Joni James joins YMCA Board of Directors

The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg welcomes Joni James to our Board of Directors. 

Joni is the Director of System Communications for the non-profit BayCare Health System in which her team is responsible for public relations, social media, online reputation management and internal communications. The nationally-recognized health care provider operates 15 hospitals, an ambulatory division and one of the region’s largest physician groups. With nearly 28,000 team members, BayCare is West Central Florida’s largest private employer.

The James family has been and continues to be involved with the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg. Joni's husband is a LIVESTRONG graduate and volunteer, currently assisting with the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA LIVESTRONG class, as well as an avid fundraiser and participant in our annual Spin-A-Rama. Her daughter, Joy, was involved in YDA for much of her youth.

Before joining health care, Joni was the Chief Impact Officer for the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg and before that, served as the CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

Until 2015, Joni was a newspaper journalist, spending more than a quarter-century at eight papers across five states. She spent roughly half her newspaper career covering Florida’s politics, business regulation and too-frequent hurricanes. In one of her final journalism roles, while serving as deputy editor of the Tampa Bay Times’ editorial board, she won numerous awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Florida. She is a member of Leadership Florida Cornerstone 35. She serves on the board of the Florida Holocaust Museum and is excited to join the board of the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg in 2023.

A proud native of North Carolina, she also considers Florida and Oregon, where she met her husband, home. Joni and Mark Howerton have been married nearly 25 years and live with their teenage daughter, Joy Howerton, in St. Petersburg and attend St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

Click here for the complete list of YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg Board Members.