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Bar names 59 Leadership Academy fellows

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Bar names 59 Leadership Academy fellows

Leadrship Academy The Florida Bar will train 59 “fellows” for future leadership roles within the legal profession as part of the inaugural class of its Leadership Academy.

The Bar received 263 total applications for the year-long program.

Approved by The Florida Bar Board of Governors in January, the program’s goal is to reach out to lawyers from across Florida and help give them the skills and resources needed to become leaders not only in the legal profession but in their communities.

Florida Bar President-elect Eugene Pettis said he seeks to leave a legacy of leaders for The Florida Bar and Florida.

“I believe the demand will be great and the experience will be priceless,” Pettis said about The Florida Bar’s newly minted Leadership Academy.

The program will include six meetings at locations throughout the state beginning at the Bar’s Annual Convention, June 26-29 in Boca Raton. The curriculum will focus on developing skills and networking opportunities within the legal profession and having the fellows create projects to put their new skills to use.

The six meetings that form the framework for the academy will each begin at noon on a Friday and run until noon Saturday with various speakers and topics, such as learning to work with different workplace personalities; balancing personal, volunteer, and work life; motivating others and delegating; conducting effective meetings; effective leadership styles; and public speaking.

Through the academy, fellows will have an opportunity to network with both past and present Bar leaders, including presidents and Board of Governors members. Midway through the program, fellows will indicate two preferences for Bar sections, divisions, or committees in which they would like to become involved following graduation, which will take place at the Bar convention in 2014.

Diversity is also an important component of the program and fellows were chosen to create a Leadership Academy class that reflects the different regions and populations of the state.

Currently, eight state bars throughout the U.S. have similar leadership programs.

The 2013-14 inaugural class of Fellows includes:

North Branch

• Mutaquee N. Akbar, Tallahassee

• Sara Louise Alpert, Tampa

• Bethanie Barbaer, Orlando

• Harold V. Bennett III, Lakeland

• Alvin F. Benton Jr., Orlando

• Robert Birrenkott, Gainesville

• David D. Burns, Jacksonville Beach

• Jesse Butler, Sarasota

• Jodi Daniel Cooke, Pensacola

• Jessica Costello, Tampa

• Brenda B. Ezell, Jacksonville

• Kristina Elizabeth Feher, St. Petersburg

• Jennifer Ann Ficarotta, Tampa

• Megan T. Fitzpatrick, Inverness

• James David Gordon III, Port Charlotte

• Ashley Wells Greene, Jacksonville

• A. Felipe Guerrero, Orlando

• Erum Siddiqui Kistemaker, Daytona Beach

• Barbara J. Leach, Orlando

• John J. Maceluch Jr., Tampa

• Anne M. “Amy” McBride, Ft. Walton Beach

• G.C. Murray Jr., Tallahassee

• Zeina N. Salam, Jacksonville

• Michael W. Schmid, Tampa

• Laura Leigh Snell, Clearwater

• Kelly G. Swartz, Melbourne

• Whitney M. Untiedt, Gainesville

• Melissa N. VanSickle, Tallahassee

• Gregory T. Wilson, Panama City

South Branch

• Pedro M. Allende, Miami

• Brandon Arkin, Palm Beach Gardens

• Annika E. Ashton, Miami

• Annabella Barboza, Ft. Lauderdale

• Douglas Alan Bates, Miami

• Tattiana Brenes-Stahl, Ft. Lauderdale

• Vivian Z. Chavez, Miami

• Michael T. Davis, Miami

• Devang Desai, Coral Gables

• Lillian Boudrias Ewen, Port St. Lucie

• Maria D. Garcia, Coral Gables

• Aimee Gross, Weston

• Joshua J. Hertz, Aventura

• Donell Andre Hicks, Coral Gables

• John M. Howe, West Palm Beach

• Fritznie A. Jarbath, North Miami

• Jay Kim, Ft. Lauderdale

• Alexandra Bach Lagos, Miami

• Tobi B. Lebowitz, Ft. Lauderdale

• Alan C. Nash, Ft. Lauderdale

• Antoinette Peck, LaBelle

• Christopher W. Rumbold, Boca Raton

• Herman J. Russomanno III, Miami

• Nikke Lewis Simon, Miami

• Grasford Washington Smith Jr., West Palm Beach

• Kymberlee Curry Smith, Cooper City

• Schulyer A. Smith, Miami

• Joshua Byrne Spector, Miami

• Gregory S. Weiss, Palm Beach Gardens

• Daniel A. Zuniga, Jupiter

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