Lois E. Silverman
Founding Chair

The Commonwealth Institute

Lois E. Silverman was the founder of CRA Managed Care (now Concentra Managed Care), a provider of services to reduce the costs of workers' compensation, automobile, disability and health insurance claims. She served as Chairman of the Board of the public company from 1994 to September 1997 and as Chief Executive Officer from 1988 to 1995. Mrs. Silverman is one of the first women in Massachusetts to bring a company public.

Mrs. Silverman is Director and Vice Chair of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a director of Fiduciary Trust Company and Immunetics, Inc. She is the former chair of the board of Community Servings - a program providing meals to individuals with AIDS, an overseer at Tufts University Medical School, a corporator at Simmons College, a trustee at Brandeis University, a member of the Chairman's Cabinet at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged and a director of Kramer Senior Services Agency. She sits on the board of the Women’s Studies Program at Brandeis University, is a member of The Boston Club, The Committee of 200, and the International Women's Forum.

Recognized by her peers for her business acumen and leadership abilities, Mrs. Silverman was named "Businesswoman of the Year" by the New England Women Business Owners Association in 1991. She was honored by the New England Council with the receipt of the Women's Leadership Award in 1996, by The United Way of Massachusetts Bay at the Women's Leadership Breakfast in 1997, and by the South Shore Women's Business Network with the Women Mean Business Award in 1998. The Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council has recognized her as a 1998 Leading Woman. She is a 2000 recipient of Northwood University's outstanding business leader award. She was honored by The Colonel Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester with the New England Women's Leadership Award in 2001 and was also inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers, Class of 2000, by the YWCA Boston. She is a 2002 Big Sister Achievement Award honoree. Mrs. Silverman has been named to the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Boston by Boston Magazine, May 2003. She received her nursing degree from Beth Israel Hospital in 1961 and an honorary doctorate from Babson College in 2003.

Robin Brooks

Treasurer, TCI South Florida
Chairman & CEO

Brooks Food Group, Inc.

Robin C. Brooks is currently Chairman and majority owner of Brooks Food Group, Inc., which operates two food processing plants. Corporate Headquarters is located in the Bedford, Virginia, facility and the second plant is in Monroe, North Carolina . Both plants process and market specialty frozen foods that are sold to the foodservice industry with emphasis on restaurant chains. Previously, Ms. Brooks was Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer of the company and was responsible for developing and implementing the strategies needed to achieve company growth and profit objectives as well as investment returns. Additionally, she directed the Company's overall financial plans and policies, accounting practices and relationships with financial institutions, stakeholders and major customers/ investment community. Ms. Brooks is responsible for the acquisition of the Bedford plant from McCormick & Company in July, 1995, as well as the acquisition of the Monroe plant from Wampler Foods in March, 1999.

Prior to pursuing the acquisition of the Brooks' family-owned companies, Ms. Brooks provided strategic business planning and transaction advisory services for numerous Fortune 1000 clients including Nestle, Pillsbury, Kraft, International Multifoods, General Motors, Citibank, First Chicago and Household Bank to name a few. Ms. Brooks specializes in the analysis and valuation of business entities and security interests for transaction pricing and litigation purposes. Ms. Brooks has more than 20 years experience in providing merger and acquisition, debt restructuring and corporate finance activities on behalf of former employers, including Williamette Management Associates, Deloitte & Touche and Arthur D. Little Valuation, Inc. Early in her career, Ms. Brooks held several positions related to commercial lending and finance.

Ms. Brooks holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Smith College and a Masters of Management degree in finance and economics from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ms. Brooks is a board member of United Enterprise Fund, The Commonwealth Institute, the MultiCultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, and The Committee of 200. She is an active member of the Women's Foodservice Forum and serves as mentor for aspiring female executives and entrepreneurs. The Women's Foodservice Forum named Ms. Brooks as their 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2001, Ms. Brooks received Ernst & Young's Virginia Entrepreneur of the Year award. She is an appointee of the SBA National Advisory Council. In addition, Ms. Brooks actively supports numerous civic and social service organizations.

Ruth Haase Cooper

Vice President

Merrill Lynch

Ruth has devoted nearly three decades to serving the needs of Merrill Lynch clients here in downtown Miami. Her career began at Merrill Lynch in 1976 as one of the first female financial advisors. Ruth has focused on multi-generational planning, retirement planning, insurance & annuities, business retirement plans, fixed income, and private institutional managed accounts. Ruth is a founder of Mount Sinai Medical Center, on the Board of Governors for The Miami City Club, as well as past President of The Downtown Miami Business and Professional Women's Club. As the leader of The Cooper – Brunk Group her vast experience and knowledge provides a secure foundation for one of Merrill Lynch's premier financial services teams. Ruth has been married for over 20 years and with her husband Marc, an attorney, enjoys, the theater, boating, fishing, cooking and travel. Ruth has been a Florida resident for over 40 years and is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Jesus Diaz, Jr.
President, The Miami Herald Publishing Company (MHPC)

Publisher, The Miami Herald

Jesus Diaz is the President of The Miami Herald Publishing Company (MHPC), and Publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. The MHPC publishes The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, and owns Biscayne Bay Publishing (BBP), publisher of hotel publications for tourist destinations such as Miami , Bermuda , St. Maarten and Cabo San Lucas. BBP also publishes magazines, including Aboard airline publications and Double-A apartment magazines.

Mr. Diaz rejoined the MHPC in 2002 as General Manager, a position he held until July of 2005 when he became President and Publisher. Prior to rejoining the MHPC in 2002, Mr. Diaz served as Managing Partner of the Miami Office of Ernst & Young, where he hired most of the employees in Arthur Andersen's South Florida audit practice. During his three years as Managing Partner, Ernst & Young became the largest accounting firm in South Florida .

Prior to rejoining Ernst & Young in 1997, Mr. Diaz was the Financial Services Manager for the Greater Europe Group of the Coca-Cola Company, gaining valuable international experience and helping to plan for and manage the operations of a group of businesses representing a third of the Coca-Cola Company's revenues.

Mr. Diaz joined Coca-Cola after serving as Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of the Miami Herald Publishing Company from 1993 to 1996. While at the Herald, Mr. Diaz worked on a number of special projects, including a $32 million cost saving campaign, a project to explore the future of newspapers in a changing marketplace, and a reengineering project for the Herald's parent company, Knight-Ridder, Inc.

Mr. Diaz first joined the Herald in 1992 from Ernst & Young, where he started his career in the Atlanta Office in 1982 before transferring to the Miami Office in 1989. While at Ernst & Young, Mr. Diaz served some of the firm's largest clients, including Knight-Ridder, Inc., Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., RJR Nabisco, Inc., and Genuine Parts Company.

Mr. Diaz was the recipient of the 1995 Knight-Ridder Finance Excellence Award and was named to the “1995 20 and under 40” list by the Newspaper Association of America.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Accounting/Finance (summa cum laude) from Emory University Business School .

Mr. Diaz is 44 years old and is married to Amy Frances Castle of Atlanta, Georgia. He and Amy have a daughter, Elizabeth.

Jesus holds or has held board memberships in the Miami Children Hospital Foundation, the Florida International University Foundation, the United Way of Miami Dade County, the I Have a Dream Foundation, Newspaper First, the Work-Life Balance Institute for Women, the Florida Venture Forum, Goodwill Industries of Miami-Dade County, the Florida Regional Minority Purchasing Council and Junior Achievement of Greater Miami, and the Miami City Club. He is a member of the American and Florida Societies of Certified Public Accountants.

Sara Herald

Chief Administrative Officer

Regions Bank

Sara is a native Miamian, and attorney, business women, community activist and long-time children's advocate.  She is the Chied Administrative Officer of Regions Bank, Southeast Region.  Sara is responsible for coordinating support functions such as himan resources, training, marketing, facilities, finance, mergers & acquisitions for the bank's Southeast market (NC, VA, SC, GA & FL). She practiced law as a shareholder for eleven years with Fine Jacobson Schwartz Nash Block & England, P.A.  She was a corporate/real estate transactional lawyer.  Her legal work included extensive experience negotiating public/private transactions.  These experiences have contributed to her understand of the benefit and possibilities of community collaboration.  Her pro bono work was predominately in the area of juvenile dependency. For the six years prior to joining the bank she served as Regional Vice President of Children's Home Society of Florida, Inc/  During that period she also serves as a District Adminstrator for the Department of Children and Families.  Sara has extensive experience with nonprofit organizations, both professionally and  through her civic activities.

Sara received her B.A. from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. Over the years, Mrs. Herald has been on a multitude of boards and committees and served in many volunteer capacities, including current service for the Orange Bowl Committee, the School Readiness Coalition, the Miami-Dade Children's Trust, the Miami Children's Museum, the Overtown Youth Center, The Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida and South Miami Hospital. When Governor Bush was elected she served as the Social Service Policy Transition Coordinator for his new administration. She has also been recognized for her service and involvement through numerous awards which reflect her belief in and commitment to social betterment.

Sara has been married for 29 years to her husband Bing and is the mother of four children ages 18 to 24.

Ann M. Holmes
Private Supporter

Consultant

Ann M. Holmes has been a successful entrepreneur starting and selling medical communications companies in New York City for more than 20 years. Ms. Holmes began her career in medical communications at MedCom, Inc. She subsequently moved to Biomedical Information Corporation, where she rose to Vice-President, Executive Editor. During that time she also co-authored a book with Ezra Amsterdam, MD, Take Care of Your Heart, and wrote Nutrition and Vitamins , a book published by TIME. In 1998, she co-authored VIAGRA with Robert Kloner, MD, PhD and Jonathan Jarow, MD.

Ms. Holmes co-founded her first company, TransMedica, Inc., in 1981. TransMedica, Inc. created MD/TV, the first medical education network broadcast on open-channel television that produced half-hour medical education programs targeted at physicians. Each program segment also carried advertisements for brand-name prescription drugs, the first time in the history of broadcast television that prescription drugs were advertised on television. In 1984, TransMedica, Inc., was sold to CBS, Inc., New York, NY.

Ms. Holmes left CBS, Inc., in late 1986 to start her second medical communications company, AM Medica Communications, Ltd. AM Medica was acquired by ACCESS Worldwide Communications, Inc. in October 1998. Ms. Holmes remained as President of AM Medica until March 2000, and then became a consultant to ACCESS through June 2003.

In 1995 Ms. Holmes co-founded AMM-Adelphi, LLC, another medical communications company that focused on strategic publication planning. In 1998 Ms. Holmes took over this company and changed the name to AMM Publications, Inc. The company's business was subsequently acquired by ACCESS Worldwide in June, 2000. In 1997, Ms. Holmes co-founded MultiMedia in Medicine, Inc., with two physician partners. This company created medical educational computer- interactive programs and was successful in its first year. The company was dissolved in 1998, after ACCESS Worldwide acquired AM Medica.

Ms. Holmes currently works as a consultant to business startups and is active in several professional organizations that support women in business and women entrepreneurs. She is a mentor at The Center for Women & Enterprise, a nonprofit organization that empowers women to become economically self-sufficient and prosperous through entrepreneurship; a benefactor of The Women's Venture Network in New York City ; a member of Business & Professional Women/USA and she is on the South Florida Board of The Commonwealth Institute. From 1995-1997 Ms. Holmes also served on the New York State Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association.

Jo Kling
President
Landry & Kling Meetings at Sea

Entrepreneur Jo Kling Trippe served 19 years as president/CEO of Landry & Kling, Inc., the new breed of travel company she co-founded with Joyce Landry in 1982. Their company provided the first distribution channel between cruise lines and corporate America by selling and operating incentive cruises and meetings at sea for Fortune 500 companies including AFLAC, GE, Motorola, EDS, Compaq, Miller Brewing, The Hartford, and others who use incentive travel to motivate peak performance.

Kling and Landry had only $26,000 to start their venture in New York City, with Kling responsible for marketing, finance, administration and retail sales. In 1988 the business relocated to Miami, Cruise Capital of the World, and grew to an annual volume of $17 million by focusing on full-ship charters for corporate groups of up to 2,000 participants cruising worldwide.

As a pioneer of corporate cruise programs, Kling became a virtual industry spokesman, developing a reputation with journalists as a reliable industry source, speaking, writing, and appearing as a cruise industry expert on NBC's Today Show. Landry & Kling Inc. became one of the most highly visible and widely imitated companies in the incentive cruise industry.

Kling achieved every entrepreneur's dream in 1998 when the company was sought after and purchased by a public entity, Travel Services International, the first specialized distributor of leisure travel to be traded on Wall Street. Kling continued in her role as CEO of the Landry & Kling operating unit until 2001, when her husband's illness prompted her resignation.

Earlier in her career, Kling was director of program planning for Holland America Line where she was responsible for the business plans of 5 vessels in worldwide destinations. She also served in marketing and sales positions with advertising and design agencies in New York City.

Jo Kling Trippe is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio; and graduated cum laude from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri with a BS in Psychology. She currently lives in Vero Beach , FL where she's active with Habitat for Humanity, Youth Guidance, the Vero Beach Book Festival and consults on public relations projects.

Lisa A. Landy

Attorney

Akerman Senterfitt

Industry Experience

Aviation, Banking and Financial Institutions

Recognition

• AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• 101 Women to Watch, Miami Metro Magazine, May 2001
• Who's Who 2001 in International Business in Miami and South Florida
• Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Women Business Leaders Guide
• Who's Who in the World, 1998 - present
• Who's Who in American Law, 1996 - present
• Who's Who in American Women, 1997 to present
• Who's Who in America , 1998 - present
• Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 2000 – present

Notable Client Work

• Purchase, sale, lease and finance of commercial aircraft in numerous international transitions.
• Represented Chilean company in launch of radio wave location services in U.S.
• Negotiated finance of roll up of computer equipment suppliers in nine countries in Latin America .
• Structured joint venture acquisition of hotel and recreational facilities for Brazilian ventures.
• Structured launch of branches in Southern Cone for cellular telephone and equipment re-seller.
• Negotiated acquisition of major Mexican electronics' supplier.

Published Work and Lectures

• Author: "Autolatina Inter-American Law Review", Spring 1991
• A Multinational Tells Brazilian Prices to Take a Hike
• 10 Practical Steps to Protecting Your Company's Intellectual Property
• Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Latin America

Bar Admissions

1988, Florida

Professional Memberships and Activity

The Florida Bar

American Bar Association (Member, International Law Section)

Inter-American Bar Association (Assistant Secretary)

Organization of Women in International Trade (Chairman of

the Board)

Women in Technology International of South Florida (Director)

Education

1988: J.D., University of Miami School of Law, cum laude

1985: B.A., Brown University, Major: International Relations

Pat Moran

Vice President, TCI South Florida
Chairman
JM Family Enterprises

Pat Moran is Chairman of the Board of diversified automotive company JM Family Enterprises, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of its core company, Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC, the world's largest private Toyota distributorship. She is dealer/principal of Margate, FL-based JM Lexus, the largest volume Lexus dealership in the world. JM Family is ranked by Forbes as the 15th largest privately owned company in the United States. In January 2004, it was ranked No. 19 by a survey in Fortune ® magazine of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States. The company, which has grown to revenues of $7.7 billion, has major operations in Deerfield Beach, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Mobile, AL, St. Louis, MO, and Commerce, GA.

Pat joined JM Family 20 years ago, and held a variety of positions including Vice President of Associate Relations, where she was responsible for managing Human Resources activities for JM Family; and Group Vice President of Sales, where she directed the marketing and dealer organizational activities for Southeast Toyota. She joined JM Family in an entry-level position as clerk, and rose through the ranks gaining on-the-job training, and learning the business firsthand through each position she held. Pat has been at JM Family's helm since 1989 when she was named President and CEO. The company has consistently surpassed sales and customer satisfaction objectives to maintain its position as an industry leader. Pat has also successfully managed JM Family's growth into new automotive-related businesses as well as expansion in core businesses.

Pat is actively involved in several organizations dedicated to children. Most recently, she founded Deliver the Dream, a not-for-profit retreat program for families facing serious illness or other crisis. In April, 2002, Pat received the national Silver Medallion Award by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) in recognition for serving as a role model in the corporate community and for fellow citizens in the community at large. In 2001, she received the Excalibur Award from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as Business Leader of the Year, Broward County. She is a Board Member of Take Stock in Children, a program that provides mentoring and scholarships to at risk high school students. In addition, she is a recipient of the Excalibur Award from the American Cancer Society for her lead role in the Breast Cancer Initiative, a program developed by the American Cancer Society to increase awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection.

Pat is an active member of the Committee 200, a national organization of women business leaders, the National Association of Automobile Dealers (NADA), the American International Automobile Dealer Association (AIADA) and the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Institute, an organization which provides CEO forums for women entrepreneurs. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Boca Raton Resort and Club as well. Pat is a Board member of the Florida Council of 100 and is serving on its Education Task Force. She was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to serve as a member of Enterprise Florida, which helps guide the state's economic growth.

Pat is also a recipient of the Automotive Hall of Fame's Distinguished Service Citation Award, Northwood Distinguished Women of the Year Award, the Women's Automotive Association International "Spirit of Leadership Award," Leadership Broward's Leader of the Year Award; the National Mother's Day Committee's Outstanding Mother Award; South Florida CEO magazine's "Business Leader of the Year Award;" and the City of Hope's "South Florida Business Women Award."

Pat grew up in Chicago and attended Marquette University in Wisconsin. She has three children and four grandchildren.

Deborah Natansohn

President & COO
Seabourn Cruise Line

Deborah L. Natansohn was appointed president of Seabourn Cruise Line in July of 2004, with a mission to guide the ultra luxury cruise operator through a major reorganization that would create a separate, stand-alone company within the Carnival Corporation family of cruise brands. Seabourn had previously shared numerous functions with Cunard Line, for which Natansohn had served as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Natansohn joined Cunard Line in November 2000. Charged with spearheading the rebranding of the line, she was responsible for the creation, development and execution of all marketing and sales programs throughout the Americas and with the immensely successful introduction of the venerable line's new flagship Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger vessel ever constructed and the first purpose-built transatlantic ocean liner in a generation.

In 2004, she was named Travel Executive of the Year by Travel Trade Magazine in their annual poll of professional travel agents nationwide.

A well-known travel industry veteran, Natansohn brings to Seabourn a wealth of experience and knowledge in marketing cruises and land tours, as well as outstanding executive management skills. From 1998 until beginning her tenure at Cunard, she was president of Orient Lines, breaking the glass ceiling by becoming the first female president of a cruise line in the
United States.

Natansohn began her career as a journalist and entered the travel field as an editor with Travel Trade magazine. Her background includes a five-year stint in London as director of marketing for Travellers International, which operated the TWA Getaway, SAS Viking Vacations and Cunard Europe tour programs in Europe; and three years as director of marketing for the tour company Arthur Frommer International. She also served as vice president of marketing for Ocean Cruise Lines and Pearl Cruises, and as senior vice president at Orient Lines from 1992 until her appointment as the line's president in 1998. In addition, Natansohn has chaired the marketing committee and served on the executive committee for the industry organization Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

A native New Yorker, Natansohn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Journalism from the State University of New York, Albany.

Linda Paresky

Executive Member at Large, TCI South Florida
Private Investor
Founding TCI Board Member

Linda Paresky is an entrepreneur, educator and leader of women’s initiatives. A pioneer in the travel industry, Linda Paresky has profoundly impacted the business of travel. In 1965 she co-founded Crimson Travel in Cambridge, MA and, through internal growth, and later mergers, became co-chairman and owner of Thomas Cook Travel, USA, the third largest travel agency in the country. When American Express acquired Thomas Cook in 1994, she became a Senior Vice President of American Express.

Understanding the value of a skilled industry workforce, in 1975 she founded the Travel Education Center, a nationally accredited travel school that launched the careers of thousands of travel professionals. She also created the first accredited travel training program on the internet.

A noted industry columnist and advocate, Ms. Paresky served on many travel boards including the Research Issues Task Force of the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism, the Academy of Travel and Tourism and the Travel Business Roundtable. Working Woman Magazine and the National Foundation of Women Business Owners named her one of the “Top 50 Women Business Owners”.

From her roots as a graduate of a women’s college, she has been deeply committed to the notion of women helping other women. She is past chair of the board of trustees of Simmons College (a women’s college with graduate programs in education, business, social work, library and information science and health studies), and chair emerita of the Committee of 200 Foundation (an organization devoted to mentoring and supporting the next generation of women business leaders). She is a founding director of the Commonwealth Institute (which helps women entrepreneurs grow their businesses); a past chapter president of the International Women’s Forum; a director of the Thyroid Foundation of America; and former member of the Investment and Services Policy Advisory Committee (INSPAC) to the US Trade Commissioner.

She was a keynote speaker and national judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and has received numerous awards for leadership and service.

Ms. Paresky holds a bachelor’s degree from Simmons College, a master’s degree from Harvard University, a PhD from Boston College and is also the recipient of two honorary degrees.

Toni Randolph

Executive Member at Large/Governance, TCI South Florida
Private Supporter

Toni Randolph is currently retired. She was president/owner/founder of RANOR, Inc., which was founded in 1978 as a private label manufacturer and brand management company for major retailers, some of which include; Wal-Mart and Kmart.

Ms. Randolph has also served a 4-year term as a member of the Small Business and Agriculture Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Some of Ms. Randolph's former accomplishments include: Co-founding the African American Educational Center of New Jersey; Co-leader of the African American Jewish relations group of New Jersey; advisory member for the Black Retailer Action Group(BRAG); president of the Supportive Children Advocacy Network of New York (SCAN), a social service agency; trustee of the New York Community Trust; advisory board member of ALMA ( Adult Literacy Media Alliance-TV411); member of the board of trustees for the RARE center for tropical conservation; chair of the mentoring committee for the Women Venture Fund NY.

Ms. Randolph is presently living in Florida and is a trustee of the Miami Art Museum; The Art Center of South Florida, The Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida and Funding Arts Network. She is an avid golfer and birder.

Gloria Rodriguez
CEO & Founder
Click Pharmacy

Mrs. Rodriguez has over 27 years of experience in all aspects of the pharmacy trade, including distribution, merchandising, marketing planning, brand development and launching in both over-the-counter and prescription products. She has gained immeasurable knowledge of the modus operandi of national wholesalers, pharmacy chains, community pharmacies and manufacturing pharmaceutical companies. Mrs. Rodriguez has led Kramer Laboratories, Inc., a successful family enterprise which she expanded from a local ethnic business to a national operation by obtaining new channels of distribution, developing innovative marketing and sales strategies and expanding product base. The business experienced annual revenue growth from $250,000 to $12,000,000 within three years.

From her wealth of knowledge and experience leading Kramer Laboratories, Mrs. Rodriguez founded and launched ClickPharmacy.com in December 1998. Click Pharmacy provides both businesses and consumers with online pharmacy related products and services supported by a network of local community pharmacies. ClickPharmacy is one of the very few online companies that survived the ephemeral.com boom period.

Mrs. Rodriguez has been active in the pharmacy industry for over 27 years. She is the founding member of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, a network of affiliates that unite the women's marketplace through the preeminent national Women's Chamber of Commerce network. Mrs. Rodriguez is also a protégé of The Committee of 200. The C200 is an organization of preeminent business women that capitalizes on the success, power and influence of the women in the global economy. The C200's mission is to exemplify and promote entrepreneurship and corporate leadership among women of this generation and the next.

Ann M. Rosenberg

Co-Founder and CEO

Let's Make Wine

Ann was born in New Jersey in 1944 and moved with family to New Hampshire in 1946. She grew up in Farmington NH on a truck farm, which included a commercial apple orchard. Ann attended Plymouth State College in Plymouth NH, a branch of the University of New Hampshire, majoring in Business Education and English. She married in 1965 and had one child, a daughter. She then divorced in 1970.

From 1972 thru 1977, Ann worked as as Administrative Assistant to the Founder and Chairman of Dunkin' Donuts Incorporated, William Rosenberg. Ann married William in 1978 and was his wife and partner in many endeavors, including a successful Standardbred horse racing stable and breeding business. William died in 2002. Since that time, Ann has partnered with Thomas A. DeRossett, Jr., in establishing Let's Make Wine, a new concept in the winemaking field where customers make their own wine in the shops, plus numerous other endeavors, including the 1810 Country Inn and Winery in Thomson, GA and the Montezuma Restaurants and Winery in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Ann has investments in real estate on Cape Cod, in Durham, NC; Las Vegas and Henderson, NV; and Boca Raton, FL. She is also President and Director of the William Rosenberg Family Foundation, Inc.; Trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and serves on their South Florida Steering Committee; Trustee of the International Franchise Association Educational Foundation, Inc.; Member of the Board of Directors of the William Rosenberg International Franchising Center at the University of NH. In March 2005, she will join the Board of Directors of the International Franchise Association, which was founded by her late husband and which is one of the largest and most successful trade associations in the world.  

She resides and has offices in Boca Raton FL and is the proud grandmother of 2, step-grandmother of 6, and step-great grandmother of 6.

Adriana Sanchez

President, TCI South Florida
Vice President
Goldman, Sachs & Company

Adriana is Vice President of Private Wealth Management in the Miami office of Goldman Sachs, one of the world's leading investment banks. Adriana has had a long and successful career advising families, individuals and institutions in South Florida and Latin America on investing strategies and comprehensive wealth management.  Adriana is part of the Goldman Sachs Women's Network Steering Committee and the Recruiting Committee. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Adriana worked as a Senior Professional with Price Waterhouse in Boston and several international offices, where she worked mostly with clients in the investment management industry. Adriana obtained her MBA from Harvard Business School. She is actively involved with local community organizations, and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Girls Scouts of South Florida, Saludarte and The Commonwealth Institute of South Florida. She lives in Miami with her husband and two daughters.

Penny Shaffer
Vice President

Private Supporter

Penny Shaffer is an experienced International Business executive who is currently in her twenty fifth year with AT&T, where she began her career in marketing and sales in West Virginia. As the AT&T Global Services Vice President for the Americas Region, she has accountability for serving all existing and potential clients in Canada, Caribbean and Latin America. In Mexico, this includes close cooperation with the AT&T Venture, Alestra. Penny is also the AT&T Client Executive for ING, 3M, SITEL, and MasterCard.

Prior to her current assignment, Penny held the position of AT&T Solutions Vice President for the Caribbean and Latin America Region. In this capacity, she was responsible for establishing the AT&T Solutions team in the region and had full accountability for business development, executive client interface, marketing, sales and service delivery.

Penny moved to the Miami area in July of 1997 to become the Regional Managing Director for AT&T's Business and Consumer Operations in the Caribbean and Latin America Region, after ending an international assignment as the Corporate Quality Director for Alestra.

Throughout her career at AT&T, Penny has held various positions with responsibility for sales, service, quality management and global operations team support. Internationally, she has lived and worked in Dublin, Ireland, Madrid, Spain, and Mexico City, Mexico.

Penny has a Ph.D. in International Business Administration from Kennedy-Western University. She also has an International Executive M.B.A. from Fordham University's program conducted in Dublin, Ireland and a B.A. in Political Science from Frostburg University in Maryland.

Penny is a member of the Florida FTAA Board of Trustees, and a state board member of Take Stock in Children, a non-profit mentoring and scholarship organization. She is a member of the Beacon Council IT-Telecom Task Force, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Latin America Basic Education Initiative (LABEI) Steering Committee.

Jana Sigars-Malina

Xebec Trade Finance Group

Director

Patricia Thorp

President
Thorp & Company

Patricia Thorp is the president and founder of Thorp & Company. Her public relations and marketing consulting firm is one of the largest independent PR agencies in Florida and the Southeast. She has more than 15 years of experience managing successful public relations and marketing communications firms.

Patricia has developed integrated communications programs for leading telecommunications, computer hardware and software companies; the nation's top professional services firms; and the world's largest healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.

Prior to founding Thorp & Company, Patricia was vice president of public relations at one of the largest advertising agencies in Florida. Before this, she managed the Miami office of one of the largest PR firms in the world, where she was promoted from freelancer to general manager in less than three years.

Active in industry and community affairs, Patricia was the convening chair of the Communications Task Force for the Alliance for Ethical Government and is a trustee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Counselor's Academy of the Public Relations Society of America, the National Investor Relations Institute, Who's Who in America and the International Who's Who of Professionals. She was a member of the 2003 Gala Committee of the National Conference for Humanity and Justice. She is a charter member of the Small Business Leadership Commission, representing business leaders in Coral Gables, Florida. She has also served as chairperson of the Miami City Ballet's marketing committee and the International Advertising Association's events committee. She is a Fellow of Fairchild Tropical Garden as well as a member of the Garden's Rare Event committee

Patricia earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, where she majored in public relations, was named Outstanding Student of the Year and received four honors scholarships.

She resides in Coconut Grove. Her passions include scuba diving and orchids.

Elissa Vanaver
Vice President Human Resources
The Miami Herald

Elissa Vanaver has been Vice President for Human Resources and Assistant to the Publisher for the Miami Herald Publishing Co. since November 2002. Prior to that, she was an editor in the Herald newsroom for 15 years, holding a variety of positions leading up to Managing Editor/Features and Operations.

Her 25-year journalism career also has included management and editing stints at the Dallas Times Herald and the San Jose Mercury News, and she was part of a Miami Herald team that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News on the Elian Gonzalez story.

Elissa holds a bachelor's degree in foreign affairs and Russian studies from the University of Virginia and a master's in journalism from Northwestern University.

She's currently a board member for Herald Charities and Summerbridge Miami. She lives with her husband and 16 year old son in Coral Gables.

Teresa Weintraub
President

Fiduciary Trust International

Since 1998, Ms. Weintraub has been President and CEO of Fiduciary Trust International of the South, a trust and investment management company. Ms. Weintraub also is a member of the Executive Committee of Fiduciary Trust Co., the parent company. Fiduciary and its affiliates manage more than $770 billion in assets worldwide. Fiduciary is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, which owns the Templeton, Franklin and Mutual Series Funds.

From 1996 to 1998, Ms. Weintraub was Vice President and Trust Officer of Northern Trust Bank of Florida. For the prior 11 years (from 1986 to 1996), she was employed by the University of Miami in positions of increasing responsibility. Her last position at UM was as Executive Director of Development. She began her career in 1979 as a Tax Attorney with Exxon Corporation in New York City.

Ms. Weintraub is a member of The Florida Bar and serves on the Boards of the Miami Children's Hospital, Dade Community Foundation, the Dade County Leave A Legacy Program, and Arts for Learning.

She has lectured extensively in the areas of trusts, estates, and charitable gift planning.