Florida’s State University System Board of Governors has a new member: Ashley Bell Barnett, a community advocate, former educator, and donor to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
She’s also the daughter of Fort Meade Republican Rep. Melony Bell.
Bell Barnett, a former elementary and middle school teacher, will take the seat after years of service on many advisory and administrative panels.
She currently serves on the Polk State College District Board of Trustees and Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board — both DeSantis appointments — and the Polk Arts Alliance Advisory Committee.
Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Florida Southern College and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Florida.
Bell Barnett’s appointment Monday to the 17-member Board of Governors, which oversees the operation and management of 12 public universities in Florida, comes just over five months after she contributed generously to DeSantis’ bid for the nation’s most powerful office.
In June, Bell Barnett gave DeSantis’ campaign a maximum donation of $6,600. She also donated $20,000 to Never Back Down, a political action committee (PAC) supporting the Governor’s White House run.
Her husband, investment and real estate executive Wesley Barnett, gave $6,600 to DeSantis’ presidential campaign and $17,000 to the Governor’s re-election campaign last year. He is the son of late philanthropist Carol Jenkins Barnett, whose father, George Jenkins, founded Publix Super Markets.
Bell Barnett’s political giving in Florida dates back to September 2017, when she gave $1,000 to her mom’s House campaign.
Division of Elections records show her biggest in-state contribution was a $10,000 check in July 2020 to Citizens for Polk Education, a now-closed PAC that supported Polk County School Board member William Allen’s 2020 run for office
Former Publix Vice President Hoyt Barnett, Bell Barnett’s father-in-law, donated another $25,000 to the PAC. Their contributions combined accounted for 42% of the PAC’s funding, which in part paid for a Facebook ad lodging accusations of racism against then-incumbent School Board member Billy Townsend.
Allen defeated Townsend with 52% of the vote.
Bell Barnett was among 215 people former Gov. Rick Scott named to board posts before he left in 2019 whose appointments DeSantis retracted after taking office.
The move proved temporary in her case. DeSantis reaffirmed her appointment to the Polk State College District Board of Trustees, for which she has served as Vice President, and reappointed her in December 2020 and in June 2023.
He also named her to the Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board in December 2020, reappointing her this past August.
Bell Barnett is a fifth-generation Floridian. She has also served in various capacities with the United Way of Central Florida, Talbot House, Lakeland Regional Hospital Foundation and Bonnet Springs Park, among others.
Her appointment is subject to Florida Senate confirmation.
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