Clayton Levins
Executive Director
Clayton Levins is the Executive Director of Smart North Florida. He brings specialties in tri-sector experience having worked in the government, non-profit and private sectors. He also has an MBA in finance and accounting and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Jacksonville University.
Clayton began his career in community development and government relations roles at Jacksonville University and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. While at these positions, he helped establish a Community Redevelopment Area for Jacksonville’s Arlington neighborhood, worked with the JTA to obtain a 2018 BUILD Grant from the USDOT, and became ingrained in the region’s growing “Smart Cities” programs. After leaving the public sector, Clayton worked in strategic innovation for the Haskell Company, a global general contractor. While at Haskell, he worked to enhance the company’s innovation culture by scaling internal innovations and piloting technologies from startups in the architecture, engineering, and construction technology ecosystem.
Clayton’s passion is improving our region’s quality of life by leveraging technology, innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship and as the executive director of Smart North Florida he intends to do just that.
Board of Directors
Jeff Sheffield
Chairman
Jeff Sheffield, a 29-year transportation professional, is the executive director of the independent four-county North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (North Florida TPO) handling transportation planning and prioritizing in the region. Jeff has been with the North Florida TPO since 1992 in varied positions of increasing responsibility and became executive director in 2009. He has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in urban planning from Florida State University.
In his role, Jeff leads regional coordination and policy development and oversees project management for programs and studies. Working with partner agencies, he has championed results-oriented investments in smart technologies, data and partnerships; intelligent transportation systems (ITS); traffic incident management; safety, bicycle and pedestrian planning; freight and logistics planning; clean fuels infrastructure and vehicles; and multi-modal mobility improvements. In addition, Jeff is a frequent speaker on transportation-related topics. With his leadership, the North Florida TPO has developed and launched two non-profit organizations - North Florida Clean Fuels Coalition and Smart North Florida.
Steve Selders
Vice Chairman
Steve Selders is the Director of IT Strategy and Solution Development for JEA, a role he has had since 2018. In this role, Steve is accountable for multiple innovative teams and processes to manage investments in People, Processes, and Technologies across JEA. Steve leads JEA’s Technology Services ‘Mode 2’ organization comprising teams including Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Information Management & Business Intelligence, and Technology Solution Development, along with leading efforts across JEA’s Innovation Lab and Mobile teams.
Prior to his current role, Steve held several technology development roles since joining JEA in 2008 as a Technology Project Manager. He has led successful enterprise teams across various domains, including the ERP space, JEA’s Dark Fiber program, and technology strategic planning.
At JEA, he has also served as Director of Technology PMO, Director of Telecom Strategy and Sales, and Interim Chief Information Officer.
Karen Bowling
Secretary
Karen Bowling is a highly accomplished senior executive with more than 40 years of success in both public and private companies within the healthcare, government and education fields. She currently serves as Vice President of Jobs for the University of North Florida and has proven her ability to build startups from the ground up or lead large organizations while achieving corporate objectives.
Karen leverages her extensive marketing and branding experience to generate and optimize profitability while improving operational processes. Her areas of expertise include leadership, organizational development; process improvement; business development; B2C systems; and communications and marketing. She has a bachelor’s degree in literature, communications and journalism from the University of North Florida.
Reuben Franklin, Jr.
Reuben Franklin, Jr. is the Director of Public Works for the City of St. Augustine and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He is a Professional Engineer with a total of 14 years’ experience including four years of consultant engineering work and 11 years with the City. Reuben’s areas of practice include stormwater, water resources, transportation & mobility fields including public works improvements and programs that benefit local governments in the State of Florida. He has overseen the design and construction of shared curbless streets in St. Augustine’s historic district. He also managed the City’s grant funded Florida Community Resiliency Initiative Pilot Project resulting in the first Vulnerability Study and Adaptation Plan for the City. Recently, he worked with the St. Augustine’s Planning and Building Department to create and adopt a long-range mobility plan for the City that incorporates smart city, sustainability and resiliency policies. A key component of the City’s Mobility Plan is to provide real-time parking information to residents and visitors. Reuben is a member of the North Florida TPO’s Technical Advisory Committee and engaged in the Smart North Florida initiatives.
Kristopher Smith
Originally from Jacksonville, Kristopher Smith joined the LISC Jacksonville staff in April 2020. In his role as Community Development Program Officer, Smith oversees LISC’s Jacksonville Urban Core Initiative and its efforts to advance economic growth in urban core neighborhoods. Kristopher brings nearly 20 years of experience in community engagement and development, grant making and capacity building to the organization. Prior to joining LISC he served as Director of Community Services for the Community Action Council in Lexington managing the organization’s community centers and Head Start initiatives focused on reducing poverty and financial oversight for the agency’s $42 million annual operating budget. Kristopher has a MPA from Nova Southeastern University and BA from Bethune – Cookman University.
Patrick Krechowski
Patrick W. Krechowski has over 20 years of experience in real estate, land use, environmental, governmental, administrative litigation, appeals and title insurance law. Patrick is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in City, County and Local Government Law. His practice focuses on all aspects of zoning and land use law, real estate due diligence, environmental permitting (including sovereign submerged lands and riparian rights), environmental remediation, water use permitting and planning, beach nourishment projects, coastal construction and due diligence before local governments and federal/state agencies, including associated administrative and civil litigation.