LEADERSHIP BIOS

 

Directors


James W. Davidson, Chairman of the Board of Directors

James W. Davidson is a founding general partner of Banyan Mezzanine Fund, L.P. in Miami, Florida, which currently has over $220 million under management. He is a general partner of South Atlantic Private Equity IV, L.P. and has been affiliated with this fund group since 1993. Prior to that time, Mr. Davidson was an investment banker for 20 years with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. Mr. Davidson moved to Miami and established Davidson Capital Partners, an NASD member firm that provided corporate finance and management advisory services to emerging growth companies and family-owned businesses in 1991. He has previously served as a director of American Savings & Loan Association of Florida and Equinox Systems, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, as well as three private companies, and is currently a director of two private companies. He also served as a director of the Florida Venture Capital Forum from 1995 to 2000, and as its Chairman in 1998. He is member of the Board of Directors of the Plymouth Congregational Church Foundation, Inc. and is currently a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of Palmer Trinity School, Miami. Mr. Davidson holds a BA degree from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He resides in Pinecrest, Florida.



Allan J. Pekor, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors

Allan J. Pekor retired from Lennar Corporation, a national homebuilder and financial services company, where he served as a senior executive for 29 years, 18 of which as CFO, 7 of which as CEO of Lennar Financial Services and 4 of which as CEO of the Lennar Foundation, on whose Board he continues to serve. Prior to joining Lennar, Mr. Pekor held senior management positions with the Rockefeller organization, where he was involved in international housing and real estate development, primarily in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil, and with Hovnanian Enterprise, a national homebuilder. He is a CPA, having earned a bachelors degree from Pace University in New York, where he also served as a faculty member and as a Trustee. He is a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Community Partnership for the Homeless, Inc., with responsibility for overseeing development efforts. He has also co-chaired an annual fundraising campaign of United Way of Miami-Dade County and served as Chairman of its Finance Committee. Mr. Pekor resides in Miami Beach, Florida.



Willard L. Wheeler, Jr., Chairman of the Trust Administration and Investment Committee

Willard L. Wheeler, Jr. served in several capacities for Northern Trust Bank of Florida, N.A. from 1984 until his retirement in 1996, including: member of its board of directors for 9 years, vice chairman and chief investment officer, and as chief investment officer of the Northern Trust of Florida Corporation. Mr. Wheeler was responsible for direction of the bank's investment strategy and portfolio management in the State of Florida. He also served on the investment policy and stock selection committees of the Northern Trust Company. Prior to joining Northern Trust Bank of Florida, N.A., Mr. Wheeler was employed by Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, where he served as senior vice president in charge of investments for all employee benefit funds and executive vice president, chief investment officer and director of the Lionel D. Edie & Company subsidiary. He currently serves as an independent consultant to Northern Trust Bank of Florida, N.A. Mr. Wheeler holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago. He resides in Coral Gables, Florida.



Alberto R. Cardenas

Mr. Cardenas is a partner in the law firm of Tew Cardenas LLP, has been named top of his field in the areas of law, business and politics and is featured in numerous state and national publications. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and has been counsel of record in a number of precedent-setting and published court decisions. Cardenas was selected by his peers as one of "The Best Lawyer in America "from 2007 through 2009. A few of his many honors include being named as one of "Florida Super Lawyers 2008" representing government, cities and municipalities; featured in Latino Leaders magazine and also named as one of "The Most Influential Leaders in the Latino Community Today" in 2008; named one of the "Legal Impact Leaders 2008" by the South Florida Business Leader; one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics 2007" by Hispanic Business; and consistently named as "The 100 Poderosos" in PODER magazine in Business and Movers & Shakers. Mr. Cardenas serves as a trusted advisor to Associated Industries of Florida, known as 'The Voice of Florida Business' representing the principles of prosperity and free enterprise before the three branches of state government since 1920. He is also a representative on the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of Free Trade Agreements (NAC) through the United States Department of Labor. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Washington Bancard, a credit card merchant services company based in Miami. He is also Chairman of the Board of Cardenas Investments I and Cardenas Investments II, with marine project investments in Monroe County and Miami-Dade County, Florida. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of Capitol Bank from 1988 to 1991. President George H. W. Bush appointed Mr. Cardenas to the Board of Directors of the Federal National Mortgage Association from 1985 to 1990. He also served on the President's Trade Policy Commission. Mr. Cardenas was elected to the Board of Directors in October 2009 and resides in Key Biscayne, Florida.



Janet Risi Field

Janet Risi Field has served as president and CEO of the Miami-based Independent Purchasing Cooperative since 1996. In that position, she oversees purchasing for approximately 17,000 Subway® stores in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, she served for three years as senior director of purchasing for Restaurant Services, Inc. Ms. Risi has served the food service industry as a purchasing consultant, and she was a purchasing executive for the Ralston Purina Company and Chef America, a frozen foods manufacturer. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from DePauw University in Indiana. Ms. Risi resides in Pinecrest, Florida.



Humberto Gonzalez

Humberto Gonzalez is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Miami-based Tallard Technologies Inc. (TTI), which he joined in 1994 and guided from an Apple computer distributor into a multi-tiered enterprise known for value-added distribution and systems integration. His 25-plus years in international management, financial systems, and marketing for firms in Venezuela, Spain, and the U.S. have given him a global business perspective. His fourteen years as an executive with Caracas-based Organization Diego Cisneros (ODC) contributed to the firm’s growth in Venezuela and abroad. He has served as a director of several South Florida banks, and is a member of Epiphany Church. Mr. Gonzalez and his family reside in Coral Gables, Florida.



William H. Holly

William H. Holly founded Holly Real Estate in 2002 to focus on private clients and commercial real estate projects in the Florida marketplace. Previously, Mr. Holly founded the Miami office for Insignia/ESG in 1999; was a Director at Cushman & Wakefield and began his real estate career at Codina Bush Group. He has been active in the real estate industry since 1990. Mr. Holly was recognized as the top South Florida Real Estate executive under 40 by Ernst & Young, has been named the Office Broker of the Year in Miami, and was named one of the top ten office brokers in the United States by Commercial Property News. Recently the firm was awarded the 2006 Business of the Year Award by Regions Bank and the South Florida Business Journal for Commercial Real Estate Firms under $25 million. Mr. Holly is a founding principal of Holly Real Estate and Miami Apartment Building Investors. He is also a founding shareholder of the Company and Florida Gulf Bank in Fort Myers, Florida. Mr. Holly resides in Coral Gables, Florida.



Dean C. Klevan

Dean C. Klevan is a founder of The Coral Gables Trust Company. He has enjoyed a 25 year career in the financial services industry with extensive experience in private wealth management, trust banking, and commercial banking. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Klevan served as Executive Director and Branch Manager, Private Wealth Management for Morgan Stanley, Miami, Florida. He was also previously First Vice President and Senior Director at Merrill Lynch International Private Finance and was responsible for that company's high net worth private client lending in the United States. Prior to that, Mr. Klevan was with Citibank/Citicorp, where he served as president of Cititrust and Banking Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, along with other positions for the bank in Uruguay, Argentina and Ireland. Mr. Klevan served in the U.S. Army and achieved the rank of Captain. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is a past member of the Trustees of Plymouth Congregational Church and the Executive Committee of the Florida International Bankers Association and is a past trustee of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. He currently serves on the advisor to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and is a member of numerous environmental/marine Organizations. Mr. Klevan resides in Coconut Grove, Florida.



George D. Mekras, M.D.

George D. Mekras, M.D., is retired from the Miami Urologic Institute in South Miami, which he co-founded in 1990. Dr. Mekras has been a member of the Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation for more than 15 years and served as Chairman of the Board for 5 years. Dr. Mekras is a business and medical consultant through GDM Consulting, Inc. and is the National Chairman of the Orthodox Christian Network. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Harvard University and an M.D. degree from the University Of Miami School Of Medicine. He is a native of Miami and resident of Coral Gables, Florida. Dr. Mekras resides in Vero Beach, Florida.



Carlos Palomares, Member of the Trust Administration and Investment Committee

Mr. Palomares is President and CEO of SMC Resources, a consulting practice providing advice to senior executives on business and marketing strategy, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pan American Life Insurance Group. He also serves as Director of the National Association of Corporate Directors (Florida Chapter). Mr. Palomares has held senior management positions in the consumer financial services industry spanning the US and international markets for more than three decades. Most recently he served as Chief Operating Officer of Capital One Federal Savings Bank; his responsibilities included marketing credit card products to the US Hispanic population, management of the unsecured personal lending lines of business and enterprise risk management. Prior to joining Capital One, Mr. Palomares served with Citigroup in both domestic and international senior management roles. He was Country Manager for consumer banking in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, Chairman and CEO of Citibank's consumer bank in Italy, President and CEO of Citibank- Florida, and Chief Operating Officer for Citibank, Latin America. Mr. Palomares was elected to the Board of Directors in October 2009 and resides in Coral Gables, Florida.



William D. Pruitt

Mr. Pruitt is President of Pruitt Enterprises and its general partner, Pruitt Ventures, Inc. He was with Arthur Andersen & Co. for 33 years, retiring as the managing partner for Florida, the Caribbean, and Venezuela. Mr. Pruitt is a past president of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a Member of Council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a founder and the first Chairman of Adjoined Consulting, Inc, and has served as an Independent Director on The PBSJ Corporation Board of Directors since 2005 where he serves as the Audit Committee Chairman. He also has been an Independent Director on the Mako Surgical Corp. Board of Directors since 2008, and currently serves as the Audit Committee Chairman. He served on the board of KOS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its sale in 2006. Mr. Pruitt also serves on the Boards of Greensmith Energy Management Systems, LLC and United Trust, LLC. He has served as a trustee or board member for the University of Miami, the University of Miami Citizens Board, the University of Miami Alumni Association, the Miami Bankers Club, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Miami Free Zone, the Miami Ballet, and the Tropical Girl Scout Council. He is a founding board member for the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and served as President until 2009. Mr. Pruitt graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor's degree in Accounting and was selected by the University of Miami Business School as the Alumnus of Distinction in 1997. Mr. Pruitt was elected to the Board of Directors in October 2009 and resides in Coral Gables, Florida.



Peggy Sapp

Peggy Sapp is President of the National Family Partnership, a national network of parenting organizations headquartered in Miami, Florida. She is President and CEO of Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership, an agency she helped to develop from six volunteers into a multi-million dollar agency with statewide and national outreach to families, schools and communities. The mission of Informed Families is “Helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug-free.” Informed Families trains 4,000-6,000 families annually. Mrs. Sapp is a recognized leader in drug prevention through grassroots involvement and is the recipient of numerous honors and community service awards. She was honored as one of the historic leaders in the field of parenting and prevention with the 1999 National Parents’ Day Award, “Lighting the Way to a New Millennium,” from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. She serves on the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Advisory Council, the National Institute of Drug Abuse Advisory Council, and the Governor’s Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council and on the Board of Directors of the Miami Coalition for Safe and Drug Free Communities. Mrs. Sapp has developed the Red Ribbon Campaign into an annual national event that is a major force for raising awareness and mobilizing communities in the fight against drugs. Mrs. Sapp has testified before Congress and has been featured on television and radio talk shows. She resides in Coconut Grove, Florida.


 
 

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