About The Able Trust

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The following items are the three sections in 'About The Able Trust'. You are currently in the Board Members section.

[General Info]
[Board Members]
[Ambassadors]
[Staff]
[Foundation Timeline]

Board of Directors

ELADIO AMORES, Chair, serves as Senior Manager for Marriott International Community Employment and Training Programs (CETP) in Tampa, Florida. Amores is responsible for implementing "Pathways to Independence," Marriott's innovative, employer-based, customized job training, placement and retention program for the hospitality industry. Amores has previously been the Executive Director of SER/Jobs for Progress in Santa Ana California, the Director of Vocational Services for the Easter Seal Society of Dade County, the Executive Director of the County of Riverside Private Industry Council in California and the Director of Job Training and Economic Development for the County of San Mateo, California. He has been the volunteer chair for the Florida Business Leadership Network since 1999.

FLORENCE BONSUK, Vice Chair, is Vice President for EventCo. Production in West Palm Beach, Florida, which specializes in sports, entertainment and events. She has previously been the Regional Manager for Cartier, Inc. based in Palm Beach. Bonsuk serves on the board of directors for a number of nonprofit organizations serving the disability community, including Palm Beach Habilitation Center and the ARC of Palm Beach County. In addition, she serves on the Board of Governors for the Governor's Club and on the Advisory Board for VIVE Magazine. She has received numerous awards for her volunteer service, including the ARC's Volunteer of the Year for Florida, Fashion 4 Charity Volunteer Award and Salvation Army's Heart of Gold Award. Bonsuk has also served as a member of the volunteer steering committee for The Able Trust Gala at Mar-a-Lago since 1998, serving as the Gala Co-Chair in 1999.

JAMES DOLAN, MBA , Treasurer, serves as Senior Vice President - Community Relations for Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation (MLCC) in Jacksonville, Florida. Dolan is responsible for implementing Merrill Lynch's Principle of Responsible Citizenship and Corporate Image in the Jacksonville Community, as well as the Meeting Services Department. Before joining MLCC, Dolan was Senior Vice President of the Merrill Lynch Trust Company in Jacksonville, in which he was responsible for developing trust business in Northern and Central Florida. Dolan also serves as Past President of the Rotary Club of Southeast Jacksonville, Chairman of The Deerwood Club and the St. Vincent's Foundation. He is a member of the 1998 Leadership Jacksonville Class. He also serves on various boards including First Tee of Jacksonville, Spina Bifida Association of Jacksonville and the Kristina Jonsson Foundation. Dolan received his Masters in Business Administration from Pace University.

JAMES LEIF SMITH, Secretary, is a Doctoral student for the University of Florida (UF) with an emphasis in Biomedical Research. He has worked as a Grad uate Research Assistant in Neuroscience at the University since 1996, studying in the areas of infectious disease treatment and food preservation. He currently serves on the Gainesville's Citizens Advisory Committee for Community Development and was previously the Graduate Coordinator for the Public School Outreach Program at the UF College of Medicine.

DENNIS MCNENNEY, M.A., serves as Senior Vice President/Senior Client Executive of Marsh, Inc. He is located in the Ft. Lauderdale office. McNenney has many years experience in insurance, having joined the former Johnson & Higgins in 1985 (that firm merged with Marsh & McLennan and is now called Marsh, Inc.) As Senior Client Executive, McNenney is responsible for several large and multi-national accounts. McNenney serves as chair of the Insurance Committee for Goodwill Industries of South Florida and Chairperson of the annual Goodwill Celebrity Chefs Event. Previously he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce and President of the American Society of Bogotá, a 60-year old nonprofit organization fostering good relations between Colombia and the United States. McNenney obtained his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies.

BRIDGET PALLANGO is Vice President of Goodwill Industries South Florida, second in command of the agency whose revenues grew from $1.9 million to $27.5 million during the course of her involvement. The human services program under her leadership is recognized as being one of the top vocational rehabilitation agencies in the United States. Known for her deep commitment to serving people with disabilities, Pallango was previously employed by the Miami-Dade Public School System where she taught Office Careers to people with disabilities after receiving specialized certification in education for the disabled. Pallango resides in North Miami and has seven children.

SHERRA GREENSPAN PAYNE, M.S., is a homemaker, as well as bookkeeper and office assistant to Zebersky & Payne, LLP. She has a Masters of Science in Education from the University of Miami and has worked as both an instructor in psychology and as the Senior Assistant Director of Admissions for the University. She is a member of the Alexander Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and currently serves as the president of the state chapter. In addition she serves as president of the University of Miami Ear Dears, the fundraising organization for the University of Miami Ear Institute.

JIM SAUNDERS serves as co-owner and manager of J. Saunders & Associates, based in Lutz, Florida. A broad-based media consulting firm, J. Saunders & Associates specializes in strategic planning, research design and analysis, personnel screening and marketing management. He has over twenty-five years of experience managing television stations from California to Florida. Prior to his media management experience, Saunders served for nine years as Associate Professor and Director of the School of Radio & Television at Ohio University.

WENDY M. SPENCER was recently named the Director of the Florida State Parks, which is a division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Previously she served as the Campaign Director for the United Way of the Big Bend for ten years, in which she helped raise over $30 million for communities and human services. Prior to living in Tallahassee, she was the Director of Marketing and Promotions for the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce's Downtown Council and Urban Development Authority. She is a member of the Capitol Women's Network and a graduate of three Chamber of Commerce Leadership Programs, including Tallahassee, Florida, and Macon and Thomasville, Georgia.

 

 

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