Meet Our Dedicated Staff

Our staff is dedicated to the helping First Priority students to be effective, faithful leaders who humbly serve God and others.

We utilize the team approach, which gives staff members the opportunity to leverage his or her God-given talents and abilities to best serve the interests of others.

To request a speaker for your church, youth group, organization, small group, or company, please contact us here.

FPTB staff at Tampa luncheon.
Headshot of Amber Johansen.
Amber Johansen

President

(813) 390-5964

ajohansen@firstprioritytampa.org

Amber was born and raised in Tampa. After graduating from Leto High School, she attended Florida State University for an undergraduate degree and the University of South Florida for a graduate degree. Her background includes working with at-risk teens and families, non-profit work, and program development.

She has been involved with First Priority of Tampa Bay since 2009, when she began serving as a Parent Partner in her son’s First Priority group. In 2013, she was appointed Executive Director and then President in 2023.

Amber is a trained Behavioral Health Coach and a Certified Nonprofit Executive (CNE), and her primary focus with First Priority is program development and donor relations. She is available to speak on a wide range of topics including First Priority, boundaries, parenting, public education and faith based issues.

Amber and her husband, Seth, have three grown children- two sons who live in Riverview and a daughter who lives overseas.

To read Amber’s article in the Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies: http://jsri.ro/ojs/index.php/jsri/issue/view/44.

To read Amber’s parenting blog, click here.

Headshot of Carina DesHotels.
Carina Deshotels

Executive Director

(813) 732-7732

cdeshotels@firstprioritytampa.org

Carina was born and raised in central Florida, where she graduated from Leesburg High School and met her husband, Beau. In 2003, they moved to Tampa Bay and started a family. They are the proud parents of Landon and McKenzie.

Carina has been involved with First Priority of Tampa Bay since 2017, when she began serving as a Parent Partner in her son’s First Priority group. In 2018, she was appointed to the position of Pinellas County Director and then Executive Director in 2023.

Carina’s primary focus is vision casting, staff management, and day-to-day operations. She loves serving students and partnering with local churches to equip this generation with the hope of Christ.

Ben DeWitt

Director of Church Partnerships

(210) 326-5372

bdewitt@firstprioritytampa.org
Sienna Zemaitis

Pinellas County Director

(208) 699-9497

ssanchez@firstprioritytampa.org
Shanel DeWitt

Hillsborough County Director

(210) 906-2600

sdewitt@firstprioritytampa.org
Helen Rairigh

Area Director, Pasco

(813) 454-4282

hrairigh@firstprioritytampa.org
Denise Harvill

Area Director, Central Hillsborough

(813) 240-3515

dharvill@firstprioritytampa.org
Trish Lane

Area Director, South Tampa

(813) 789-2738

Tlane@firstprioritytampa.org
Ebony Roman

Area Director, North Hillsborough

(813) 944-9153

eroman@firstprioritytampa.org
Viet Le

Area Director, St. Pete

(813) 368-3445

Vle@firstprioritytampa.org
Jacob Lacy

Area Director, North Pinellas

(334) 494-0590

jlacy@firstprioritytampa.org
Jayde Gray

Area Director, West Pasco

(727) 534-5478

jgray@firstprioritytampa.org
Terra Corrao

Area Director, Wesley Chapel

(813) 598-0135

tcorrao@firstprioritytampa.org
Brent Watson

Gadsden County Director

(813) 817-7533

bwatson@firstprioritytampa.org
Palmer Clarkson

Technology Director

(813) 505-2847

pclarkson@firstprioritytampa.org
Martha Parish

Co-Curriculum Developer

Jamie Rustenburghe

Area Director, East Hillsborough

(813) 255-3852

jrustenburghe@firstprioritytampa.org