• Leadership Florida’s board of directors for the 2021-2022 program year include Pat Kilbane, general counsel and wealth adviser of Ullmann Wealth Partners, Jacksonville Beach, as Northeast Region Council Chair; and Aundra Wallace, president of JAXUSA Partnership, Jacksonville, as an at-large member.
• Stephen Rowland joined Business Valuation Inc. as a senior analyst to prepare business valuations for purposes including estate planning and gifting, tax compliance, purchase or sale, and strategic planning.
• Catholic Charities Bureau Inc. named Lori Weber as regional director of its Jacksonville regional office to oversee the organization’s operations and programs. She spent seven years working for the American Culinary Federation and ACF Education Foundation in St. Augustine.
• Cdr. Cheryl Cottrell assumed the role of director for branch health clinics at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. She previously served as officer in charge of Naval Branch Health Clinic Millington, Tennessee.
• Capt. Carl Goforth assumed the role of director for nursing services at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. He previously served as a researcher at Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
• Jacksonville-based Stellar, a design, engineering, construction, refrigeration and mechanical services company, added Garland Smith as a business developer in the company’s Food Logistics division. He previously spent 20 years in the construction industry, primarily as a senior manager directing and overseeing projects.Â
• Lee Anderson Louy joined North Florida Land Trust as the director of philanthropic services to lead the fundraising arm of the nonprofit land conservation organization. She most recently served as director of development for the University of North Florida College of Education and Human Services.Â
• The Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens board of directors elected Adam Robinson to the board. He is managing partner at Hartman, Blitch & Gartside CPAs and serves clients in the area of audit, tax and consulting.Â
• The National Association of Realtors 2022 Single Family Investment Management Committee named Traditions Realty LLC Owner-Broker-Realtor Sally Suslak in Jacksonville as its chair. NAR uses more than 100 nationwide committees to guide its official policies and priorities.Â
• The Cathedral Arts Project appointed Melanie Hammer as its first vice president of strategy and operations.Â
• BHRS Companies hired Leslie Payne as marketing manager to lead marketing initiatives, communications and public relations.
• Memorial Hospital of Jacksonville named David Threatt as chief nursing officer. He previously was the CNO at Coliseum Medical Centers in Macon, Georgia.Â
• Crowley Maritime Corp. appointed Massimo Messina as vice president, mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, Messina served as president at BG Strategic Advisors LLC, an advisory firm focused on the logistics and supply chain industry.
• GreenPointe Holdings LLC promoted Blake Weatherly to finance director to support the company’s development division. He joined the company in 2017 and has served as finance associate. His experience included serving as a senior associate and finance team lead for Block One Ventures in Jacksonville.
• The Daniel child-serving agency named David Cognetta as director of development to support major fundraising initiatives for programs, including foster care, community services, adoption and more. He previously was senior manager of distinguished gifts at Children’s Home Society of Florida.
• Cmdr. Tshawnda Burke assumed the role of chief medical officer at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. Burke previously served as medical executive committee chair and pediatrician at U.S. Naval Hospital Naples, Italy.
• Baptist Physician Partners promoted Mary Leen to vice president of clinical operations. The group is a clinically integrated network of Baptist Health and physicians. Since 2014, Leen served as the director and then executive director of care coordination for the group.
• North Florida Land Trust named Ramesh Buch as director of conservation acquisitions to oversee all aspects of its conservation activities. He previously was director of the real estate services program for the St. Johns River Water Management District since 2016. Buch spent 15 years as the program supervisor for the Alachua County Forever Land Conservation Program with the Alachua County Department of Environmental Protection.
• Pet Paradise hired Jason Duffy as vice president of resort operations. He will lead operations Pet Paradise’s 45 locations. He has more than 20 years of operational experience and former leadership roles at Clear, Walmart and Meijer. Dina Beam, Pet Paradise’s former vice president of operations, will be the company’s vice president of resort training and customer service. Beam has been with Pet Paradise for more than 12 years.
• 121 Financial named Daryl Pressley as vice president of operations and promoted Nicole Vander Kolk, who leads 121 Financial’s community involvement and sponsorship initiatives, to marketing manager. Pressley leads the credit union’s contact center and lending center teams. He recently served as associate vice president of centralized lending and call center operations at Sunstate Federal Credit Union (now Radiant Credit Union) in Gainesville. Vander Kolk began her career at 121 Financial in 2018 as marketing coordinator before earning a promotion to marketing specialist earlier this year.Â
• Mariam Shpeen Feist joined the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida as CEO. Originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Feist is the former president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.Â
• Jax Federal Credit Union appointed Karen DeSalvo as its first chief experience officer. She will build strategic initiatives to enhance Jax Federal Credit Union’s products and services and oversee efforts to promote sustainable growth.
• The Jacksonville-based TOTE LLC maritime transportation, vessel services and terminal operations company expanded its leadership team. Mike Noone, president of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico LLC, was promoted to chief operating officer for TOTE Group. Kevin Kendrick was named president of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and Alex Hofeling was named president of TOTE Maritime Alaska LLC.
• The St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce announced its leadership for fiscal 2021-22:
Chairman: Jim Bush, Florida Power & Light, who served as vice chairman in fiscal 2020-21.
Vice Chair: Beth Sweeny, Flagler College
Treasurer: Berta Odom, RE/MAX 100 Realty
Secretary: Orville Dothage, Northrop Grumman
Immediate past chair: Dr. Erika Hamer
Economic Development Council Chair: Mike Koppenhafer, Fisher Koppenhafer Architecture and Interior Design
• Travis Williams joined LIFT JAX as vice president of operations and impact. The nonprofit works with residents and community partners to revitalize Jacksonville’s historic Eastside neighborhood. Williams was the senior director of communications for the Kids Hope Alliance.
• The Florida State College at Jacksonville district board of trustees elected new officers and announced a new board member.
Michael Bell was elected to serve as board chair. He joined the board in August 2017.
Wayne Young was elected as vice chair for Duval County. He joined in February 2018.
Laura DiBella was elected as vice chair for Nassau County. She joined in March 2018.
Dr. Andrew Shaw joined the board, representing Duval County. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him for a term that started July 12 through May 31, 2025. He succeeds Thomas Majdanics, who served from June 1, 2013, to July 12, 2021.Â
• The YMCA of Florida’s First Coast added five members to the Metropolitan board of directors.Â
They are Mark Bennett, market president of Bank of America Jacksonville; Henry Brown, president and CEO of Miller Electric Co.; Shantel Davis, vice president and group manager of The Greenbrier Companies Southeast region; Ivan Gordon, managing director of Raymond James & Associates; and Alex Sifakis, founder and president of JWB Real Estate Companies.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis made several area appointments of Northeast Florida residents:
Allison Korman Shelton, former director of government affairs for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and previously vice president of marketing and public relations for The Stellar Group, to the University of North Florida board of trustees.
Art Graham to the Florida Public Service Commission. He has served on the commission since 2010, serving three terms as chairman. Previously, he was president of Art Environmental Consulting Services, senior recovery engineer at Georgia Pacific Corp. and a sales engineer at Betz PaperChem.Â
Kelly Gray-Eurom and 4th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Mark Mahon to the Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Gray-Eurom is an emergency medicine physician at UF Health Jacksonville and a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Mahon oversees the court’s Mental Health Offender Program.Â
Wayne Young, Andrew Shaw and Michael Bell to the Florida State College at Jacksonville district board of trustees. Young is vice president of environmental services for JEA; Shaw is a medical doctor and neurosurgeon with Lyerly Neurosurgery at Baptist Health; Bell is vice president of public affairs at Rayonier Inc.
Nicholas Primrose, chief of regulatory compliance for the Jacksonville Port Authority, to the Florida Elections Commission, designated chair.
Sondra Santana, a retired U.S. Navy commander and family nurse practitioner, to the Task Force on Closing the Achievement Gap for Boys.
Donald Moran, president of Wheelers Medical Supply, and Tyler Morris, executive director of Opportunity Development, to the Florida Independent Living Council.
Richard Komando, an attorney and partner at Bradley, Garrison and Komando; Wendell Davis, former executive vice president of Watson Realty Corp. and former Clay County commissioner; and Makayla Buchanan, executive director of the Clay Education Foundation, to the St. Johns River State College district board of trustees.
Scott McClelland, vice president for Commercial Pharmacy and Healthcare Solutions for Florida Blue, to the Rare Disease Advisory Council.
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