Board of Directors

Holly R. Skolnick, Esq. | President

An experienced trial attorney and litigator for over 25 years, Holly Skolnick represents individuals and entities in complex civil, criminal and regulatory matters. Her practice areas include securities fraud, class action defense, insider trading, money laundering and RICO. She is the president and founder of Greenberg Traurig’s Fellowship Foundation, and past chair of the Miami office’s Securities Litigation Practice Group.

Holly has represented an international financial services company in over 20 securities arbitrations alleging conflict of interest between research and investment banking. She has also represented numerous individuals and corporations in investigations and enforcement actions brought by the SEC, including those involving alleged insider trading and financial statement fraud. Among other successes, Holly obtained a $1 million restitution judgment for victims of an immigration fraud/involuntary servitude scheme.

She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 
 

Carl E. Goldfarb, Esq. | Vice President

Carl Goldfarb’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, often involving antitrust, intellectual property, or unfair competition claims, both in trial courts and on appeal. He also specializes in class action litigation, regularly representing plaintiffs and defendants.

Carl is also co-lead counsel in the firm’s pro bono representation of Florida children seeking to enforce federal Medicaid rights in federal court. The district court in that case certified a class of more than 1.5 million children enrolled in or eligible for Medicaid in Florida. The bench trial commenced December 7, 2009 and is expected to continue for a number of months in a series of periodic trial settings.

Carl is fluent in Spanish and has significant experience in litigation that has a nexus to Latin America. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Juris Doctorate from Yale University.
 
 
 

Connie Hicks | Secretary

Connie Hicks has taught at Barry University since 2004, as an Assistant Professor/Professional in Residence in the Communication Department’s broadcast program. Prior to that, she was a television news reporter for more than twenty five years, working in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rhode Island and Miami. She has won two Emmys, awards from the Associated Press and the American Bar Association, and been recognized for her reporting on crime and minority issues. In the course of her career she produced and anchored the news as well as covered riots, hurricanes, death row, trials, reported from Cuba and Haiti and investigated public corruption.

She received her BA degrees in Sociology and Political Science from Macalester College.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nancy A. Allen | Treasurer

Nancy Allen is the President and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council of Florida, a not for profit organization whose mission is to assist in the establishment and growth of women in business. The WBDC is the Florida Regional Partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) which certifies that businesses are women-owned, operated, managed and controlled.

Nancy is an active member of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) where she is a member on their Executive Advisory Committee. She sits on the national board of WBENC and is also a member of the local chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade.

Nancy was born in Haiti and raised in South Florida. She is bi-lingual in English and French and is fluent in Spanish. Nancy has been working in the fields of international, community and economic development for over 20 years. She holds a Master’s Degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
 
 

William Sancho| Ex Officio

William Sancho heads the regional client development efforts at White & Case LLP’s Miami office. With 38 offices in 26 countries, White & Case is a leading global law firm.

Prior to joining White & Case, Mr. Sancho served as the co-founder and Vice President of Look Worldwide, Inc. and 365 Promotions, Inc., both marketing and media consultancies whose clients included AOL, The Miami Herald, The New York Daily News, and Apple Plastics.

Mr. Sancho’s marketing career began as a collegiate representative for IBM at the Florida State University, and has since included entrepreneurial and corporate experience in business development, marketing and sales management. Past clients include: Citibank, Nestlé, The Weather Channel, and Unilever.

In 1999, Mr. Sancho received Hispanic Business Magazine’s Entrepreneur Spirit Award and he has been featured in a number of publications, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

 

 

DIRECTORS

David Barbeito, CPA
Audit Principal
Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC

Patrick Anthony Beliard
President
Haiti Shipping Lines

Tanya Dawkins
Director
Global-Local Links Project

John De Leon, Esq.
Principal
Chavez & De Leon, PA

Judy Gilbert-Gould
Board Member

Kimberly Green, PhD.
President
Green Family Foundation

Norma Kipnis Wilson
Board Member

David Lawrence Jr.
President
The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation
University Scholar for Early Childhood Development and Readiness

Janet R. McAliley
Past President, FIAC
Former Member, Miami-Dade County School Board

Nilda R. Pedrosa
Board Member

Ilaria Pezzatini, CFP
Vice President
Personal Financial Services

Antonio Prado
President
The Hamilton Group

Peter Upton, Esq.
Principal
Law Office of Peter Upton

José Valdes-Fauli
Retired Bank Executive

Rev. Dr. Priscilla Felisky Whitehead
Associate Pastor
Church by the Sea, Bal Harbour

HONORARY BOARD

Cesar L. Alvarez, Esq.
Executive Chairman, Greenberg Traurig

Alberto R. Cardenas, Esq.
Tew Cardenas LLP
Former National Chairman, CPAC

Edouard Duval Carrié
Internationally acclaimed Haitian artist

Hodding Carter III
Retired President/CEO, The Knight Foundation

Jonathan Demme
Academy Award-winning Director

The Honorable Daniel Robert “Bob” Graham
Former U.S. Senator
Former Governor of Florida

José Pedro Greer, M.D.
Assistant Dean & Department Chair, FIU
2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree

Mitchell Kaplan
Owner, Books & Books

Sr. Jeanne O’Laughlin, O.P.
Former President, Barry University

Eduardo Padrón, Ph.D.
President, Miami Dade College

Most Rev. Thomas Wenski, D.D.
Archbishop of Miami