Florida Department of Children & Families
About the Department of Children and Families
Office of the Secretary
Executive Leadership Team
David E. Wilkins,
Secretary
Secretary David Wilkins brings decades of experience in business and charitable leadership to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
His vision for the Department is focused on empowering front-line staff, engaging communities, improving programs and helping families become accountable and self-sufficient. Early in 2011, Secretary Wilkins launched several business improvements focused on operational efficiency and improved customer service in child welfare, benefit eligibility determination and in the substance abuse and mental health service delivery area.
Secretary Wilkins has emphasized the necessity of community engagement in helping children, families and vulnerable adults across the state. He has reorganized his regional operations to focus on community empowerment.
With the leadership of Gov. Rick Scott, he kicked off a new initiative called "Partners for Promise," which connects businesses to people in the community who need a helping hand. He launched a faith-based agenda for the Department, and he created "Camps for Champions," a statewide program that gives thousands of foster children the chance to go to a summer camp and connect with nationally recognized celebrities.
Secretary Wilkins is the chair of the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet, serves on the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Strike Force and sits on the Attorney General’s Commission on Drug Abuse and Prevention.
In 2010, Secretary Wilkins retired from Accenture after a 29-year career with the global management, consulting, technology and business operations company. Promoted to partner at the age of 32, Wilkins served in numerous management roles in a business that had more than 200,000 employees and a market cap of more than $34 billion. His work included overseeing local offices and directing business in more than 25 countries. He led the government strategic planning and corporate acquisitions and operated several business units. For the last five years of his tenure, he was in charge of the global sales organization of the Accenture Health and Public Service business, which was one of the five major business units in the company.
Secretary Wilkins was an active volunteer for the United Way and at the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes, serving on the board of directors for both organizations. He also helped launch "Orphan’s Heart," a successful international child care services program. He and his wife Tanya have been recognized for their philanthropy and civic leadership numerous times and are active in their local church.
A native of Kentucky, Secretary Wilkins graduated Magna Cum Laude from Lambuth University in 1982 with a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems. He was president of the student body and his fraternity. He was a varsity scholarship athlete in basketball and tennis. Secretary Wilkins, his wife and three teenage daughters live in Tallahassee and are active in numerous charitable and community organizations.
Gerald Peter “Pete” Digre,
Deputy Secretary
Pete Digre was appointed Deputy Secretary in 2011. He has more than 40 years of experience in the health and human services field, with an emphasis on community-based care for children, youth and families. He has held leadership positions for social service agencies in Los Angeles County, Philadelphia County and the state of Illinois. In addition, he previously served as Deputy Secretary for Operations at the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, which precedes DCF. Pete holds bachelor's degrees with honors in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree with honors in Social Work from George Williams College, a master’s degree with honors in Public Administration from Roosevelt University, and a doctorate of Ministry from the University of Chicago.
Suzanne Vitale,
Assistant Deputy Secretary
Suzanne oversees our ACCESS and Public Benefit Integrity programs and serves as deputy in managing overall agency operations. Suzanne has been with our agency for 18 months, first as the Circuit 15 Operations Manager and then as the Regional Managing Director of the 16-county Central Region. She has experience in public service, having served as the Deputy Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, overseeing the 15 domestic hunger and nutritional programs across the country, including food assistance, school breakfast and lunch programs, food banks, after school and summer camp food programs and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) initiative. Suzanne was the first Hispanic Deputy Undersecretary at USDA and provided policy direction on nutrition for the nation. She also served as a regional administrator for the USDA where she oversaw the delivery of food assistance programs and various nutritional educational initiatives across seven northeastern states. Suzanne holds a bachelor's degree from Radford University and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs.
John Cooper,
Assistant Secretary for Operations
John Cooper was appointed Assistant Secretary for Operations in 2011. Previously, he served as Regional Director of the Department’s central Florida region, based out of Orlando. John worked his way up through the Department after starting as a child protective investigator in Fort Myers. He became a supervisor and has served as the district administrator in the two Central Region districts before becoming regional director. He was also the Deputy Director of the Florida Abuse Hotline. John served as a military police officer from 1983 to 1985 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from Florida State University in 1988.
Rob Siedlecki,
Assistant Secretary for Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Rob was most recently the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, overseeing a social services agency with more than 5,000 employees and a $1.7 billion budget. Previously, Rob served as chief of staff for the Florida Department of Health and a special assistant for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration of Children and Families. Rob graduated from Pine Crest High School in Fort Lauderdale, earned his B.A. from Harvard College and his law degree from Cornell Law School.
Tom Lewis,
Interim Assistant Secretary for Administration
Tom Lewis was recently appointed Assistant Secretary of Administration, responsible for the Chief Financial Officer's functions of Budget, Revenue Management and Finance and Accounting, Contracted Client Services, Human Resources, General Services and Information Technology. Prior to DCF, Tom practiced law with the Pennington Law Firm and the Maddox-Horne Law Firm. Tom brings both extensive public service and private-sector management and leadership experience in senior executive positions. His prior public service included Secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services, Secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs and Assistant Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation. Tom is a former senior executive with The Walt Disney Company for almost 19 years. He served as its Vice President of Community Development and was instrumental in Disney's development of the Town of Celebration. Tom holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor and Masters of Architecture degrees from Georgia Tech. He also graduated cum laude from the College of Law at Florida State University where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
Vivian Myrtetus,
Chief of Staff
Vivian Myrtetus joined the Department in March 2011 as Chief of Staff, overseeing the agency’s communications, external affairs, legislative affairs and executive communications offices. Vivian most recently served as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. She has served in leadership positions in both the private and public sector, and her experience includes strategic public relations management with a special focus in public policy and issue resolution. Myrtetus, a native of South Florida, graduated cum laude from San Francisco State University and with honors from Miami-Dade College.
Christopher Hirst,
Inspector General
Chris comes to us from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement where he most recently served as Chief of Investigations, overseeing major investigations including public corruption and police officer-involved shootings.
Chris has worked closely with DCF for more than 25 years in a variety of roles at FDLE and local law enforcement. He also currently serves as co-chair of the North Florida Child Death Review Team which researches the role of child abuse and neglect in the deaths of children in Circuits 2 and 3.
Drew Parker,
General Counsel
Drew Parker was appointed General Counsel in May 2011. Before coming to DCF, Drew worked for Ard, Shirley & Rudolph, P.A. in Tallahassee, where his practice focused primarily on representing public and private clients in civil and administrative litigation. Prior to his time in private practice, Drew worked for the Florida Department of Financial Services in its Constitutional Issues Section, where his responsibilities included representing Florida’s Chief Financial Officer’s in matters related to the CFO’s constitutional duty to approve and settle claims against the State of Florida. Drew earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Sociology, as well as his Juris Doctor degree, from Florida State University. Drew also earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Mary Cagle,
Director of Children’s Legal Services
Mary Cagle began her career in the 11th Judicial Circuit State Attorneys Office under the guidance of Janet Reno. Since then, she has demonstrated her talent for leading by example and for working with many diverse populations to achieve a just end to any issue she confronts. These skills prepared her for her work in child welfare where she ran the CHARLEE program in Miami prior to joining DCF. Under Mary’s leadership, Children’s Legal Services has led the nation in advocacy for children and their families. Guided by her belief that state lawyers have a duty to protect our children’s best interest, Mary has transformed the way law is practiced in Florida on behalf of the thousands of children in foster care. She has tirelessly worked to restructure how legal services are delivered to dependent children and has relentlessly pursued solutions to some of the most difficult legal issues that face children and families.