board leadership

Meet our Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Florida Board of Advisors

Emeritus Board

Board of Directors

Pamela Reeve

Chair
The Women’s Edge

READ BIO

Evelyn Barahona

READ BIO

Tricia Benjamin

Tax Partner
PwC

READ BIO

Fay Donohue

READ BIO

Anne Doyle

President
Lasell Village

READ BIO

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert

Executive Vice President, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Liberty Mutual Insurance

READ BIO

Elizabeth Hailer

CEO
The Women’s Edge

READ BIO

John Hailer

President
1251 Asset Management

READ BIO

Kip Hollister

Founder & CEO
The Hollister Group

READ BIO

Beatriz Lorenzo

Director of International Business Development
Boston Children’s Hospital

READ BIO

Mim Minichiello

President, Employee Benefits
HUB International

READ BIO

Evelyn Murphy

The WAGE Project, Inc.

READ BIO

Katy O’Neil

Suffolk Construction

READ BIO

Terrie Perella

Social Venture Partners

READ BIO

Colette Phillips

Colette Phillips Communications

READ BIO

Jody Robie

Shareholder/SVP N. America
Talent Works

READ BIO

Jeff Swartz

Morgan Stanley

READ BIO

Kim Walsh

SVP
Apollo.io

READ BIO

Board of Directors

Florida Board of Advisors

Emeritus Board

Florida Board of Advisors

Gabriela Adessi

International Wealth Advisor & Portfolio Manager
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

READ BIO

Liz Alicea-Velez

Partner
Moneygram

READ BIO

Tami Blanco

VP Strategic Sourcing & Site Services
Carnival Cruise Line

READ BIO

Tina Brown

Chief Executive Officer
Overtown Youth Center

READ BIO

Melanie Dickinson

President & Publisher
South Florida Business Journal

READ BIO

Kirsten Dolan

Chief Executive Officer
One Parking, Inc.

READ BIO

Dorothy Eisenberg

Partner
Gerson, Preston, Robinson, Klein, Lips & Eisenberg, P.A.

READ BIO

Jerry Haar

Professor and Executive Director, The Americas, Florida
College of Business, Florida International University

READ BIO

Amy Hurwitz

Litigator
Carlton Fields, PA

READ BIO

Laura Kaplan

Market President
BNY Mellon Wealth Management

READ BIO

Lisa Kauffman

Executive VP & Chief Marketing Officer
Starboard Cruise Services

READ BIO

Veronica Millares

Group Director – Sales Strategy & Operations
Ryder System, Inc.

READ BIO

Flora Perez

Shareholder
GreenbergTraurig

READ BIO

Sue Romanos

CEO Emeritus
CareerXchange

READ BIO

Janna Ronert

Founder & Chairwoman
Image Skincare

READ BIO

Kerry-Ann Royes

President & CEO
YWCA South Florida

READ BIO

Rony Shir

Executive Director
University of Miami

READ BIO

Galina Russell

Principal
Somova Consulting Group (SCG)

READ BIO

Lindy Smiley

Managing Director, Global Head of Human Resources
Starwood Property Trust

READ BIO

LaToya Stirrup

Co-Founder & CEO
Stirrup Unlimited, LLC

READ BIO

Iciar “Chio” Zubiria

Sr. Director of Customer Service
Bacardi North America

READ BIO

Board of Directors

Florida Board of Advisors

Emeritus Board

Lois E. Silverman

Founder
The Commonwealth Institute

Kirk Arnold

Deb Besemer

Wendy Cebula

Barbara Nobles Crawford, Ph.D.

Dr. Beverly “Bev” Edgehill

Deborah Ellinger

Grace K. Fey

Carol Fulp

Carol Goldberg

Emily Green

Lauren Jennings

Linda Kanner

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Karen Kupferberg

Lois Lindauer

Irma Fisher Mann

Barbara Marx

Linda Paresky

Jennifer Potter-Brotman

June Rokoff

Aviva Sapers

Shirley Singleton

Helene Solomon

Susan Lewis Solomont

Phyllis S. Swersky

Jean Tempel

Dorothy Terrell

Bennie Wiley

Are you looking to learn, grow and become part of a community of other successful women?

Become A Member

Pamela Reeve

Chair, The WOMEN'S EDGE

Pamela Reeve is Chair of The Women's Edge, working with women CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders to help them grow their businesses and their careers. She is the former CEO of Lightbridge, Inc. a company she headed from start up in 1989, took public in 1996, and ran for 15 years. Prior to joining Lightbridge, Reeve spent eleven years at the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms. Her prior experience includes National Project Manager for a program funded by National Endowment for the Humanities, and real estate finance and development.

Evelyn Barahona

Director, Latino Equity Fund, The Boston Foundation

Evelyn Barahona is the first director of the Latino Equity Fund, the only philanthropic fund centered on the Latino community in the Commonwealth created in 2013 in partnership with the Boston Foundation and Hispanics in Philanthropy. In this role, she is tasked with increasing its philanthropic capacity to include civic leadership, advocacy, and centering its support to address key issues in equity and access in economic prosperity and health for the Latino Community through its platform of grant making, strategic partnerships, research, convening, and advocacy. Previously, Evelyn worked in the Philanthropy Group at The Boston Foundation as an Officer in providing strategic guidance to Donor Advised Fund holders interested in using their philanthropic dollars to address key community issues. She was instrumental in bringing racial equity discussions to donors and providing space to use philanthropy as a vehicle to strengthen equity in the nonprofit sector. Evelyn also served as a consultant for the Massachusetts United Puerto Rico Fund, and worked with an Advisory Committee in disbursing over $4 million dollars on the island on key recovery projects and providing philanthropic support in Massachusetts for the nonprofit sector handling an influx of relocated Puerto Ricans into the Commonwealth after Hurricane Maria and the following months and year.

Tricia Benjamin

Tax Partner, PwC

Tricia is a tax partner within the PwC Consulting group at PwC with over 18 years of business and tax experience on clients ranging from development stage to multinational, publicly traded companies on matters related to federal, state, and international corporate and flow through taxation. Tricia has focused primarily on tax accounting matters faced by pharmaceutical & life science, real estate, technology, and manufacturing companies.

Andrea Cohen

Co-founder and CEO, HouseWorks

HouseWorks co-founder and CEO Andrea Cohen is a social entrepreneur dedicated to transforming the way that care is delivered to seniors at home. Her vision for the business crystallized over 20 years ago when she took care of both her parents and became committed to making what she went through easier for families. In Boston over the last decade, Andrea and her team built the largest single site private home care company in the country.

Fay Donohue

Fay Donohue has been a leader in health and health care delivery and financing since 1975. She has brought her expertise in the dental benefits market and a deep commitment to improving oral health care delivery to her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of DentaQuest over the past 8 years. She retired in June 2015 and now focuses on board work, public policy and education.

Anne Doyle

PRESIDENT, LASELL VILLAGE AND VICE PRESIDENT, LASELL UNIVERSITY

Anne Doyle is a health care executive with thirty years of Csuite experience in health and senior care, consulting, and government. Anne brings expertise in understanding the consumer perspective and health care landscape for the fastest growing demographic over age 60. Earlier in her career, Anne led enterprise risk management and corporate compliance for two multibillion-dollar health insurers and was a consultant with Deloitte.

Since 2015, Anne has served as President of Lasell Village, an innovative senior living and health care community on the campus of Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts, known globally for its intergenerational living and learning model. Under her leadership, Lasell Village has completed a comprehensive renovation of 16 campus buildings, achieved a Fitch A rating, quadrupled the wait list coming out of the Covid pandemic, and launched expansion plans. In 2022, for the third year, Lasell Village was named a Top 100 Women-Led Business in Massachusetts by The Commonwealth Institute and the Boston Globe.

Anne has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, and was a Fulbright scholar in Sweden researching senior housing and health care.

Anne has served on many boards of directors, including state and national trade associations, Chair of her town’s School Committee, and Chair of the Board of a rare cancer research foundation, leading it from founder-led to professional management. In 2022, Anne joined the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of the Village Bank, a Massachusetts mutual bank. She is a member of the NewtonWellesley Hospital Board of Advisors, the Age-Friendly Institute Board of Directors, and the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation. In 2022, Anne was featured as a guest expert on the nationally syndicated PBS series, Getting dot OLDER. She is a judge for the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards.

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert

Executive Vice President, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Liberty Mutual Insurance

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert joined Liberty Mutual Insurance in the spring of 2013 to shape the new office of Diversity and Inclusion. As Executive Vice President, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Dawn is responsible for leading the design, development and implementation of Liberty Mutual's diversity and inclusion strategy and programs. This includes enhancing employees’ D&I capability and skills, internal and external communications, metrics and measurements, benchmarking, external partnerships and the development of employee resource groups. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual Insurance, Dawn was Chief Administrative Officer and Partner at Global Novations, a Korn/Ferry International Company, where she developed their human capital strategy and led their post-merger company culture-shaping efforts. Before employment with Global Novations, she was at The Gillette Company as Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion, where she developed and led their Global Diversity Strategic Plan. Dawn has also held HR leadership positions at Lotus/IBM, Fidelity Investments and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Elizabeth Hailer

CEO, The WOMEN'S EDGE

Elizabeth Hailer is the CEO at The Women's Edge. She has more than 30 years of deep hands-on experience in the professional services arena with specific expertise and success in marketing strategy and planning, marketplace positioning, business development programs and management, lead generation, and brand development and management.

John Hailer

President, 1251 Asset Management

John Hailer is the President - 1251 Asset Management of 1251 Capital Group. Prior to joining 1251 Capital Group, he was President & CEO of Natixis Global Asset Management in the Americas and Asia where he worked for over 18 years and was responsible for the firm’s asset management affiliates in the United States and Asia and distribution strategies worldwide.

Kip Hollister

Founder & ceo, the hollister group

Kip Hollister is the Founder & CEO of The Hollister Group – Staffing and Cultures. Since 1988, Kip has been committed to building a company that best serves clients by offering a full suite of services aimed at bringing exceptional people together to ignite business culture and unleash individual contribution. Kip received her Leadership & Mentoring certification through the Michael Shankin Arch of Leadership Program, her Leadership and Coaching certification from the John Maxwell Team, and is a Deepak Chopra certified meditation instructor. In her more than 30 years as business owner, Kip has grown the company into New England’s leading woman-owned staffing consultancy.

As an award winning and nationally recognized entrepreneur and business leader, Kip attributes The Hollister Group’s success to the trust and integrity that characterizes the leadership of her organization. Kip is a frequent keynote speaker on topics including: REAL™ Leadership, the power of imagination, letting go of limiting beliefs, resilience, and so much more. Kip is also a highly sought-after executive coach, helping leaders break through challenges to create new possibilities and opportunities in their careers and personal lives. At Kip’s core is the belief that each of us matters and has real impact and that everyone is a leader of their own life. She is innately committed to strengthening connection, creativity, and productivity by inspiring this realization in all.

Beatriz Lorenzo

Director of International Business Development, Boston Children’s Hospital

Beatriz Lorenzo is Director of International Business Development at Boston Children’s Hospital responsible for advancing hospital relationships and volume of complex patient cases through major payers and other referral channels in the international marketplace. In addition to patient referral channels, she has as oversight of the International Health Education program which is responsible for the Observership program and customized educational programs. While her main focuses are all over the world, much of her experience has been with Latin America and Asia. Beatriz joined Boston Children’s in 1996 and has an array of experience in various areas of the hospital including over 10 years in leadership of clinical operations of multidisciplinary programs.

Mim Minichiello

President, Employee Benefits, HUB International

Mim Minichiello serves as President, Employee Benefits, of HUB International New England. With over 25 years of experience, Mim provides leadership and implementation of employee benefit initiatives across the New England Region, building and expanding the HUB New England’s offerings as the top employee benefits solution provider.

Evelyn Murphy

The WAGE Project, Inc.

Evelyn Murphy is President of The WAGE Project, Inc., a national organization to end wage discrimination against working women, and author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It, published by Simon & Schuster in October 2005. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Company and a Director of Citizens Energy Corporation.

Katy O'Neil

Suffolk Construction

Katy O’Neil is Vice President, Business Development and Client Relations, Northeast for Suffolk Construction. She was previously the Executive Vice President at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce for more than 17 years. In this role, Ms. O’Neil has overall responsibility for programs & events, leadership development, member retention, and business development for this 1,500 member organization.

Terrie Perella

Social venture partners

Terrie Perella is a marketing, business development and communications leader, experienced at driving brand awareness, marketing innovation, and demand generation within professional services and technology companies, from start-ups to global consulting firms. Most recently, she led national marketing teams for Deloitte and RSM US, delivering strategic marketing plans and revenue growth for these global professional services firms. Earlier in her career she held marketing and technology leadership roles within the technology sector, with expertise in strategic partnerships, information technology, and mergers and acquisitions.

Terrie has a passion for venture philanthropy and is enjoying her work as a board member and partner with Social Venture Partners. Terrie is also on the board of The Commonwealth Institute (TCI), where she is chair of the marketing committee; a member of Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Executive Council for the Susan Smith Center for women’s cancers; and is an advisory board member of Samaritans, Inc. Terrie is a summa cum laude graduate of Boston College, earned her MBA at Boston University, and lives in Southboro, MA with her family.

Colette Phillips

Colette Phillips Communications

Colette is the President and CEO of Colette Phillips Communications, and the founder of Get Konnected! which has become Boston's premier inclusive business networking event that brings together urban and international professionals, business executives, entrepreneurs and graduate students across industries and sectors for networking. Colette is also the author of 21 Steps for Women to Win, a compact inspirational guide for women entrepreneurs and professional women.

Jody Robie

Talent Works

Jody Robie has worked for more than 20 years designing and developing world class talent attraction strategies for companies worldwide.  Jody started her career in the broadcast industry as a Reporter, Producer, Account Executive and Sales Manager for multiple TV Stations in Boston including WCVB-TV Channel 5 and FOX 25.  Currently, Jody is a shareholder and manages North America for Talent Works Int’l (TWI) a global Talent Attraction firm headquartered in the UK. She joined Talent Works in 2014 and has been responsible for consulting and connecting scaling businesses with Talent Work’s team of global outsourced recruiters, brand and insight specialists, and digital and creative marketers.  

Prior to joining TWI, Jody worked as the US Head of Employer Branding for Alexander Mann Solutions and a Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Buyer Advertising in Boston. A frequent speaker at HR industry events, Jody has presented on topics ranging from Scaling up strategies in Talent Attraction, Developing an Employer Brand, Diversity Marketing, Social and Digital strategies, and Global Recruiting.   She is a long time Bostonian who attended Harvard University’s Extension School and Boston University’s College of Communication. She is member of the Board of Directors for The Commonwealth Institute and involved with various HR associations.  She has also served as the Natick Special Education Advisory Council Chair for 5 years, liaising between families and the administration.  She lives in Natick, MA with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Jeff Swartz

Morgan Stanley

Jeff brings valuable experience to his role as a leader at Morgan Stanley. A Managing Director, Complex Manager and PWM Regional Manager, Jeff is proud to be a vital member of the firm's history for nearly 30 years. He has earned the reputation of being a strong and collaborative leader to the many teams of financial advisors he serves. He enjoys providing them with the skills, tools and resources to further develop their business, while advocating for them internally and as they work directly with their clients.

For his experience and dedication to his firm and community, Jeff has received numerous distinctions and professional accolades throughout his career. In 2017, he was named to the Advisory Board on the City of Boston's Women's Work Force Council. Most recently, he was recognized as Morgan Stanley's first male recipient of the firm's MAKERS Award in 2018. MAKERS is a national program dedicated to identifying and celebrating women of accomplishment across all fields of endeavors.

Kim Walsh

Chief Growth Officer, impact.com

Kim helps companies in building and leading best-in-class GTM sales and partnership organizations. Kim spent 11.5 years building an enterprise sales team and GTM partnership organization at HubSpot. In 2018, she founded harper ventures, an investment company with the thesis to responsibly invest in the best operator-led companies, and deploy at least 50% to underrepresented founders.  She is active with organizations that promote women and diversity in leadership and on boards. Kim is a speaker on the topics of Go-To-Market, Startups, Investing, GTM, Partnerships, Product led growth, Sales, High-Performance Teams, and Culture.

Gabriela Adessi

International Wealth Advisor & Portfolio Manager, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Gabriela Adessi has over 23 years of private wealth management and trust services experience. Prior to working at Merrill Lynch, Gabriela worked at a globally recognized trust company as a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager working with multigenerational families. Gabriela is passionate about financial wellness with a focus on Women. Gabriela is an active member of Miami South Florida Community where she serves on The Commonwealth Institute Advisory Board and The Women United Executive Committee. She is also a member of the University of Miami’s Citizen Board, United Way Professional Advisor Committee. She volunteers at Baptist Hospital NICU Unit, His House Children’s Home, and Habitat for Humanity. She founded and served as President of the Bella Preemie Miracles, Inc. and was a former member of the Junior League of Miami.

Liz Alicea-Velez

Partner, Moneygram

Experienced international general management executive with a record of success in building world-class organizations in the United States, the Caribbean, South and Central Americas. Extensive experience in sales, marketing, operations, P&L management and distribution across these markets. Recognized as an innovator in development and execution of breakthrough revitalization, growth and profitability strategies. Deep expertise in consumer financial services and ethnic marketing. Global management experience includes responsibilities for operations in Europe and Asia. Strong people management skills; excel at driving organizations from strategy to execution.

Tina Brown

Chief Executive Officer, Overtown Youth Center

Tina Brown is a daughter of Miami – Historic Overtown to be exact – and the powerhouse leader who has dedicated her life to improving the lives of those who live, work and play in the community of her birth.

Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Accounting from Savannah State University; a Master’s Degree in Accounting and almost two decades of experience in the field of accounting and business management for both corporate and non-profit entities; as well as unbridled drive, dedication and passion, Tina is well equipped to impact her community for good.

Currently, Tina serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Overtown Youth Center; a 501c organization whose mission is to bridge educational, emotional, health, and economic gaps for youth and families residing in marginalized communities. Tina is responsible for fundraising and oversight of an annual organizational budget of $6 million and a $20 million dollar Capital Campaign Project.

Be it through executive leadership, advocacy, mentoring and professional coaching; Tina’s personal life experiences and passion drives her desire to strengthen communities located in the urban core. Tina’s lifelong quest is to create opportunities for breaking generational cycles of poverty and to improve the overall well - being of those who are marginalized.

Tami Blanco

VP Strategic Sourcing & Site Services, Carnival Cruise Line

Tami Blanco joined Carnival Cruise Line in 2011 in Accounting Operations – after a number of different roles in Finance Operations, she was promoted to Vice President - Finance Operations in 2014; she moved to Human Resources in early 2018 before accepting her current role in early 2020 leading the Strategic Sourcing and Procurement efforts for the Food, Beverage and Hotel categories along with managing the Carnival HQ facilities and site services. She has been the leading force in developing Women in the Workplace initiatives and creating Carnival’s women-based networking group, Aspiring Women at Carnival. Prior to joining Carnival, Tami held various roles at Royal Caribbean Cruises (corporate treasury, revenue management/itinerary planning and sales support) and at Ryder System (cash / interest expense management and general financial reporting). A Certified Public Accountant, Tami holds a BS in Accounting from University of Florida and a Master’s Degree from FIU’s School of Accounting. She is a member of the Association for Financial Professionals, the National Association of Professional Women and Society for Human Resource Management; and, holds leadership roles in a number of other non-profit organizations: Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida (Advisory Board), Miami Women’s Panhellenic (Secretary), and Girls’ Inc.’s 150+ Women Strong.

Melanie Dickinson

President & Publisher, South Florida Business Journal

As President & Publisher of the largest business-to-business publication in the region, Melanie Dickinson is a true change agent within the publishing industry. Her drive and leadership to deliver breaking news and in-depth business stories, which are designed to foster growth for local business owners, has resulted in multiple industry awards to the South Florida Business Journal’s editorial and design teams. Melanie was appointed President & Publisher of South Florida Business Journal in 2008. Immediately preceding her return to South Florida she held the position of Publisher of the Birmingham Business Journal. She has held a variety of roles during her 21 years with American City Business Journals, corporate parent to South Florida Business Journal. Her commitment to community can be seen in her work with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, The Education Fund and the United Way. She advocates for business and the growth of our region via her board positions with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, Business Development Board of Palm Beach County and the Broward Workshop.

Kirsten Dolan

Chief Executive Officer, One Parking, Inc.

As the owner of One Parking, Kirsten specializes in helping owners recognize the revenue potential of their parking assets. She co-founded One Parking 16 years ago. Prior to that, Kirsten worked for over 15 years for the largest transportation management company in the world, Central Parking. She has over 30 years of experience operating and maximizing the revenues of parking assets.

Formerly responsible for the profitability and operations of over 200 locations on the West Coast, Kirsten now oversees the operational and financial aspects of the One Parking portfolio at the corporate level. As CEO, she drives results of both the financial and service aspects of our client’s parking assets and creates the strategic vision for One Parking’s future. She specializes in the marketing of parking locations, as well as the implementation of control, utilizing her unique educational combination of Marketing and Accounting.

Kirsten holds a B.S. Degree in Marketing from Arizona State University. Additionally, she holds a Business Analytics Certification from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School, and a Negotiation and Influence Certificate from MIT Sloan Executive Education. Kirsten is a Member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), The Commonwealth Institute, a Member of Women In Parking, and the Commercial Real Estate Women Network (CREW) Palm Beach/Treasure Coast Network. Kirsten was voted South Florida’s Most Influential Businesswoman in 2014 and honored by The Commonwealth Institute (TCI) as one of Florida’s Top Women-Led Businesses from 2014-2021.

Dorothy Eisenberg

Partner, Gerson, Preston, Robinson, Klein, Lips & Eisenberg, P.A.

Dorothy S. Eisenberg, a prominent certified public accountant, brings a wealth of taxation experience to Gerson, Preston, Robinson & Company, and is highly regarded by the clients she serves.

Jerry Haar

Professor and Executive Director, The Americas, Florida, College of Business, Florida International University

Jerry Haar is a professor of international business and Executive Director for the Americas as well as Faculty Advisor for Executive Education in the College of Business, Florida International University. He is also a Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a non-resident senior research fellow at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He has held visiting appointments at Wharton, Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and the American Enterprise Institute and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Brazil. A former director of Washington Programs for the Council of the Americas, Dr. Haar holds graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Harvard and has authored 17 books and numerous articles. A consultant to multinational firms, he has appeared in media such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Miami Herald, The Hill and CNN.

Amy Hurwitz

Litigator, Carlton Fields, PA

Amy Hurwitz is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on the defense of mass tort, commercial and consumer class action claims in state and federal courts. She has wide-ranging experience in all aspects of litigation, from its inception through trial. Her prior work experience in the health care industry gives her a particularly useful perspective in matters involving complex medical and scientific issues. Ms. Hurwitz has extensive experience representing clients in the tobacco, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and medical device industries. Ms. Hurwitz' experience includes conducting all aspects of the coordination and management of the defense of major corporations against both individual and class action lawsuits. She is involved in all phases of litigation, from the initial stages of fact investigation and strategy development through trial. In addition to serving various roles at the pre-trial level including strategy and defensive theme development, fact investigation, expert witness development and legal drafting, Ms. Hurwitz has notable trial experience and has been an integral part of many trial teams. Ms. Hurwitz also maintains an active role in pro bono work, including advocating as a guardian ad litem and participating in local legal aid clinics. Ms. Hurwitz is active in the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s TrialTechniques Committee, where she currently serves as Committee Chair.

Laura Kaplan

Market President, BNY Mellon Wealth Management

Laura Kaplan is a Managing Director/ Private Client Advisor with US Trust. As a Private Client Advisor, Laura works closely with clients to develop an in-depth understanding of individual, institutional and family wealth management needs and preferences. She builds a customized team of professional specialists within U.S. Trust to provide comprehensive advice on investment management, wealth transition, trust, credit and tax issues, and provides integrated recommendations to support a client’s overall wealth management strategy. Laura joined U.S. Trust in January 2013. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, Laura was a Private Banker with Deutsche Bank in Miami opening their U.S. Private Banking Office in 2010. Laura has previously been a Managing Director with SunTrust Bank, where she managed a line of business within Wealth Management. She spent the previous 10+ years with Citibank where she managed the Private Bank Law Firm business for the Southeast and the Latin America Regional Bank for the Corporate Investment Bank. Prior to joining Citi, Laura spent several years in Asia with the Treasurer’s Office of General Motors. In this capacity, she was responsible for the financing and hedging of infrastructure projects for the Asian auto industry. Laura is a CFP®. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Mandarin and Economics from Wellesley College and her Masters in International Business Studies in Finance and Mandarin from the University of South Carolina. Laura speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. She is married with three children and resides in Coral Gables, Florida. Laura is actively involved in the United Way of Miami Dade as a Tocqueville Board Member as well as a member of the Women’s Leadership Council. She previously chaired the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s Professional Advisory Committee as well as served as a member of the board. Laura is passionate about the financial empowerment of women.

Lisa Kauffman

Executive VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Starboard Cruise Services

Lisa Kauffman is a Marketing executive with a history of creating and leading brands across a range of industries that stand out in the marketplace and drive profitable sales. A high impact leader, Lisa has inspired teams across a range of industries with a clearly articulated vision, a passion for people, and a drive for results.

Lisa recently joined Starboard Cruise Services, a LVMH company, and is the Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to that she was the Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, for Perry Ellis International overseeing global branding, consumer insights, digital marketing, loyalty programs, direct marketing, and public relations across a diverse portfolio of iconic men’s and women’s apparel brands including Perry Ellis, Original Penguin and Laundry by Shelli Segal.

Most recently, Lisa held the role of CMO of Celebrity Cruises, responsible for the premium brand’s overall marketing program. While at Celebrity, Lisa’s team had numerous accomplishments including successfully repositioning the brand with the “modern luxury” platform and leading the brand’s transition to a Digital-first orientation.

Prior to joining Celebrity Cruises, Lisa successfully progressed through increasingly senior roles in marketing at Macy’s Florida, formerly Burdines, culminating in her role as senior vice president of marketing, where she led a team responsible for marketing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, special events, loyalty programs, and direct marketing. She was credited with several innovative marketing and sales strategies to support product launches, promotions, customer loyalty programs, store openings and brand enhancement.

Lisa is a sought-out speaker at industry conferences including The Marketing Forum and the New York Ad Club. A native of Miami, Lisa actively participates in the community currently serving as co-chair of the advisory board member for The Commonwealth Institute. Additionally, Lisa serves on the Public Dimension committee of HistoryMiami and has previously served on marketing task forces for the United Way of Miami-Dade as well as Sylvester Cancer Center. Lisa, and her husband Ron, live in Miami Beach with their three sons.

Veronica Millares

Group Director – Sales Strategy & Operations
Ryder System, Inc.

My passion is Sales - developing solutions to drive their success, performance, and growth. I demonstrate strong communication and interpersonal skills in to develop relationships across the functional areas to ensure efficiency in a competitive environment.

My career has equipped me with proven success in sales operations, strategy development, revolutionary sales initiatives, and overall business evolution. Moreover, I have been consistently characterized by my unwavering perseverance and desire for excellence in not only developing strategy, but implementing it - streamlining processes and innovating functional change to increase sales productivity that optimize revenue growth. I am recognized as an innovative and strategic thinker that also flourishes in project execution - meeting and exceeding sales goals, controlling expenses, and improving metrics for the company through effective leadership, training, coaching, and general management expertise.

Flora Perez

Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig

Flora R. Perez focuses her practice on advising public and private companies on corporate and securities matters as well as on private equity and venture transactions, public and private securities offerings, asset-backed financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions. She is experienced counseling boards and senior management on a variety of legal issues including corporate governance, executive compensation, SEC reporting, compliance, strategic business initiatives, commercial matters, and employment.

Flora advises both public and private companies on the full range of M&A transactions including mergers, tender offers, going private transactions and strategic investments both nationally and internationally.

Sue Romanos

CEO Emeritus, CareerXchange

With over 20 years of experience in the Human Resources and personnel recruitment field, Sue has built CAREERXCHANGE® into the 28th largest diversity business in Florida. In 2004, CAREERXCHANGE was also named the 172nd top diversity business in the US.

In 1988, Sue founded CAREERXCHANGE in Miami, Florida. Through a combination of internal growth and acquisition, she has built CAREERXCHANGE into one of the most prominent organizations in its field. CAREERXCHANGE serves the South Florida market, and also provides staffing solutions to over 500 companies ranging from mid-size to large Fortune 500 corporations. The company’s success stems from its business philosophy as well: increasing performance, reducing cycle times, and improving return on investment in its client’s core business through use of a contingent workforce and qualified direct hire candidates. Last year CAREERXCHANGE provided jobs for over 2000 employees.

Sue is a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), a Certified Temporary Specialist (CTS), and a Certified Staffing Professional (CSP). Currently, she serves on the Executive Committee and is a founder of ANSERTEAM, the Alliance of National Staffing and Employment Resources. Enterprising Women Magazine has just honored Sue as Enterprising Woman of the Year for 2005. In 2002, she received the Business Woman of the Year Award from the South Florida Business Journal, in the Corporation category.

Sue has published numerous articles, and has been cited in both newspapers and national magazines. She has lectured at Nova, FIU and Miami Dade College. Sue is a resident of Weston, FL.

Contact Lauren

Janna Ronert

Founder & Chairwoman, Image Skincare

Janna Ronert, Founder of Image Skincare, has always had an entrepreneurial spirit running through her veins. From an early age, makeup and skincare were her favorite products to experiment with and after graduating from the Univeristy of Nebraska, she set her sights on a careet in the skincare indsutry. Yet a bout of problematic rosacea forced her to create her professional skin-care company out of her apartment as she was unable to find a skincare line without parabens or chemicals to solve her skin issues. Today, Image Skincare is a recognizable, efficacious, and affordable international company with over 25,000 customers and is best known for changing the health and vitality of skin for women in more than 60 countries. Never one to slow down—she jumps on a good idea when she sees one—Janna is also is the Co-Founder of Hush & Hush, a line of luxury beauty supplements to live younger, longer, which launched in 2019 to rave reviews and has quickly become an industry favorite. 

 Janna, an international health and wellness speaker and female empowerment advocate, is active in several organizations including C200 (the preeminent global organization for women business leaders), where she serves as Council Leader for Entrepreneurial Success, IWF (International Women’s Forum), IMPACT Women, and TCI (The Commonwealth Institute). She also mentors young women globally to help them achieve their dreams. MidOcean partnered with Image Skincare in 2015 and recognized the brand as an industry leader clinical products for the professional skincare market.  And now a founder of an empowerment program, Rise Up, for senior women across the MidOcean portfolio.  Janna is extremely active in her alma mater (University of Nebraska) as a Trustee and even created the “Husker Hustle” scholarship to support college students in their journey of entrepreneurialism.

 Janna, who has been featured in Forbes, is also the recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 and Florida Business Journal’s CEO of the Year in 2016. She and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Marc Ronert, are the Co-Founders of Care for Skin Foundation, which helps underprivileged children in need of reconstructive skin procedures. She lives in Palm Beach County with her husband and twin children.

Kerry-Ann Royes

President & CEO, YWCA South Florida

Kerry-Ann Royes is a mom, businesswoman and a 25-year veteran of the social sector, particularly passionate about social issues affecting women and girls. As CEO of YWCA South Florida, a non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate racism, empower women and stand up for justice, Kerry-Ann brings a wealth of expertise in social justice and innovation, strategic alliances, management and leadership to evolve the social dynamic of the region through the mission of YWCA South Florida.

Now past YWCA South Florida’s 100th year, Kerry-Ann remains committed to carrying out the organization’s mission of rooting out social injustices and addressing all discrimination issues that happen at the intersection of race and gender. She has led the rebrand of YWCA to a regional presence serving both Dade and Broward Counties, the expansion of the board include men for the first time in 100 years, and, the successful mobilization of the largest community-wide movement, called the 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge, in South Florida. Looking forward, she plans to continue expanding the YWCA mission footprint until everyone sees all women, girls, and people of color the way she does: Equal, Powerful and Unstoppable.

Rony Shir

Assistant Dean and Executive Director, University of Miami Herbert Business School

Rony Shir is the Assistant Dean and Executive Director overseeing Executive Education at University of Miami Herbert Business School. In her role, she focuses on leading the strategic and operational priorities of MHBS’s Executive Education department. Rony works closely with faculty and staff to develop and deliver a portfolio of non-degree programs and facilitate collaboration and sustainable partnerships with clients. She oversees program design and implementation focused on the financial and operational aspects, with keen attention to the success in both content delivery and program execution. Rony serves as a key strategist for expanding the current portfolio of companies and growth of the department. Rony graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Miami’s Professional MBA Program and awarded Valedictorian.

Galina Russell

Principal, Somova Consulting Group (SCG)

Galina Russell is the Principal of Somova Consulting Group (SCG), a boutique practice providing consulting and advisory services to businesses in hypergrowth cycles. Her practice focuses on digital transformation, strategy, operations and finance across shared mobility, fleet electrification, and energy-as-a-service sectors. Prior to launching SCG, Ms. Russell held senior leadership roles with several startups, including serving as a Senior Vice President at Reef Technology, a Miami based technology unicorn where she also co-found and led Reef Energy.

Throughout her career she has been at the frontier of establishing partnerships with public and private sector organizations to pioneer the transformation of traditional transportation & infrastructure into shared, autonomous, and electric mobility.

In addition to leading startups, Ms. Russell worked in multiple fortune 100 companies, including McKinsey & Company and Sixt SE.

As a senior leader, Galina enjoys mentoring other women and employs her experience to help companies better engage their female talent. In conjunction with her career, she is actively involved with non-profits supporting youth in foster.

Galina is well traveled and multilingual, speaking Russian, English, advanced Mandarin (Chinese) and Spanish. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a Chinese language certificate from Harvard University in Cambridge.

Lindy Smiley

Managing Director, Global Head of Human Resources, Starwood Property Trust

Lindy Smiley is currently Managing Director and Global Head of Human Resources. In this role Lindy’s oversight includes Talent Management, Compensation and Benefits for the US and European operation. Lindy works closely with the executive team on all employment related matters. Prior to joining Starwood, Lindy spent nearly fifteen years working in various capacities of Human Resources both in New York and Miami. Lindy’s career began on the recruitment side with Progressive Insurance and then moved into the Financial Services arena as an HR Generalist for Moody’s, supporting Structured Finance. Lindy also spent five years with Morgan Stanley as a Director of Human Resources where she supported a number of infrastructure areas including Legal and Compliance.

Lindy holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Syracuse University with an emphasis in Human Resources, and a MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

LaToya Stirrup

Co-Founder & CEO, Stirrup Unlimited, LLC

LaToya Stirrup has over fifteen years of experience in Advertising and Marketing, managing award winning campaigns and performing in the disciplines of account management, project management, production and traffic. While working at Ogilvy (2004 - 2006) and AgencyNet Interactive (2006 - 2011), which is now AgencyTen, she actively managed enterprise-level digital solutions for brands such as Slim-Fast, Promise Buttery Spread, Dove, Nickelodeon, Bacardi, Grey Goose, Island Def Jam, Ruby Tuesday, and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Upon joining The Community (2011 - 2013), she expanded her experience as Director of Project Management & Creative Resource Manager by working to build the Project Management Department and establish processes for resource management within the agency. She also had the opportunity to lead all digital initiatives and delve into traditional media as well as the US Hispanic/LATAM market handling TV, print, radio, direct marketing as well as experiential projects for brands such as Volvo Cars, Converse, Time Warner Cable, Modelo Especial, Trident, and Corona Extra.

Beyond her ad agency background, LaToya has entrenched herself in the local community development, historic preservation and technology sectors. In 2012, LaToya began providing pro bono advertising, strategic planning, production, and branding services to support the various initiatives of the Collaborative Development Corporation in Coconut Grove including the launch of KROMA Art Space & Studios. Realizing the nascent opportunities in South Florida, LaToya decided it was time to become her own CEO and leverage her diverse experience as a strategic consultant and project manager in July 2013. Two months later, LaToya would become a founding member of Digital Grass Innovation & Technology. Digital Grass is a technology and social impact accelerator, which presents LaToya with the opportunity to provide budding entrepreneurs with a level of strategic thinking and execution usually only afforded to toptier brands. Through Digital Grass, which is a Knight Foundation Grantee, LaToya and team are also highlighting the work being done by top influencers in the South Florida tech and innovation ecosystem through visual storytelling and weekly shows such as Tech, Beats & Bytes. In 2016, LaToya and her two sisters launched KAZMALEJE, a company that looks to change the way consumers embrace themselves and their curls by developing innovative hair care tools and lifestyle accessories. LaToya is also the recipient of awards such as Walker’s Legacy Power Award, Legacy Miami 40 Under 40 Award and is actively involved in various community organizations and boards.

Iciar “Chio” Zubiria

Sr. Director of Customer Service, Bacardi North America

Chio has more than 25 years of cross functional experience specializing in business development, analytics, strategic planning, and supply chain. These days, she is responsible for developing and delivering the customer service strategy for the Bacardi North America region.

Her personal passion for building high-performing teams and increasing diversity have led her to co-chair the Bacardi Women in Leadership (WIL) initiative for North America. In addition to her day job, she volunteers to inspire others to design programs that drive conversations and action to promote the female workforce. Among the many efforts she supports is mentorship and a 12-month self-leadership module designed to propel future female leaders.

Chio believes her purpose in life is to help and inspire others to become a better version of themselves. This shows up in her work at Bacardi and outside the office. Chio, who loves to run, Zumba, yoga and wellness podcasts, is also a Certified Health Coach.

As a proud mother of three teenage boys, her goal as a parent is to raise independent, kind, grateful young men who find happiness in the little things in life. She hopes one day they will become great advocates for women empowerment in the workplace.

Chio earned her MBA from Florida International University. She participated in an Executive Leadership Program with the IESE Business School and Darden School of Business and as well as an Advanced Leadership Program with the University of Miami, both sponsored by Bacardi.

Meet our Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Pamela Reeve

Evelyn Barahona

Tricia Benjamin

Fay Donohue

Anne Doyle

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert

Elizabeth Hailer

John Hailer

Kip Hollister

Beatriz Lorenzo

Mim Minichiello

Evelyn Murphy

Katy O’Neil

Terrie Perella

Colette Phillips

Jody Robie

Jeff Swartz

Kim Walsh

Florida Board of Advisors

Gabriela Adessi

Liz Alicea-Velez

Tami Blanco

Tina Brown

Melanie Dickinson

Kirsten Dolan

Dorothy Eisenberg

Jerry Haar

Amy Hurwitz

Laura Kaplan

Lisa Kauffman

Veronica Millares

Flora Perez

Sue Romanos

Janna Ronert

Kerry-Ann Royes

Rony Shir

Galina Russell

Lindy Smiley

LaToya Stirrup

Iciar “Chio” Zubiria

Emeritus Board

Lois E. Silverman

Kirk Arnold

Deb Besemer

Wendy Cebula

Barbara Nobles Crawford, Ph.D.

Dr. Beverly “Bev” Edgehill

Deborah Ellinger

Grace K. Fey

Carol Fulp

Carol Goldberg

Emily Green

Lauren Jennings

Linda Kanner

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Karen Kupferberg

Lois Lindauer

Irma Fisher Mann

Barbara Marx

Linda Paresky

Jennifer Potter-Brotman

June Rokoff

Aviva Sapers

Shirley Singleton

Helene Solomon

Susan Lewis Solomont

Phyllis S. Swersky

Jean Tempel

Dorothy Terrell

Bennie Wiley

Are you looking to learn, grow and become part of a community of other successful women?

Thanks for signing up!

Thanks for signing up!

Pamela Reeve

Evelyn Barahona

Tricia Benjamin

Andrea Cohen

Fay Donohue