Southwest Florida Paralegals Association, Inc.

The following members constitute our board of directors for 2026

Christiane D. de Jonge, FRP | President
Christiane D. de Jonge is a Florida Registered Paralegal at the law firm of Shapiro Delgado located in Sarasota, Florida. She has assisted attorney Jim Delgado in personal injury matters and misdemeanor criminal defense for the past 25 years and is currently studying to become a Certified Paralegal. She was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese. Christiane enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 year old cockapoo and also enjoys reading and cooking.

Ellen Nicholson, CP | Vice President
Ellen is a paralegal at the Law Offices of Lobeck & Hanson in Sarasota.

Mary Lou DiMaggio, ACP | Secretary
Mary Lou is a paralegal and former acquisition analyst at Crown Castle International.

April D. Emery, CP, FRP | Treasurer
April is a Certified Paralegal and Florida Registered Paralegal who worked exclusively as a trust and estate litigation paralegal for over 15 years, supporting top attorneys in that field. And for the past three years, she has been working as a freelance paralegal for various local attorneys. She truly enjoys the variety and flexibility that comes with being an independent paralegal contractor. While it can be a lot of work, she finds it very rewarding to have the opportunity to learn about and support attorneys in multiple areas of the law (thus, she rarely gets bored).She is also a Sarasota native who holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of South Florida and is super excited to serve as this year’s Treasurer. When she’s not juggling deadlines or keeping cases (and lawyers) on track, she enjoys spending time with her family which includes one husband, three kids, three grandkids, and, of course, two cats.

Lisa Ellis, ACP | NALA Liaison
Lisa Ellis is a paralegal for Roper Technologies.

Past Presidents:

1998-1999 Susan L. DuBois f/k/a Susan L. Hauck, CP

2000-2001 Laura Herald, CP

2002 Jane Gill, CP

2003-2004 Geraldine "Gerri" Mills, CP

2005-2006 Sarah "Sally” Taylor, CP

2007-2008 MaryLou DiMaggio, CP, FRP

2009-2010 Sonja L. Behn, FRP

2011-2012 Annette Zang, CP, FRP

2013-2014 Ellen Wile, ACP, FRP

2015-2016 Tamara W. "Tammy” Skonie, ACP, FRP

2017-2018 Lisa M. Ellis, CP

2019-2020 Pamala Roberts, RP, FRP

2021 April D. Emery, CP, FRP

2022 Ellen Nicholson, CP

2022 April D. Emery, CP, FRP

2023-2024 Pamala Roberts, RP, FRP

2024 Juliet M. Shepard, ACP

2025 Chelsea Tout