“You can dive in anywhere to make a difference. You just have to be looking out for opportunities to be advocating for your fellow man.”
On any given evening in Jacksonville, you might find Poppy Clements in a concert hall, a gallery, or a school auditorium — surrounded by people of different ages, neighborhoods, and backgrounds, all sharing the same moment of beauty. For Poppy, these occasions are not just events on a calendar. They are proof of what she has come to know throughout her entire life: education gives way to opportunity, the arts bring us together, and culture creates growth and connection.
These values were instilled in her at a very early age by her parents, Ann and David Hicks, who lead by example.
“One of my first memories is turning on the television to watch Sesame Street and seeing my father running the Channel 7 auction. Where was Big Bird? Later, I recall helping my mother make angels for a holiday project for the Junior League of which she was president. My parents were always out and about doing good in our community. I just grew up in a household where it was not okay to not give back.” In the Hicks household, it was understood that you did not sit on the sidelines – you showed up, gave back, and used your gifts for others.
In recent years, Poppy has devoted her leadership and community involvement to one of her earliest loves: music and the arts. Having grown up attending the symphony and playing the piano, she knows firsthand how powerful an orchestra, a performance, or a museum visit can be. Serving on the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra board – and helping lead major development efforts there – has allowed her to champion a cause that is sometimes less visible but no less vital to our community.
“It’s an interesting situation to be in such a creative, beautiful space that at the same time is a business benefiting the community. I am so heartened that the people of Jacksonville recognize what a gem our symphony is and support it so vigorously!”
Poppy believes deeply that arts and culture are part of how we see one another and find common ground. The opportunities created through programs like the Jacksonville Youth Symphony Orchestra remind her how transformative artistic experiences can be – and why investing time, talent and treasure in this work feels not only worthwhile, but essential. Her relationships with the symphony board and staff who have become “part of the family” have only strengthened her conviction that a great arts ecosystem benefits the whole city.
Feeding Northeast Florida is another passion of Poppy’s where she has served on the board for the last 4 years.
“Our CEO Susan King is a logistical magician and has made Duval’s branch of Feeding America one of the very strongest in the country while being the newest! The new warehouse is truly a marvel and stands at the ready to serve our immediate community and many other surrounding counties in their time of need whether that is food insecurity or disaster relief. I love to gather family and friends to work a shift – sorting and packing boxes of food that find their way to those who need them.”
Prior to her current board positions at the symphony and Feeding Northeast Florida, Poppy was deeply involved in education. With a master’s degree in education and experience as a teacher, she naturally gravitated toward work that put students and families at the center. One of her first board roles was with The Bridge of Northeast Florida (now part of Boys & Girls Clubs), led by former OneJax honoree Dr. Davalu “Davy” Parrish, where she was encouraged to be hands – on with the organization.
“That was the perfect first board experience,” she said. “You weren’t just sitting in a boardroom….you were amongst the kids and their families, and you could see what your work was doing.”
There, Poppy went deeper than reports and balance sheets; she saw neighborhoods being transformed by opportunity, education, and caring individuals.
Her service deepened through organizations such as the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) and City Year. She first encountered JPEF when its founding leader, Trey Csar, spoke at The Bridge.
“I got a call, and he and Cindy Edelman met with me to be on the board of JPEF, and I was just stunned,” she said. “Cindy was just my girl crush and I never thought she even knew who I was.”
Cindy, whom she once admired from afar and who is also a former Silver & Gold OneJax honoree, became a model of what thoughtful, strategic civic leadership could look like; she helped Poppy see how philanthropy and policy could work together impacting students’ lives one by one.
At JPEF and City Year, Poppy attended school board meetings, listened to teachers and families, and wrestled with the hard realities facing students in under-resourced schools. Some stories stayed with her. After visiting a teacher in one of the most challenged elementary schools, she was left shaken.
“The stats she gave me about the kids in her classroom, I didn’t sleep,” Poppy said. “You have to think, how can I make these kids’ lives better?”
Being able to be hands-on in her work has been very rewarding. Seeing where students and schools start—and how they can transform—leaves her proud to have played a part.
She is also deeply inspired by people whose personal stories reflect the impact of the organizations she supports. She points to Rachael Tutwiler Fortune, President of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) and a Hicks Scholar, as an example of how talent and determination can flourish through opportunity. She recalls learning about Allishia Bauman when JPEF featured her childhood story and how this moved her to become involved on the JPEF board. With the support of mentors and humanitarian leaders like Poppy, Allishia went on to walk her own path of service working with City Year Jacksonville
and recently stepping into leading the Women’s Center of Jacksonville—an arc Poppy describes as “remarkable.” Their journeys remind her why this work matters: because investing in people can change communities.
To Poppy, their stories prove it takes work inside and outside the boardroom.
“You can be in the boardroom helping and moving and meeting,” she said, “but if you’re not out there creating opportunities and making things work, it doesn’t matter.”
Poppy believes that everyone can make a difference for someone.
“Everybody’s a person, every single person has needs and hard times,” she said. “I think Jacksonville is nice because you see all these different layers of what makes a person. You can dive in anywhere to make a difference. You just have to be looking out for opportunities to be advocating for your fellow man.”
Poppy finds hope in small, everyday gestures. She talks about breaking big problems into smaller pieces, saying, “You can always find the little victories.”
For Poppy, humanitarianism isn’t an act—it’s an expectation, passed down through generations who believed that indifference is never an option. Her leadership across the education, arts and cultural organizations of Jacksonville embodies this legacy: a conviction that education and creativity stir empathy, and that community blooms where culture thrives.
OneJax is proud to honor Poppy Clements as a 2026 Humanitarian Awards Silver Medallion recipient. Her story is a reminder that service isn’t inherited—it’s renewed with every generation that chooses to care. Together, We Are One.
Poppy Clements is a native of Jacksonville, attended boarding school at The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. Her post-secondary education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Science degree in Education from Wheelock College at Boston University.
She returned to Jacksonville in 1994 and has been a committed community volunteer, serving boards of The Baptist Health System Foundation, The Bridge of Northeast Florida, City Year Jacksonville, Wolfson Children’s Hospital, The Women’s Board, the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens and the University of North Florida Hicks Honors College advisory board. She served on the Jacksonville Public Education Fund board, where she was chair.
Currently, Poppy sits on the boards for Feeding Northeast Florida and the Jacksonville Symphony as 2025 Gala Chair as well as co-chairing their “Orchestrating Excellence” Capital Campaign.
She is married to Rob Clements, and they have four children: Ann, Curry, Ross, and Phoebe and three grandchildren: Willa, Evie and Teddy.
