Founder and Senior Advisor
Tony Villamil is a nationally recognized economist, with over thirty-five years of successful career as a business economist, university educator and high-level policymaker for both federal and state governments. Tony was selected in 2008 as the founding Dean of the School of Business of St. Thomas University, serving successfully until December 31, 2013 at which time he resigned to return as senior advisor to the growing economic consulting practice that he founded, The Washington Economics Group, Inc. (WEG), a Florida-based firm established in 1993 upon returning to the State from his public service in Washington, D.C.
Tony is the immediate past Chairman of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors of Florida, and during 1999-2000, he was selected by Governor Bush as his first Director for Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. Previously, he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, receiving unanimous U.S. Senate confirmation. Presently he is active on Corporate Board of Directors, including Amerant Bank, N.A. and Amerant Bank Holding Corp., Pan American Life Insurance Group (PALIG) and Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS).
Among civic and professional leadership positions, he is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the official economic development organization of the county. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. He serves as Senior Fellow of the James Madison Institute (JMI) of Tallahassee, Florida.
He earned Bachelor and Master Degrees in Economics from Louisiana State University (LSU), where he also completed coursework for the Ph.D. Degree. In 1991, Florida International University (FIU) awarded him a Doctoral Degree in Economics (hc), for “distinguished contributions to the Nation in the field of economics.” He frequently speaks to business, government and university audiences on the Florida economy, U.S. trade policy and economic development issues.
Tony is a resident of Coral Gables, Florida, where he lives with his family, traveling frequently throughout Florida, the U.S. and globally to conduct research and presentations for clients of The Washington Economics Group, Inc. (WEG)
Keriann Worley has been involved in the radio industry from early on in her life. Initially introduced to the field by family, she spent her high school years answering the request lines and assisting the research team at a local station. After graduating from the University of Florida she began a career in Human Resources. She obtained a Masters in Human Resource Management while moving up the corporate ladder, ultimately becoming a Director of HR for ADT Security Services in Boca Raton, FL.
After making the move into National Account Sales with ADT Security, she realized that she had a true passion for selling. It wasn’t too long before the energy of the radio industry was calling. She joined a local radio station in Miami as an Account Executive and was quickly recognized as one of the top performers.
Keriann took on various Management positions within the company throughout several Florida markets. Needing to get back to South Florida for her family, she took on a Director of Sales position with Beasley Broadcasting in Miami running the Sales operations for three radio stations. During her tenure in that particular role, she went through two corporate mergers within a two year period.
In the last merger, Keriann became the Senior Vice President/Market Manager for Entercom Communications. She operates seven major heritage radio stations, a large digital portfolio, and is responsible for the production of several large local festivals, including The Riptide Festival and Chili Cook-off.
Keriann is a business executive who sets high expectations for her teams in order to deliver strong results. She focuses on company culture and inspires employees to make sound decisions. Her key to success include her drive to keep learning and growing.
She loves traveling, boating, flying, writing her blog (www.KeriannWorley.com) and spending time with her husband of 20 years and her three beautiful teenage daughters.
Miami Learning Center Campus Manager
Training and Professional Services
Boeing Global Services
Martin “Marty” Schaaf is campus manager site leader for the Boeing Training and Professional Services Learning Center in Miami, Fl. Boeing’s largest learning center facility.
Schaaf is responsible for leadership, commercial flight, maintenance, and cabin safety training classes in Miami. Boeing currently trains approximately 12,000 students annually and operates 20 full-flight simulators. He leads a team of more than 120 employees at the Miami learning center, and engages with State and local Miami community in government relations and global corporate citizenship activities.
Previously, Schaaf led the Boeing Flight Service campuses in Seattle and Atlanta.
Schaaf started his career at Sikorsky Aircraft, working on helicopters in experimental test phases and assisting with the certification of Blackhawk and S-76 helicopters. Following Sikorsky, Schaaf spent 20 years with Northwest Airlines, starting as an aircraft mechanic and serving in increasingly responsible positions including director of Maintenance Training. He also served in leadership roles at Embry-Riddle University in Florida, and at the former FlightSafetyBoeing joint venture and the Alteon Training subsidiary, which became Boeing Flight Services in 2009.
Schaaf earned a Bachelors of Science in Organizational Administration from University of Northwestern, and a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. He has also been actively involved with the Miami Beacon Council and the Miami chapter of the Chamber of Commerce.
Miami Learning Center Campus Manager
Training and Professional Services
Boeing Global Services
President, Florida Medicaid Market
Lourdes Rivas is president of the Florida Medicaid Market within the Government Business Division of Anthem Inc. In her current role, Ms. Rivas successfully integrated three existing Anthem companies; (Amerigroup, Simply and Better Health) from a leadership, legal and operations perspective. Together, the affiliated plans form the second-largest provider of Medicaid managed care services in Florida, serving more than 600,000 members statewide across Medicaid, Florida Healthy Kids, Long Term Care and HIV/AIDS Specialty programs
Other Career Information:
Lourdes has spent her career in government programs which serve individuals and families in both Medicare and Medicaid. Prior to her current role, Ms. Rivas served first as Chief Operating Officer and then as Chief Executive Officer and Plan President for Simply Health Plans. Prior to her time at Simply Healthcare, she served as Vice President of national managed care accounts for Dentaquest, a dental HMO.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree, Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
Board Affiliations
St Thomas University Board of Trustees
Florida International University Center for Leadership Advisory Board
Easterseals of South Florida Board Member
Florida Health Maintenance Organization Consumer Assistance Plan (HMOCAP)
Florida Association of Health Plans Board Member
President, Florida Medicaid Market
Government Business Division
Rolando Montoya is the interim president of Miami Dade College. He retired as provost for operations at MDC in 2016, and previously served the college in various ascending capacities between 1987 and 2017. As MDC’s former chief operating officer, he had jurisdiction over finance, information technology, institutional effectiveness, human resources, facilities, legal affairs, resource development, and emergency preparedness.
Dr. Montoya’s prior positions at MDC included Wolfson Campus president; dean of Academic Affairs, Kendall Campus; chairperson of Business, Kendall Campus; and professor of accounting, finance, economics, and statistics at the North Campus. Before joining the college in 1987 he worked in the private sector in the fields of accounting and finance and served as Consul of Costa Rica in Miami.
Dr. Montoya is a past member of the board of directors of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Other board memberships include South Florida Workforce Investment Board, Citi Postsecondary Success Program, Miami Downtown Development Authority, Disney College Program, New World School of the Arts, Epiphany Catholic School, and South Florida Center for Financial Training. He received a doctorate in Higher Education Administration and a MS in Finance from Florida International University, a BBA from the Technological Institute of Monterrey, Mexico, and a licentiate degree in Business from the University of Costa Rica. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) since 1992 and a Certified Financial Manager (CFM) since 1997. Some of his awards and honors include One Hundred Latinos-Miami, the MDC Presidential Merit Award, the Barnett Bank Endowed Teaching Chair, and the Sun Trust Bank Endowed Teaching Chair. He and his wife, Marivi – a retired administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are the proud parents of three adult children.
President / CEO, South Florida Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce
Liliam M. López is the founder of the South Florida HispanicChamber of Commerce (SFLHCC) and the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Foundation serving as President/CEO of both organizations since 1994. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in Political Science from St. Thomas University and a Certificate in Paralegal Studies from the University of Miami.
Through her leadership, the SFLHCC has become one of the most important and influential Hispanic chambers of the U.S. with over 1,450 members. She is charged with planning and coordinating over 25 chamber events annually for the membership of the organization with the objective of providing opportunities for businesses to connect, build and establish relationships. She works with the leadership of the organization and coordinates, develops and implements chamber committees’ objectives. Currently, there are eight active committees in the organization that provide insight and support to chamber members of different industries.
Lopez is a Governing Board Member of Larkin Charter School for Health Sciences; serves on the Board Member of the Miami-Dade Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Board Member of the Small/Micro and Minority/Women Business Owned Enterprise of Miami Dade County Public Schools, the Advisory Council of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the City of Miami Beach Commission on the Status of Women, the Advisory Board of Precision Medicine and Health Disparities Collaborative of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College and the University of Miami and serves on the President’s Council for Florida International University (FIU). She served on the Entrepreneurial Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Regional Economic Information Network (REIN) as the only Hispanic woman on that board. She is a past board member of the Alliance for Aging, past board member of WLRN and former Chair of the Hispanic Affairs Committee for the City of Miami Beach.
Lopez is married to architect, Alfredo C. Sanchez, and they have a 19- year old daughter attending University of Miami’s School of Engineering
President/CEO, South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Daniella Levine Cava was elected Miami-Dade County’s first-ever woman Mayor in November 2020. She enters the Mayor’s office following a nearly 40-year career as a relentless advocate for South Florida families in public service and elected leadership.
As Miami-Dade County’s Mayor, she oversees a metropolitan government with more than 28,000 employees serving nearly 3 million residents, managing an annual budget of approximately $9 billion.
A social worker, lawyer, and community activist, she was first elected in 2014, and re-elected in August 2018, to serve as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner representing District 8.
As Commissioner, she invested in Miami-Dade small businesses and expanded economic opportunity, protected the environment and our water, increased the County police force for underserved areas, advocated for an expanded, reliable public transportation system, worked to create affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods, and helped make local government more accountable and transparent.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, she has advocated for a more effective public health response and worked to provide millions of federal CARES Act dollars in relief to struggling families and small businesses. As the new Mayor, she will begin working immediately with city leaders, the business community, and medical experts to create a unified pandemic response strategy that protects Miami-Dade’s lives and livelihoods.
Mayor Levine Cava came to elected office after having served as an advocate for South Florida families for over 30 years. She served special needs children and immigrants at Legal Services of Greater Miami, and then represented children in the child welfare system as Associate and Legal Director for the Guardian Ad Litem Program.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, she was recruited to create a new intake system for child abuse cases with the Department for Children and Families. Her efforts were concentrated on the neighborhoods of District 8 where she helped restore the lives and homes of those devastated by the storm.
In 1996, Mayor Levine Cava founded Catalyst Miami to help low- and middle-income families through service, education, and advocacy. Catalyst helps approximately 5,000 people each year to become more self-sufficient and civically engaged.
She is the Immediate Past Chair of the South Florida Regional Planning Council (SFRPC) and served as an SFRPC Council Member from 2015 – 2020. She has served on the Florida Bar Committee on Legal Needs of Children; the boards of League of Women Voters, Orange Bowl Foundation, North Dade Medical Foundation, South Florida Health Information Initiative, and several national boards. She’s won numerous awards from various organizations including: the Commission on Ethics, Red Cross, American Society for Public Administration, ACLU, National Council of Jewish Women, AAUW, among others.
Born in New York and raised partly in Latin America, Mayor Levine Cava received her bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from Yale University and graduate degrees in law and social work from Columbia University.
She came to South Florida in 1980 to join her husband, Dr. Robert Cava, a Miami native, who returned home to join his father in medical practice. Daniella and Robert raised two children, Eliza and Edward Cava, in Miami-Dade, supported by strong networks of friends, families, and co-workers.
Senior Vice President
Austin Hollo joined FECR in 2009, becoming the third generation of the Hollo family to be welcomed into the company. Named as Senior Vice President, Austin quckly has become a valued member of the team, focusing on the development of upcoming projects, the marketing and positioning of existing properties, and the coordination of property management and leasing activities, as well as the company’s strategic vision, day-to-day administration and operations, and business development. Further, Austin is integrally involved in all financing efforts, oversees the company’s risk management and insurance portfolio, and is responsible for underwriting and evaluating any real estate acquisitions and investments.
Austin graduated from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007, with BSBAs in Finance and Marketing, as well as a minor in Organizational Psychology. Prior to joining FECR, he spent two years as an analyst in the Real Estate Finance and Servicing Group at LNR Partners, Inc. in Miami Beach, Florida, working on the acquisition, surveillance, servicing, and disposition of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS).
Additionally, Austin serves as Past Chair of the New Leaders Taskforce and Member of the Board of Directors and Funding/ Development Committee for the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, Executive Committee Member and Co-Chair of Development for the United Way of Miami-Dade Young Leaders, Director on BBVA’s Miami Advisory Board, and Board of Advisors Member for the Center for Leadership at Florida International University. He is a member of the Developing Leaders Group for the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties South Florida Chapter, the Young Leaders Group for the Urban Land Institute of Southeast Florida, and the Young Professionals of the Lighthouse for the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Austin also was selected as one of Brickell Magazine’s Top 20 Professionals Under 40 for 2017.
Felecia Hatcher is on a mission to rid communities across the globe of innovation deserts by working with community leaders and government officials to create inclusive and diverse tech/startup ecosystems as an Author and the Co-Founder of Tribe Cowork and Urban Innovation Lab, Code Fever, and Black Tech Week. As a result of her work, Miami has become one of the most authentically diverse startup ecosystems in the country, helping minority led startup founder’s access opportunities and capital pathways through their VC in Residence program, exposing over 3000+ students and parents to tech skills training for youth and young adults in the areas of technology and entrepreneurship, in partnership with Knight Foundation, Comcast, Morgan Stanley, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Ford and others. As well as an annual week-long emerging technology conference called BlackTech Week that creates a magnetic force for attracting talent, resources and opportunities for minority communities to thrive within the innovation economy.
Prior to making the leap from the cubicles of corporate America Felecia worked as a marketing executive as the front office marketing manager pearheading the 10th anniversary campaign for the Minnesota Lynx/Timberwolves, and as an experiential marketing/brand manager for Sony, Nintendo and McKee foods. As an Author, Social Entrepreneur and the former “Chief Popsicle” of Feverish Ice Cream, Hatcher was named one of the Empact 100 Top 100 Entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by the White House and Kauffman Foundation in 2011, a 2014 Obama White House Champion of Change for STEM Access and Diversity, Ruth Shack Honoree, 2017 Comcast/Nationswell Tech Impact Allstar, Echoing Green Fellow, a Black Enterprise 2017 TechConnext Game Changer and 2016 Innovator of the Week, Essence Magazine Tech Master, and featured on the NBC Today Show, MSNBC, FORBES, INC, The Cooking Channel, and; Grio’s 100 African Americans Making History. Join Felecia Hatcher during her keynote talk to learn how to not only build an authentic personal brand but grab the skills to boldly and unapologetically own your expertise to unlock new opportunities and push imposture syndrome out of your way for good!
The Miami‐Dade Beacon Council is the official economic development organization for Miami Dade County. Its mission is to increase jobs and investment through marketing Miami as a world‐class business destination, help grow local companies, and shape Miami‐Dade’s economic future. Since 1985, the non‐profit public‐private partnership has assisted more than 1,200 businesses to expand in or relocate to Miami‐Dade, creating almost 74,000 direct jobs and driving more than $6.7 billion in new capital investments.
As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Finney champions the County’s efforts to market Miami‐Dade as a world‐class business destination. He collaborates with key stakeholders including Miami‐Dade County and other local governments, CareerSource South Florida, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Miami‐Dade Council of Chambers and key private sector leaders throughout the community.
Prior to his current role, Mike served Michigan Governor Rick Snyder as Senior Advisor for
Economic Growth and President & CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Under Mike’s leadership the MEDC moved to the forefront of U.S. economic development organizations, with innovative new initiatives including Pure Michigan Business
Connect, Community Ventures, and the revitalized “Pure Michigan” tourism campaign.
