in Kingsland, Georgia with his wife Renee with 2 adult children and their families.

Lucia Gumaer served as a chair side assistant for an orthodontist and worked as a travel agent for two travel agencies. Mrs. Gumaer was a member of the Junior League and the Pittford Volunteer Ambulance in Pittsford, NY, as a licensed medic. She also served on the Salisbury School Board of Trustees in Salisbury, CT, the Land Council Board on Nantucket, MA and on the Sea Island Advisory Board. Lucia, her husband Mike, and their children first came to Sea Island in March 1982 and returned every year. In 1996 they built a cottage on 28th Street. In September of 2025 Lucia moved to Marsh’s Edge while continuing to spend the summer months with family and friends at their beach house on Nantucket Island.  An avid and long-time donor to Southeast Georgia Health System, Mrs. Gumaer and her late husband Mike created and financially support Gumaer Gardens at Nunnally House. The gardens serve as a place for hope, health and healing.

Jo Ann Joubert retired in 2018, having served for 6 years as Project Manager of Meaningful Use for the Southeast Georgia Health System through her consulting firm, Joubert Consulting LLC. Prior to serving in this capacity, Jo Ann retired in 2011 from a 35-year banking career with her most recent role as Executive Vice President and Retail Bank Executive. In addition to serving as a member of the Southeast Georgia Health System Foundation Board of Directors, she serves as a member of its Finance Committee. She was Past President and Campaign Chair of the United Way of Brunswick/Glynn County, as well as a former member of the Budget and Allocations Committee; Past President and Board Member of the Young Women’s Christian Association to include past member of the YWCA Core Committee for Tribute to Women Leaders annual recognition program and former Program Co-Chair. Jo Ann resides in Woodbine, GA with her husband, Burnea, and enjoys oil painting.

Michael Kaufman is the managing broker and owner of Situs Real Estate, a co-founder of Kaufman Development Group, and the founder of The Wick offices in Historic Downtown Brunswick. Michael has extensive experience in commercial and residential real estate investment, development, and property management, as well as luxury single-family residential sales. Michael enjoys giving back to his community in many ways, including by serving on the boards of the following organizations: Safe Harbor Center (President), City of Brunswick Downtown Development Authority (Treasurer), Glynn County Bluecoats (Treasurer), The Frederica Foundation (Treasurer), Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce (Board Member), Coastal Coalition for Children (former, Vice President), Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association (former, Vice President), and the College of Coastal Georgia Foundation (former, Board Member). Michael is the proud recipient of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Milton H. “Woody” Woodside Community Champion Award (2020-2021). Michael is a graduate of Columbia University, with a degree in Financial Economics. Most importantly, Michael is a devout family man who loves spending time with his family of four. In his free time, he enjoys traveling with his family and golfing.

Between 1969 and 1982, Don Myers served in fundraising roles at college preparatory boarding schools, including Culver Academies, Choate School, and Emma Willard School. He served 11 years as Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, followed by a tenure as Associate Vice President and Director of Development at The University of Georgia. In 1996, Don founded a fundraising consulting practice, from which he retired in 2014. Prior to moving to St. Simons Island in 2006, Don and his wife Susan received a Mayor’s Key to Athens. Don’s Coastal Georgia nonprofit board service includes the St. Simons Land Trust, the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, the College of Coastal Georgia Foundation, and Forward Brunswick, before joining the board of the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation in 2024. He chairs the Foundation’s loan committee and serves on its Under One Roof leadership team.  Myers has been recognized as Volunteer of the Year by United Way of Coastal Georgia and the Georgia Museum of Art. Don received the Athens Heritage Foundation's Phinizy Spalding Award and the St. Simons Land Trust Dorothy Gilbert Service Award.

I was actually born at what was then known as the Brunswick hospital. I’m a Jr., Thomas Michael Sasser Jr. And yet from the moment I came home my mother called me Beau. I spent most of my childhood on East Beach either in the marsh trying to catch mud minnows and fiddler crabs or hanging out on the rocks of Gould’s Inlet fishing for whatever would bite a hook. Mostly toadfish. I got very good at getting a toadfish off a hook. I attended public school and graduated from Glynn Academy in 1990. After graduating I spent a short stint at Emory before I transferred to Washington University in St. Louis and graduated in 94’ cum laude with a BA in English Lit. After graduation I was accepted to medical school at MCG in Augusta. During medical school I married my longtime girlfriend, who is now my lovely wife, Lisa. After medical school I spent 5 more years in Augusta in orthopedic residency. Somehow during those years we had three boys Dylan, Gray, and Jonathan. Following residency I took an extra year for a sports medicine fellowship where I worked with the NFL Kansas City Chiefs. By this time I had been away from the Golden Isles and knew it was time to come home. Since 2007 I have worked for Summit Sports Medicine. Though I focus mostly on knee and shoulder issues I have a special interest in sports medicine issues. I have been the Sports Medicine director for the hospital since 2010 and oversee the school athletics for Glynn, Camden, and McIntosh. I have plenty of hobbies I could list but like all of us who are busy very rarely do I get to pursue them. Instead I enjoy going to Athens to visit my two older boys, hanging out on the sideline with the athletes while my younger son plays soccer or kicks for the GA football team, and going to Cub Scout campouts with my youngest son Owen. It is an honor to be asked to sit on the Foundation Board. So many people have helped me get too where I am. I hope I can do the same thing for others.

Ralph Staffins III has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce since June 2019. Under his leadership, the Chamber earned prestigious 5-Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a distinction recognizing excellence in leadership, organizational strength, and impact among state and local chambers nationwide. Ralph is deeply engaged in economic and community development throughout Georgia. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Economic Developers Association, the Board of Governors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Coastal Pines Technical College. He has twice served as Chair of the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and has contributed his leadership to numerous other organizations, including local healthcare and college foundations. His professional excellence has been recognized statewide. In 2021, he was named one of Georgia’s Top 40 Under 40 by Georgia Trend Magazine. He received the Leadership Georgia Threadgill Award in 2024 and was honored as the 2025 Legacy Award recipient by the Georgia Chamber Executive Association. Ralph earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (2006) and Master of Public Administration (2008) from Georgia College & State University. He is also recognized as a Certified Economic Development Professional by the International Economic Development Council.A dedicated community leader, Ralph is passionate about strengthening the regions he serves. He and his wife, Rachael, are proud parents of four children: Evelyn, Katherine, Calvin, and Brannen.