Meet our Founding Team:

Estrellita S. Sibila, Esq., Estrellita Sibila, PA

Estrellita S. Sibila recognizes the importance of creating a sustainable South Florida community.  She is a land use and zoning attorney with the law firm of Estrellita Sibila, PA and serves as the Executive Director of PhilanthroFest. Estrellita is a recognized community leader, speaker, author, fundraiser and issue advocate who has served in leadership capacities with South Florida organizations such as United Way of Miami Dade, Chapman Partnership, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Lawyers Credit Union, University Credit Union, and the Miami Green Commission.  A proud graduate and outstanding alumna of the University of Miami (BS ’01, JD ’04, L.L.M.P. 05’), Estrellita strives to build a better South Florida by creating opportunities for civic engagement, philanthropy and community investment.  Estrellita is a Class VI graduate of the exclusive Miami Fellows Initiative of the Miami Foundation, a Class XXX graduate of Leadership Miami and the recipient of numerous awards for her contributions in the fields of real estate law and sustainable land development.  She was the inaugural winner of the Greater Miami Chamber HYPE Go-Getter Award, and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Florida Super Lawyer Magazine, an “Up and Coming Attorney” by Florida Trend Magazine, named Florida’s “Top 30 Under 30 in Commercial Real Estate” and “Top 40 Under 40 Rising Stars of Florida Real Estate” by Real Estate Florida Magazine. Ms. Sibila was profiled in Miami Today as “The Achiever” for her advocacy work in sustainable development and was featured on “Comcast Newsmakers” where she discussed the implementation of sustainable development strategies in existing buildings.  Her name may mean “Little Star” but she surely does shine bright!

Twitter @estrellasibila & @sibilalaw

Naomi L. Ross [Public Allies Miami]

Living by her life motto: “Striving to lead a sustainable and philanthropic lifestyle,” Naomi is a South FL native who moved down to Miami for college. In her last year at University of Miami and following graduation, she was fortunate to have the opportunity to discover her true passion for community service. Naomi previously served as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, where she learned the values of asset based community development. Currently in her second term of service as Food Equity Coordinator with the Opa-Locka Community Development Corp., she is becoming knowledgeable on the importance of healthy and local food access. During her spare time, Naomi continues to be civically engaged as a member of and/or volunteer with a variety of local Young Professional groups and nonprofit organizations. FUN facts: She has never owned a car, instead choosing to ride mass transit almost every day, and is working towards a 100% vegan diet.

Twitter @MissSustainable. Facebook Public Allies Miami

James Echols & Annette Peikert [Life Is Art, Inc. & Soul Of Miami]

James Echols & Annette Peikert have been working together as event producers, amongst other things for nearly 20 years. Since moving to Miami nine years ago, they have become very involved in the community. In July of 2008, they started the very popular community-resource website, Soul Of Miami. Then, in January of 2009, they founded Life Is Art, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting the arts in south Florida through events and education. They have enjoyed considerable success, producing dozens of shows, seminars, and networkers over the past three years. Being so in touch with the community, they noticed a need for greater support for other philanthropic organizations operating in south Florida and so contacted Miami Crawls to collaborate to bring you PhilanthroFest! Twitter @soulofmiami and @thepumagirl. Facebook Life Is Art and Soul Of Miami.

Daniella Veras  [DaniMiami & Soul Of Miami]

Staying true to Gandhi’s quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,”  Daniella Veras is a strong believer in “leading from the front.”  Following that philosophy led her to switch careers from real estate sales and marketing to education, where she saw a strong need for the support of enthusiastic, qualified educators. A natural techie and early adopter, Daniella has always been hip to new trends in technology.  As an educator she used social media, not only as a tool to reach and engage her students, but also as a resource for emerging technologies.  Daniella found social media to be the perfect platform to create awareness, impact, and for planting seeds of influence and change. A self-proclaimed “sucker for charity,” she will walk / run / climb stairs / eat / drink for a good cause.   Her varied background, knowledge base, and resourceful problem solving earned her the sobriquet “MacGyver of Business Development.”   Her atomic energy, positive attitude and spirit are magnetic as she creates connections and builds relationships with ease.  Born and raised in New York and now a resident of Downtown Miami, Daniella can be found tweeting, tumbling, instagramming, pinning, sound-tracking and salsa-dancing all over the county.

Twitter @daniellaveras.

The PhilanthroFest vision is carried out by our wonderful Steering Committee and volunteers.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our dedicated PhilanthroFest 2013 Steering Committee

Members:

Alex Casillas

Alex de Carvalho, alexdc.org and @alexdc on Twitter

Alexis Guillen

Aleyda K. Mejia, Children’s Prize

Alicia Press

Allan Tito, allantito.com, and @allantd on Twitter

 

 

 

Amanda Bonifay

Amanda Israel

Amelia Amy Arce

Anna-Bo Emmanuel

Anthony Bayona

Anthony Jordon

Aubrey Swanson

Blanca Stella Mejia

Caitlin Electra

Cameron Sisser

Chamaline Masri

Claudia Figueredo

Cristina  Mas, University of Miami College of Arts & Science

Cynthia Juncosa

Dan Espino

Dani Bernal

David Brown

David Rosenthal

David Yakobovitch

Edilka Cruz

Erica Bovea

Franklin McCune

Hugo G. Perez

Jake Roffman

James Goll

Janie Coffey

JC del Valle

JennyLee Molina, President / Founder, JLPR, and @jennyleeisme & @JLPR on Twitter

JennyLee Molina is President and Founder of JLPR, a Miami-based boutique PR firm. With a deep understanding of the South Florida market, JLPR passionately works with various entities in the areas of art, hospitality and event marketing. Her most recent Heineken campaign as lead publicist and digital strategist for the Heineken Mural Project resulted in over 100 million cross-platform impressions in just 30 days. She has led digital strategies for Pepsi and Redbull and has secured top-tier coverage in CNN, Associated Press, NPR and front-pages of USA Today and Miami Herald among others. 

Joaquin Ortiz

John Muir

Juan Garcia

Juli Zeno

Karla Gottlieb

Katherine Cespedes

Kerry Gruson

Kevin Bulger

Kevin Mondesir

Lana Labrousse Curzon, Switchboard of Miami, Inc.

Latanya Casillas

Laura TenZijthoff

Lauren Harper

Lauren Levrant

Linnea Edorsson

Maria de los Angeles

Marissa Leichter

Marlena Hasday

Marlon Hill, Esq.

Nichole Rider

Rick Morgan

Rochelle Gapere

Rosa Llaguno

Rose Satz

Samantha Jane Morrison

Silvana Massolo 

Susan Jacobs

Tony Lima

Travis Stokes

Vicky Cheung

Victoria Fear