Leadership
Michele Poole received Leadership Palm Beach County’s 2015 Leadership Excellence Award. Poole, a 2014 LPBC graduate, was honored April 24 at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, in recognition of her work as an advocate for children. She sits on the board of the National Center on Shaken Baby Prevention and, through that organization has crafted legislation in 25 states to mandate prevention materials for all newborns and raised money to have the prevention program translated into 11 languages. In addition, as president of Arc Florida, she helped to craft legislation providing relief for people with developmental disabilities from laws that prohibit their ability to earn money and not lose their SSI. The bill, known as the ABLE Act, was recently signed into law by President Obama. The four other finalists for he leadership award were Dorothy Bradshaw, South Florida Water Management District; Manual Farach, Richman Greer P.A.; Maria Marino, Jupiter Children’s Foundation; and Sandra Close Turnquest, Close-Forward. In addition, there were eight LEA nominees: Frank Compiani, McGladrey LLP; Rita Craig, Top Tier Leadership; Karis Engle, The Glades Initiative Inc.; Dena Foman, McLaughlin & Stern LLP; Laurie George, United Way of Palm Beach County; Bari Goldstein, Ford Harrison LLP; Max Macon, Florida Power & Light Co., and Julie Swindler, Families First of Palm Beach County. Tom D’Eri, chief operating officer of Rising Tide Car Wash, has been named a finalist for South Florida Business & Wealth magazine’s 2015 Up & Comer Awards in the retail category. D’Eri created a business model that blends money and meaning in an economically viable fashion, making him a leader in social entrepreneurship. Rising Tide is one of the largest employers of people with autism in the U.S. Since its inception in 2013, Rising Tide has created 75 jobs in the South Florida area. Finalists and winners will be recognized at the Up & Comer Awards program on June18 at The Venue, in Wilton Manors.