PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Cultural

Ballet Palm Beach, the professional ballet company of Palm Beach County, announced that Karl Ruppert is the new chairman of Ballet Palm Beach’s board of directors. Ruppert is managing director and South Florida complex director at UBS Private Wealth Management.

Governmental

The City of West Palm Beach Housing and Community Development Department hired Henry Mercy as its newest homeless outreach specialist. In his new role, Mercy will be responsible for engaging with West Palm Beach’s homeless population to connect them with the organizations and/or resources they need to combat mental health challenges, substance abuse, and secure stable housing. Previously, he worked at the Urban League of Palm Beach County for four years, most recently as a case manager and CINS/FINS & TOP facilitator. Prior to his role at the Urban League, he spent a decade at Adopt-a-Family of the Palm Beaches, Inc. as a case manager.

Venessa Walker was appointed to the Broward Regional Health Planning Council board of directors, for a term through Jan. 27, 2023. Walker is a chiropractic physician, minister and educator and owner of Walker Chiropractic and Wellness Center and MyHolBody, supplement and wellness brand.

The Miramar City Commission appointed Yvette Colbourne to serve as vice mayor for a one-year term. She will serve as second in command and acting mayor, when necessary. Vice Mayor Colbourne was first elected as Miramar commissioner in 2013 and won re-election to her Commission Seat 2 in March.

Maritime

VIKAND Solutions LLC appointed Russ

Holmes as director of business development. Holmes spent the past two-plus decades working with Mercy Ships, which owns and operates the two largest charitable hospital ships in the world. Most recently, Holmes was the director of corporate development for Mercy Ships.

Finance

The Florida Peninsula Insurance family of companies announced that Michael Williams has joined as vice president of claims and litigation in Boca Raton. Previously, he was a claims executive at Aon Reinsurance Solutions. He also was the chief claims officer of AmWINS Specialty Auto, as well as claims and consulting roles with Nationwide Insurance and IBM Global Business Services.

Hamilton Home Loans residential mortgage lender, in Sunrise, appointed Anna Beltran as president and chief operating officer.

Community

SAVE (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone), which tackles issues impacting the LGBTQ community in Florida as well as overall issues of human dignity, announced additions to its membership, including Paula Lewis, Evan Romero, Rachel Weiss and Christopher Wheeler. Lewis is a principal of Spotlight Marketing and Public Relations. Romero is Global Partner Manager at Twitter. Weiss is a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Downtown Miami. Wheeler is the owner and managing director of Wheeler Hospitality collection.

Law

Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP announced that Chad Bickerton joined the firm as an insurance coverage litigation partner in Fort Lauderdale.

Culinary

Islamorada’s Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina announced a new Executive Chef,

Juan Cuadra. He will oversee the culinary program’s day-to-day operations at the resort, including the three onsite restaurants, Ciao Hound Italian Kitchen & Bar, Tiki Bar, and Raw Bar.

Real estate

NAI Miami commercial real estate brokerage firm promoted Gianna Blanco and Jake Guso to vice president.

Lifestyle

The Toby & Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences of Boca Raton announced that Rachel Blumberg was named executive director. Prior to Sinai, Blumberg was executive director of Village on the Green, a continuing care retirement community, located in Longwood.

Broadcast

WPLG-Ch. 10 and WSFL-TV39 have announced newcasts anchors for its new programs airing on WSFL-TV39 beginning June 1. The newscasts are part of a partnership announced by the stations in March: Local 10 will air newscasts on WSFL from

7-9 a.m. and 10-11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10-10:30 p.m. on weekends. The weekday Morning Team newscast will be anchored by Alexis Frazier, the current morning traffic anchor on Channel 10’s morning newscasts. Gio Insignares will join Frazier on the anchor desk. Insignares comes to WPLG from WUSA in Washington, D.C., where he was an anchor and reporter. Andrea Martinez will join the team as the traffic anchor. She has worked for Telemundo/WTVJ in Miami and as an anchor and reporter in San Antonio and Tyler, Texas. WPLG morning meteorologist, Julie Durda, will provide weather forecasts for both the WPLG and WSFL morning newscasts. The

10 p.m. team will be anchored by WPLG’s Louis Aguirre. Aguirre will be joined by Eden Checkol, who will arrive at WPLG from WISN-TV in Milwaukee, where she is currently a morning anchor. Checkol previously worked in Madison, Wis., and Duluth,

Minn. Local 10’s Chief Certified Meteorologist Betty Davis and WPLG Sports Director Will Manso complete the team. On weekends, the WSFL 10 p.m. newscast will be anchored by WPLG’s Sanela Sabovic, Layron Livingston and weather with meteorologist Luke Dorris.

Technology

Nordis Technologies, a customer communications management and payment technology solutions company in Coral Springs, has announced that Scott McEwen has been named director of information technology. Also, Jennifer Summers joins the company in the new position of channel partner service manager.

Medical

Hospital for Special Surgery, a hospital for orthopedics, appointed Michael Enriquez as president of HSS Florida in West Palm Beach. He most recently was chief executive officer of OSS Health, an orthopedic-focused health system including a 26-bed surgical specialty hospital.

Environment

The Everglades Foundation named Bradley Watson as the new senior policy adviser. Watson is the former executive director of the Coastal States Organization, a consensus-based organization representing the governors of the nation’s coastal and Great Lakes states, commonwealths, and territories on legislative, regulatory, and program matters related to the conservation, development, and management of coastal and ocean resources. In the past, Bradley worked a staffer for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, as a member of the investigations team for the Senate Armed Services Committee, and as a senior legislative staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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