Meet Our Team
THE OULSON FAMILY FOUNDATION
Executive Director/board member
TJ Grimaldi
TJ Grimaldi is born and raised in Tampa Bay. His family goes back three generations, and his grandparents were among the founders of Ybor City. He started his education in Florida, attending Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa and later, getting his degree in Economics from the University of Florida.
TJ then left Florida to attend the New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts where he graduated on the dean’s list and earned his Juris Doctorate in 2005.
TJ is now a partner at McIntyre Thanasides Law Firm and continues to work closely with his clients as he pursues his passion: helping underserved people get the strong representation and fair justice they deserve.
TJ represented Nicole Oulson in civil matters related to Chad's death.
President/Chairman of the Board
Nicole Oulson
Nicole Oulson was born in 1980 and is a Florida native. She grew up in St. Augustine and graduated from Flagler College with a degree in Business Administration. In 2007 Nicole and Chad were married and relocated from North Florida to the Tampa Bay Area. They both fell in love with the west coast of FL and knew it was home and where they wanted to be.
At the time of Chads death, Nicole was pursuing her master’s degree at St. Leo University but that was placed on hold to focus on raising her young daughter Alexis as a single parent. Nicole has been employed by USAA since 2007 and currently manages a team of insurance agents.
Vice President
Chris Gaspard
Christopher Gaspard was born in 1972 in Miami, Florida. He is Nicole Oulson’s oldest brother. He grew up in St. Augustine, Florida and graduated from St. Augustine High school in 1990.
Chris completed technical college in Daytona, Florida, and graduated in the Marine Mechanic field. He then spent eighteen years in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands working in the hospitality business and marine industry.
He now lives in Cocoa, Florida with his wife Maryann and two children, Ariel, and Sebastian. He currently works as a manager in the jewelry business and enjoys his home, pool, boating and the outdoors. He hopes to help families through this foundation that are affected by gun violence and loss, after enduring this tragedy of our own.
Secretary
Saverio Mongelli
Saverio "Sav" Mongelli is an Executive Chef who Graduated form the Culinary Institute Of America in May of 1994. He has been employed by Air Culinaire Worldiwde for 18 years where he began as an Executive Chef & General Manager in New Jersey for the largest Private Aviation Airport in the world, Teterboro Airport. He then went on to become the VP of Global Sales traveling the world for 12 years to location such as London, France, Brazil, Dubai, Jordan, developing menu and pricing for the General Aviation clients and their owners. Since then he has been responsible for developing the companies third party network kitchen locations growing the catering network to over 800 vendors worldwide.
Sav Mongelli is married to Maureen Mongelli with 2 children Brianna Mongelli and Corrado Mongelli and live in the Tampa area for 12 years after moving from his hometown of Secaucus, New Jersey . Corrado Mongelli, 15 was diagnosed with Autism at 16 months old and he has been part of the Autism Awareness group supporting his son and family over the years. Sav is an avid sports fan who supports the New York teams and enjoys family time during all holidays with his beautiful family and close friends. He enjoys Boating, Golfing, Sports and being a loyal friend.
Treasurer
Melissa Gaspard
Melissa Gaspard is a secondary mathematics teacher at Gamble Rogers Middle School where she has been teaching for 12 years. She is passionate about encouraging her students to realize their greatest potential and develop their confidence both inside and outside of her classroom. Melissa also mentors new teachers, supporting them in the development of their craft. Most afternoons you can find her tutoring both current and former students at the library.
Melissa grew up in St. Augustine, FL where she currently resides with her husband of 15 years Jeremy, and their two children Ava (9) and Liam (7). Melissa and Jeremy, (Nicole's older brother) met and fell in love in high school, therefore Melissa watched Nicole grow from a shy, quiet teenager to the brave and confident woman she is today. When Nicole was 6 months pregnant with Alexis, Melissa found out she was also pregnant with Ava. Both families looked forward to raising their children together and planned for many trips to Disney World.
In her spare time, Melissa enjoys relaxing by the pool or at the beach with her family and friends. Melissa is also a foodie and loves trying new local fare or creating tasty dishes at home. More than anything, Melissa loves to travel to new destinations and aspires to go on many adventures to foreign lands.
As an advocate for the safety of children, it was an easy decision for Melissa to sit on the board of this foundation. With gun violence reaching concerning heights, this is another opportunity to step in and to support our youth.
Board Member
Rob Swain
Rob has 25 years of commercial banking and corporate finance experience. Prior to co-founding Essex, Rob worked in the financial institutions investment banking group at Wachovia Securities (legacy First Union Securities), focusing primarily on public and private debt and equity raises for the mezzanine finance sector. Earlier in his career, Rob worked as a commercial banker for AmSouth Bank.
Rob has a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University.
Rob is proud to support mental wellness in the community through his service on the foundation board of Gracepoint, a behavioral health organization in Tampa. He also supports Southeastern Guide Dogs.
In his spare time, Rob enjoys golf, boating, and spending time with his wife, Sarah, daughters Sophia and Charlotte and yellow labrador retriever, Kayla.
Board Member
Blair Licht
Blair Licht was born in New Jersey and grew up in Cleveland, OH. After graduating from Lafayette College she spent five years with Japanese Investment Bank, SMBC Capital Markets, and three years with ICG Commerce, Inc.
Following her career in New York City, she moved to Philadelphia, Providence and Phoenix, joining her husband as he moved to various teams across the NFL. For the past eight years Blair and Jason and their three children have settled into life in Tampa. Blair is committed to creating and improving opportunities for children and families in the community that has already given her family so much.
Board Member
Chip Orr
Chip was born in New Jersey, and moved to Seminole, Florida in 1972. Chip attended the University of Florida where he received a Master Degree in Education. He subsequently taught in South Florida for 10 years. During this time, he also coach high school and college basketball.
The family moved to Tampa, Florida in 2004 to open Tampa Bay Imaging, a diagnostic imaging company specializing in MRIs. He has been married to Terri since 1995 and they have two children, Danielle 24, and Alex 20.
Board Member
Abby Grimaldi
Abby Grimaldi was born and raised in Tampa, FL. As a graduate of Plant High School, she went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts from University of Florida and a Master in Arts from Columbia University. Abby currently works as a Real Estate agent at Smith & Associates Real Estate in Tampa Bay, and lives with her three children and husband, TJ, in South Tampa.
Board Member
Joseph M. Zavatsky, M.D
Joseph M. Zavatsky, M.D is an orthopaedic spine surgeon who has been in practice for 14 years. His practice specializes in minimally invasive and complex spinal deformity surgery. He is a devoted husband to Cristi McGann-Zavatsky, and father to his daughter Olivia and son Aidan.