Biography:
Melissa Snively is the Immediate Past Chair of the Hillsborough County School Board, and the longest serving member on the board. She was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, serving District 4 (East Hillsborough County). She is one of seven members responsible for making policy decisions and overseeing a budget of $3 billion for the 7th largest school district in the nation, and the county’s largest employer.
Mrs. Snively earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida with a major in English and a minor in Secondary Education. She is a member of Florida Blue Key Leadership Honorary and Past President of the Tampa UF Alumni Association. Mrs. Snively has worked in the insurance industry for over 25 years and has owned a successful agency in eastern Hillsborough County since 2001.
Mrs. Snively enjoys being very involved in her community and has served many local organizations in leadership positions, including the PTA/PTSA, American Cancer Society, the Junior League of Tampa, the Brandon Community Roundtable, the Brandon Outreach Medical Clinic, the Glazer Children’s Museum, and the Tampa Theatre. She currently serves on the boards for Brandon Regional Hospital as Chairwoman and the Boy Scouts of America Tampa Bay Area Council. Mrs. Snively volunteers over 500 hours per year for Scouting and was recently recognized for her dedicated service with the distinguished Boy Scouts Silver Beaver award and the Girls Scouts Woman of Distinction award.
Professionally, Mrs. Snively has served as the Chairman of the Board for the Brandon Chamber of Commerce and is a graduate of Leadership Brandon. She was the recipient of the Small Business of the Year Award and was awarded the Brandon Community Leadership Award. Mrs. Snively is also Past President of the Tampa Bay Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and currently serves on the local, state and national Political Action Committees. She was honored with both the Tampa Bay Dick Cimino Service award and the Florida Herb Morgan advocacy award for her leadership and service to the insurance and financial services industry.
As a school board member, Mrs. Snively continues to advocate for school safety and risk mitigation, equitable access to transportation and pathways to school, early childhood education, career and technical opportunities, and strong financial oversight and operational accountability. She has been instrumental in initiatives supporting AVID, AGP, Cambridge AICE, STEM and literacy. Mrs. Snively has also advocated to provide dental preventative care, social and emotional learning (SEL), physical wellness, and many other valuable health and safety education opportunities to students.
Mrs. Snively serves on the board of the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) and earned her Certified Board Member (CBM) designation in 2018, as well as the Master Board (MB) designation in 2020, with extensive professional development in governance, policy, finance and advocacy.
Personally, Mrs. Snively has been married to her husband David since 1999 and they have four (4) children, all who are attending or have graduated from Hillsborough County Public Schools.
December 2020
Organizational Assignments:
- Florida School Board Association (FSBA) - Board Member
- Hillsborough County Value Adjustment Board - Vice Chairman
- Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) – Alternate
- Central Florida Public School Boards Coalition – Alternate
- FSBA Legislative Committee Delegate – Alternate