Alisha Marks has been promoted to vice president at Miami-based public relations and marketing firm Schwartz Media Strategies. She will be responsible for managing day-to-day operations, spearheading national and regional media relations activities, and providing strategic counsel to the firm's professional services and municipal affairs clients. She previously served as director of Schwartz Media Strategies and will continue to manage the firm’s legal services and municipal affairs practices. Before joining the firm, she was a senior account executive for a Florida-based public relations agency.
Raag Srinivasan named chief technology officer at Mobile Insight in Coral Gables
Raag Srinivasan has been named chief technology officer (CTO) at Mobile Insight, a wireless application developer based in Coral Gables. He will be responsible for leading the strategy and execution of the firm's products development. He also will be focused on developing and bringing innovative technologies to market and further expanding their patent applications. He has spent 15 years in the software industry. Before joining Mobile Insight, he was acting CTO at Smarthinking. He also served in technical leadership roles at Lockheed Martin, Intelliworks, Northrop Grumman, and Verisign.
Kimberly Standiford name executive director of Lauren's Light
Kimberly Standiford has been named executive director of Lauren’s Light. Before joining Lauren’s Light, she was in private practice as a marriage and family therapist. She also has worked for Project Resolve, The Children’s Bereavement Center, Safe Sitter, and as a pediatric nurse at Miami Children’s Hospital. Lauren’s Light empowers families by providing resources and information to better address medical, psychological and administrative challenges. Lauren’s Light provides services to families in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Daniel Diaz Leyva named partner at Infante Zumpano
Daniel Diaz Leyva has been named a partner at the law firm of Infante Zumpano. He was serving as Of Counsel with the firm while also serving as managing partner of the Miami office for Southern Strategy Group, a government relations firm. He will remain as partner with Southern Strategy Group. In his new role, he will lead the firm's strategic planning and business development efforts. He brings a broad range of general transactional experience in real estate and business and has extensive relationships within government and business communities across the state.
Alan Fertel named partner at Miami law office of Boyd & Jenrette
Alan K. Fertel has been named partner at the Miami law office of Boyd & Jenerette. In his new position as co-chair of the civil litigation division, he will practice commercial and family law, sports and entertainment law, civil litigation, and personal injury. He has 26 years of law experience and has spent the past three years at Pathman Lewis, where he co-chaired the civil litigation division. Before that, he spent 18 years as a founding partner at Ferrell & Fertel, P.A., which later became Ferrell Law. He also is vice chairman of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission and is on the executive committee of the Miami-Dade Special Olympics.
Leo Navarro named assistant vice president, Aaron Small promoted to senior vice president at JetStream Federal Credit Union
Leo Navarro has been named the new assistant vice president of business services at JetStream Federal Credit Union. He has more than 11 years experience in financial institutions including several South Florida credit unions. Before joining JetStream, he was the assistant vice president of business lending at University Credit Union in Miami, where he managed the banking and commercial lending department. He also worked three years at Tropical Financial Credit Union as business banking manager in the commercial lending department.
The credit union also has promoted Aaron Small to senior vice president of member experience and chief operating officer. He will be responsible for JetStream's seven-branch network operations, compliance and IT. He has worked in the financial industry for more than 13 years. Before joining JetStream, he spent four years as an efficiency consultant working with more than 25 financial institutions nationwide, including community banks and credit unions.
Alejandro Trujillo has been promoted to audit partner at Verdeja & De Armas in Coral Gables
Alejandro Trujillo has been promoted to audit partner at Verdeja & De Armas, LLP in Coral Gables. He will be responsible for overseeing the audits of nonprofit organizations such as charter schools and condominium associations. He has been with Verdeja & De Armas since 2002 and previously served as an audit manager.
Albert Llodrá named CFO at Inktel Direct Corporation in Miami
Albert Llodrá has been named chief financial officer at Inktel Direct Corp. in Miami Lakes. He has more than 25 years experience in public accounting and will be responsible for all financial operations at Inktel Direct. He began his career with Deloitte & Touche in 1985 and specialized in catering to the needs of high growth middle-market companies. His clients consisted of private, public and nonprofit organizations and various local banking institutions. He also has served as interim CFO for several entities. Inktel Direct is a leading business process outsourcer specializing in marketing and governmental services.
David Gant joins Zebra Technologies Corp. as vice president/general manager
David Gant has joined Zebra Technologies Corporation in the newly created position of vice president and general manager for the Latin America Region. He will be based in the company's Miami office. He will be responsible for building upon the work already underway in the region and expand Zebra’s business presence throughout Latin America. His career has spanned numerous senior level roles with technology companies throughout Latin American and the Caribbean. He was vice president of Latin America for Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business, president of Latin America for Lucent, and Global Services vice president for Avaya. Zebra is a maker of bar code, kiosk, card and RFID printers, and real-time location solutions.
Sylvester Lukis named managing partner at Ballard Partners
Sylvester "Syl" Lukis has been named managing partner at the new Miami-based government affairs firm, Ballard Partners. He will continue to expand the firm's lobbying efforts in South Florida. He has more than 30 years of legal and government relations consulting experience at the federal, state and local levels, including serving on the U.S. State Department's Cuban Haitian Task Force and also as a principal assistant to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After leaving federal employment, he served as principal lobbyist for a D.C. firm, working on behalf of several local governmental entities, including Miami Dade County, the cities of Miami and Miami Beach and the Miami Dade County School District. Before joining Ballard, he moved his operations to Florida in 1996, where he established a state and local government relations consulting practice serving the cruise, health, corrections, infrastructure, communications and information technology industries.
