People on the Move
Promotions, new hires and career changes in South Flolrida. Submit promotions, new hires to SunSentinel.com/peopleonthemove or email peopleonthemove@sunsentinel.com. Contact ckent@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4662, or Twitter @mindingyourbiz
Franchise
A.J. Titus has been appointed president of Signarama, a franchise sign company with locations in more than 60 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Titus began his career selling signs at a local Signarama and later was named sales manager at Signarama headquarters in West Palm Beach, where he was promoted to executive vice president. Additionally, Jim
Tatem, who was president of Signarama for a decade, assumes the presidency of United Franchise Group, the group of affiliated companies and brands that includes Signarama. Tatem will be based out of UFG headquarters, also in West Palm Beach.
Community
The Rotary Club of Delray Beach recently appointed Jessica Rosato, Rotary Club member and broker associate with Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty, as its membership chair and member of the board of directors.
Marketing, advertising
Susan Siegel has joined the Delray Beachbased internet marketing company, BCoSF Media as executive assistant, from Albany International Corp., in Albany, N.Y. Before that, she was administrator of the New York School of Psychiatry and was executive assistant to the chairman and chief executive officer of Phoenix Data Systems. Miami-based rbb Communications announced the expansion of its leadership team with the following newly named equity partners: Abdul Muhammad II, chief digital officer; Laura Guitar, executive vice president and lead of reputation & risk advisors; Jeanine Karp, vice president; Josh Merkin, vice president, specializes in media relations and integrated corporate communications strategies; Lisette Loughner, vice president of human resources; Maite Velez-Couto, vice president, media relations, consumer product and influencer marketing and branding experience; Rashid Saker, director of operations;
Sandra Fine Ericson, senior vice president, director of results measurement; and Shawn
Warmstein, vice president, manages consumer and corporate clients. Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm, announced Jonathan Stern has joined the company as managing director and market leader of the firm’s Miami office.
Research
The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience announced its newest research group leader, Dr. Yingxue Wang, who will lead the Neuronal Mechanisms of Episodic Memory research group, in Jupiter. Previously, Wang worked at the Janelia Research Campus of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where she studied the coordinated, sequential activity patterns generated by the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, during the course of a memory task.
Education
KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program, a national nonprofit network of college preparatory public charter schools serving elementary, middle and high school students.has announced that KIPP Miami’s founding school will be led by Leyla Bravo as principal and
Kayla Johnson as assistant principal at KIPP Sunrise Academy, KIPP Miami’s first school set to launch in Liberty City in August 2018. Additionally, Monica Kress has been selected as managing director of operations for the KIPP Miami region
Real estate
Gigi Giusti and Joanna Berg of Douglas Elliman have been selected as the on-site sales executives for SobelCo’s Galleria Lofts in Fort Lauderdale. Crossman & Co., retail leasing, property management and investment sales firms, announced that Robert Spiak has joined the firm as project manager.
Finance
TD Bank has named Gregory M. Santin as senior lender, commercial real estate, based in Miami. DWC — The 401(k) Experts, providing 401(k) plan compliance, defined benefit services, consulting services and third-party plan administration, announced the addition of
Sarah Lalli and Laurie Boardman to oversee distributions and client services teams, respectively, in Palm Beach. BankUnited announced that Shalako Wiener has joined as senior vice president, corporate banking in Miami Lakes. First National Bank of South Miami has expanded its board of directors to 10 members with the addition of Dr. Eneida O. Roldan and Dr. Jorge E. Perez. Roldan is chief executive officer of the FIU Health Care Network and is associate dean for International Affairs. Roldan is the immediate past president and CEO of the Public Health Trust and Jackson Health System, and before that, she was senior vice president, associate chief medical officer, and chief administrative officer of Jackson Memorial Hospital. Perez’s practice is at Kidz Medical Services in Coral Gables, where he has been medical director since its founding in 1990. At Baptist Health, Perez is the medical coordinator of the system’s Neonatal/Maternal Transfer Center and is medical director of Air/Ground Neonatal Transport. He is president of the hospital’s medical staff, chairman and medical director of the South Miami Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Task Force and NICU Research Committee, and co-director of the Fetal Board. He is medical director of the OB/GYN Hospitalist Program and Newborn Nursery at Homestead Hospital, and is on its OB/Newborn Committee.
Law
Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton announced that
Cori Lopez-Castro has been named managing partner. She will serve a one-year term as part of the firm’s rotation of managing partners. Lopez-Castro, who has been a partner of the firm since 1998, also was managing partner from 2011 to 2012.
Business development
The Florida Small Business Development Center Network and Florida Atlantic University announced Rafael Cruz as the regional director of the Florida SBDC at FAU. Cruz has worked for the Florida SBDC Network for 16 years, most recently serving as the regional director of the Florida SBDC at Fort Lauderdale.
Restaurants, culinary
TooJay’s appointed Stephanie Skora as marketing manager, responsible for management of its loyalty program and guest-facing communication for all 27 TooJay’s locations. Before joining TooJay’s, Skora worked for Hurricane Grill & Wings as marketing manager. Prior to that, she worked for Port 25 Media as an email marketing director. The Gates Hotel South Beach — a DoubleTree by Hilton appointed Nicolas Bour as executive chef of the newly reimagined hotel. Previously, Bour was the executive chef of Ocean House Management, a boutique luxury hotel based in Rhode Island.