Personnel File- People on the Move,

April 1, 2019

NSF Staff

STEVEN SCOTT, ERIC SILAGY, KENT STERMON AND BRIAN LAMB have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the state university system’s Board of Governors. Scott, of Palm Beach, is a physician and serves as chairman of Scott Holdings, LLC, a medical investment company. Silagy, of Palm Beach Gardens, is president and CEO of Florida Power and Light. Stermon, of Jacksonville, is chief operating officer of Total Military Management. Lamb, of Tampa, is head of wealth and asset management at Fifth Third Bank.

VICKI HALL, EMILIO AZOY, SHERON MICKENS AND KETHA OTIS have been elected to leadership positions with AFSCME Florida Council 79. Hall will serve as president; Azoy will serve as executive vice president; Mickens will serve as secretary; and Otis will serve as treasurer.

THOMAS PALERMO has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a Hillsborough County circuit judge. Palermo, of Tampa, is an assistant United States attorney.

MICHELLE ALVAREZ BARAKAT AND TANYA BRINKLEY have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as Miami-Dade County circuit judges. Barakat has served as a Miami-Dade County judge since 2013. Brinkley has served as a Miami-Dade County judge since 2013.

STEPHEN EVERETT has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a judge in the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties. Everett has served as a Leon County judge since April 2016.

JESSICA COSTELLO has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a Hillsborough County judge. Costello is an assistant statewide prosecutor in the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

NIK HARRIS has been appointed by Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried as LGBTQ consumer advocate at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Harris most recently worked as a senior attorney at the Florida Department of Transportation.

THAD SEYMOUR AND JOHN KELLY have received approvals from the state university system’s Board of Governors to lead the University of Central Florida and Florida Atlantic University, respectively. Seymour was approved to serve as interim president of UCF. Kelly was reappointed as president of FAU.

LEWIS BEAR JR. has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. Board of Directors. Bear, of Gulf Breeze, is president and CEO of the Lewis Bear Company.

ANAY ABRAHAM, MICHAEL BILECA, BENJAMIN LEON III, CARLOS MIGOYA AND MARCELL FELIPE have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees. Abraham, of Miami, is managing director of developmental and external relations at City Year Miami. Bileca, of Miami, is a founding partner of Towncare Dental Partnership, Inc. and is a former member of the Florida House. Leon, of Miami, is president and chief operating officer of Leon Medical Centers.  Migoya, of Miami, is president and CEO of Jackson Health System. Felipe, of Miami, is an international tax and corporate lawyer.

LADY DHYANA ZIEGLER, RITA B. CRAIG, NANCY C. ACEVEDO, KARIN HOFFMAN, MARUCHI AZORIN AND ELENA GUARDIOLA SPOTTSWOOD have been sworn in by Attorney General Ashley Moody to leadership positions with the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Ziegler, of Tallahassee, will chair the commission. Craig, of Palm Beach Gardens, will serve as vice-chair. Acevedo, of Winter Springs, will serve as secretary. Hoffman, of Lighthouse Point, will serve as treasurer. Azorin, of Tampa, will serve as member at large. Spottswood, of Key West, will serve as member at large.

MICHELLE KEFFORD AND BERNADETTE PLETCHER have been named by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran as 2019 Principal of the Year and 2019 Assistant Principal of the Year, respectively. Kefford has been the principal at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Broward County since 2011. Pletcher has been assistant principal at James Tillman Elementary School in Manatee County since 2014.

CHRISTINA DIAMOND, WILL ZIGLER, TAEHAN LEE, CATHERINE THERIAULT, CHRISNEY FREDERICK, ELLA COFFEE, HARRISON ANGELIS, ALEX BERRIOS, LUISANA PEREZ FERNANDEZ, ALEX MORASH, DEVON MURPHY-ANDERSON AND SAM COOK have been hired by the Florida Democratic Party. Diamond will serve as a senior advisor; Zigler will serve as data director; Lee will serve as deputy director of data and reporting; Theriault will serve as deputy director of analytics; Frederick will serve as VAN administrator; Coffee will serve as community engagement director for Tampa Bay; Angelis will serve as community engagement director for Central Florida; Berrios will serve as community engagement director for Martin, Indian River, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties; Perez Fernandez will serve as Hispanic press secretary; Morash will serve as statewide press secretary; Murphy-Anderson will serve as deputy finance director South Florida; and Cook will serve as assistant to the executive office.

LAUREN CALMET, RACHEL BERGER AND KEVIN DONOHOE have been promoted to positions at the Florida Democratic Party. Calmet, who has served as deputy political director, will work as political director. Berger, who joined the party affairs department in 2017, will serve as party affairs director. Donohoe, who served as the party’s gubernatorial race spokesman in 2018, will work as senior communications advisor/chief spokesperson.

--- Got a new chief of staff, executive director, campaign manager, press secretary, spokesperson or otherwise important new person in your office or organization? The News Service welcomes personnel announcements, which are aggregated for periodic publication. Please send announcements to j.saunders@newsserviceflorida.com and include contact information.