Strategic Talent Group

As director of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, Audrey Gainey oversees UF’s Strategic Talent Group, which aims to identify, attract and engage potential and current faculty and staff and serves as a consulting group to departments throughout the university.

Gainey brings more than 24 years of experience in recruitment, selection and hiring to the UFHR team, having most recently served as talent acquisition manager for the City of Gainesville.  There, she led a team of eight in the development of recruitment and sourcing strategies, analyzed hiring needs and provided employee hiring forecasts and championing various diversity initiatives.

Gainey has also led a number of system implementations, including the City of Gainesville’s automated onboarding process and background integration.  She served as the HR Change Champion for the City’s ERP Implementation efforts, a member of the City’s Equal Opportunity Diversity Committee and a member of the City’s Core Equity Leadership Team. During her tenure with the City, she was selected as an Emerging Leader, recognized for her commitment to diversity and awarded for her exceptional team efforts to staff a major City project.

Gainey holds a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama A&M University. She is also a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SPHR-SCP).

As Associate Director for Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, John supports in the management of talent acquisition programs, including pre-employment screening, as well as the immigration program for sponsoring international employees and employment abroad. John has been with UF Human Resources for over 15 years. John holds a master’s degree in Human Resources from Webster University and a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Community from the University of Central Florida. 

Mackenzie Burkett leads the Strategic Talent Group(STG) at the University of Florida (UF). STG serves as the University’s Internal Executive Search Team and is dedicated to identifying, attracting, and engaging top-tier talent for UF. As an internal consulting group, they leverage their passion for UF and deep understanding of the university’s culture and values to tailor recruitment strategies for each engagement.

Before her role in HR and Talent Acquisition, Mackenzie spent a decade in the performing arts and event industries across three states, holding various positions including stagehand, Disney performer, and manager.

https://warrington.ufl.edu/directory/profiles/13645/

Dr. Garland comes to this role with deep knowledge and understanding of the School of Theatre and Dance. She will celebrate 20 years at the College of the Arts this summer. Dr. Garland is an Associate Professor of Theatre in the school’s BA, BFA, and MFA programs. Her primary teaching areas are Movement, Stage Combat, and Period Styles Movement. Tiza holds her Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Texas Tech University, her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Theatre Pedagogy with a focus in Movement and Fight Direction, and her BA in Theatre, Spanish and Asian Studies from Western Michigan University.

https://arts.ufl.edu/in-the-loop/news/uf-school-of-theatre-and-dance-appoints-dr-tiza-garland-as-director/

Jeff Holeman leads marketing at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, where his focus is strengthening the brand among the college’s 8,000 students and 90,000 alumni, while also building an enrollment pipeline for the college’s portfolio of graduate and undergraduate programs. Jeff has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and branding. He previously led marketing, communications or enrollment at the UC Berkeley, Arizona State University, Keene State College, and the University of Rochester, as well as several healthcare systems.

William MacDonald has been named as the new Senior Director of Transportation and Parking at the University of Florida. His journey in leading transportation and parking operations reached a pinnacle at Denver International Airport, where he managed the world’s largest airport parking operation. He was responsible for over 53,000 parking spaces there, generating more than $230 million in annual revenue.

https://businessaffairs.ufl.edu/news/business-affairs-welcomes-new-senior-director-of-taps

Nigel is a dynamic and accomplished higher education professional with a passion for academic advising and student success. With over a decade of experience, He believes that effective advising is pivotal to the success of undergraduate students and that supporting advisors is essential to ensuring that students receive the guidance they need to realize their academic and career aspirations. Nigel eagerly anticipates the opportunity to collaborate with the diverse UF community. He is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment and he is eager to work alongside advisors, staff, and faculty to ensure that students receive the highest quality of academic guidance.

Dr. Taylor Stokes serves as the Director of the Beyond 120 Program for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She has worked in colleges and universities, domestic and international, in areas of leadership development, community engagement, service-learning, career development, entrepreneurial and social impact partnerships. These partnerships have been between businesses and the university, student housing, student success, and student-athlete advising. Most recently Taylor served as the Interim Director of the David & Wanda Brown Center for Leadership & Service at UF.

https://news.clas.ufl.edu/introducing-new-director-for-beyond120/