Mayor of the City of Doral
Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez is the founding Mayor of the City of Doral and served in that capacity for the first 9 1/2 years of the city’s existence. He was re-elected as Mayor of Doral in 2016. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the United States Conference of Mayors, as well as Board Member of the Miami-Dade County Transportation Planning Organization.
During Mayor Bermudez’s terms the new city’s infrastructure was created including the creation of the city’s award-winning Finance and Parks departments. Under his leadership the city added over 121 acres of playgrounds, ballfields and recreational facilities while purchasing, through grants and funds, an additional 45 acres of parkland. These parks include Doral Central Park, Morgan Levy Park, Doral Meadow Park, Downtown Doral Park, Trails and Tails Park and Veterans Park. Morgan Levy Park, an old construction debris land field site, was refurbished into an award-winning recreational facility. Trails and Tails Park was the first municipal dog park in the western part of Miami-Dade County. Under Mayor Bermudez the city also began to build one of the most extensive urban bike trails in the county.
Mr. Bermudez graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his law degree (juris doctorate) from the University of Notre Dame Law School. He has practiced law in South Florida for over 28 years and is member of the Florida Bar and the American Bar Association amongst other legal associations. He is currently a partner at Lubell Rosen, LLC in the Coral Gables office.
Mr. Bermudez has been married to Vivian Bermudez, a special education teacher, for 25 years and they have three children: Eneida Marie 21, Elena Catherine 17 and Elisa Nicole 6 years of age. Their family has resided in Doral for the past 18 years.
Mayor of the City of Doral
South Florida Managing Partner at BDO USA, LLP
As a BDO Board Member and South Florida Managing Partner, Tony is well-known for his community and industry leadership. He previously led the growth of the largest Florida-based professional services firm to becoming one of the top 40 accounting firms in the nation. Tony has been involved with a broad spectrum of industries which gives him unique experience and insight into all aspects of the financial well-being of his clients.
Over the last 40 years, Tony has developed extensive in-depth knowledge and experience in practices involving audits, business planning, economic damages, fraud examinations, valuations and litigation cases. Tony is a highly respected and nationally recognized practitioner in litigation consulting services.
He has actively served on the leading industry associations, chairing many key committees in furtherance of the accounting industry. He has served on the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Nominations Committee, on the governing body of the AICPA’s Council and on the PCP Executive Committee and its Technical Issues Committee. In 1986, Tony was appointed to Florida’s Board of Accountancy and was then elected to chair the Board and chair its Probable Cause Panel as well.
Professional Affiliations
Education
Community Involvement
South Florida Managing Partner
BDO USA, LLP
Regional President, BB&T
Tony Coley was named Regional President of BB&T Central Florida in April 2012. Prior to this promotion, Tony was the City Executive for BB&T Broward County. In that role, Tony led his commercial team to #2 in the Bank in commercial loan production and #3 ‘Most Improved” Large Market City in the BB&T Franchise.
Previously, Tony was the President & CEO of Colonial Bank S. FL where he was responsible for all Commercial, CRE & BB lending functions in SE Florida. Prior to joining Colonial, Tony was with Wachovia Bank (WB), which he joined by way of the WB/SouthTrust (STB) merger. Tony was with the combined organization for nearly 8 years. During his tenure with STB, Tony earned recognition as a top Commercial RM before being promoted to lead STB’s SE FL Bus. Banking (BB) Unit. As a result of Tony improving his team’s performance from bottom quartile to #1 in the company within 1 year, Tony was elected to the SouthTrust’s Bank President’s Club and was a finalist for Market Manager of the Year. Subsequent to STB’s acquisition by WB, Tony led the WB Broward BB team to outstanding performance before being promoted to assume the position of City President and Commercial Banking Director of Wachovia’s Gulf Coast Region in 2005.
Tony is a graduate of the University of Miami, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Tony was a starting linebacker on the University of Miami football team and earned earned numerous accolades for academics, athletics and community service. Among his honors were selections to the Academic All-American Team as well as the University of Miami’s Iron Arrow Honor Society, the University of Miami’s highest honor.
Tony started his banking career at SunTrust in the Management Associate Program where he received management and commercial credit training. Upon graduation from the program, Tony worked as an officer in SunTrust’s Corporate Real Estate Department before joining SouthTrust as a Commercial Relationship Manager in 1999.
Regional President
BB&T
Partner, Holland & Knight
Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz is a partner in Holland & Knight’s Miami office and serves as the deputy section leader of the Real Estate Section. Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz has extensive experience in complex real estate transactions for both private and public clients, representing institutional lenders in commercial lending for various types of projects and developments in the United States, and in asset-based loans secured by real estate, inventory, equipment receivables and securities.
In addition, Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz has experience representing developers in a range of projects, including land development, condominium, office and single family development and hotels. She also handles the financing for these types of developments, including institutions and mezzanine financing. Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz focuses on guiding institutional lenders toward resolutions for troubled loans and complex workouts. She is called on to assist clients in developing solutions for complex real estate transactions.
Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz represents clients in the purchase and sale of commercial and residential properties, development of commercial properties, commercial leasing and related transactions.
Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz’s special assets experience includes representation of lenders and developers across the U.S. with respect to forbearance, negotiation of loan modifications, restructuring and workouts on behalf of lenders and borrowers for various types of loans, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, note purchase, and sales and foreclosures affecting numerous commercial properties located throughout the state and nation.
Partner, Holland & Knight
Executive Vice President, Equitable Advisors South Florida Branch and Chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council
Hugo Castro, MBA, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF is an Executive Vice President of the Southeast Region and co-branch manager of Equitable Advisors’ South Florida Branch.
He began as a financial professional in 1992 and within two years of joining Equitable Advisors’ South Florida Branch, he was promoted to District Manager. He was ranked as the #1 manager in his class in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and during those years, he also earned Equitable Advisors’ Gold Superior Growth and Developing District awards for his outstanding recruiting and sales development. In 1996 he ranked #4, nationally, among all district managers in the company. In 1997, 1998, and 1999 he ranked #2, nationally, winning the Silver National Builders Trophy in each of those years. In
2000 he ranked #1, nationally, winning the Gold National Builders Trophy.
On May 1, 2002, Mr. Castro was promoted to join DEVP Luis G. Chiappy, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF as co-branch manager of the South Florida branch. Within Equitable Advisors, the South Florida organization has continuously ranked as one of the top field branch offices, receiving the company’s prestigious President’s Trophy – a measure of overall profitability, productivity and management effectiveness – an unprecedented 16 times. The President’s Trophy awards distinguish the branch and its associates for outstanding increases in sales volume, as well as associate retention and development. The organization is also one of the largest of its kind in the state of Florida, and is comprised of approximately 250 financial professionals.
Hugo brought to Equitable Advisors over four years of commercial lending experience. He was previously associated with ITT, where he held the position of Commercial Finance Account Manager. He now uses his experience and knowledge to focus on providing retirement planning and other financial services to the small business and professional markets. He is responsible for hiring and training sales associates to work in similar capacities.
He is an active member of the South Florida community, and is involved with the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, and Florida International University’s Alumni Association. He is also involved with the La Salle Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping underprivileged children.
Hugo holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business from Florida International University. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional and has also earned the prestigious professional designations of CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) from the American College. Hugo is also a LUTCF (Life Underwriting Training Council Fellow).
