SOUTH FLORIDA SUPER BOWL XLI HOST COMMITTEE
COMMITTEES CO-CHAIR BIOS
Gary Bitner
Communications Co-Chair
As head of one of Florida's largest public relations firms, Gary Bitner is considered a leader in the state's public relations industry. His firm, Bitner Goodman, has long been recognized for its professionalism and quality client roster, including organizations such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Roche, Holy Cross Hospital, Tri-Rail and Winn-Dixie Stores.
Bitner is one of the founders of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the largest network of independently-owned public relations firms, with more than 100 offices in major cities throughout the world. Before founding the firm in 1980, Bitner was supervisor of public relations for Marriott Corp., Washington, D.C. His previous experience includes serving as a staff writer for the Sun-Sentinel, and as an account executive for Hank Meyer Associates, Miami.
A 1975 graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, Bitner is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America's Counselors Academy and is past president of the PRSA Gulfstream Chapter. Bitner has been awarded the national Gold Quill Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators and numerous professional awards from the Florida Public Relations Association. He also has been honored with the Up & Comers Award from the South Florida Business Journal, with the Spirit of 100 Award for community service from the Broward Economic Development Council, and with the Outstanding Small Business Leader of the Year Award from the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
Bitner supports countless community organizations throughout Florida. He is active in several business organizations, and he has continued his education as an MBA student at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
Evan Contorakes
Communications Co-Chair
As a highly successful business owner and strategic thinker, Evan Contorakes has 25 years of agency experience which spans all aspects of marketing and brand development. He is recognized as an achievement-oriented community leader and savvy businessman.
Contorakes is the Chief Executive Officer of Ronin, therefore responsible for the success of the company. He manages operations, marketing, strategy, financing, and human resources. Contorakes is responsible for setting the direction of the company by maintaining the unique Ronin culture, building the senior management team, and overseeing budgets within the firm.
Contorakes began his college career at TCU, playing on the football team as an outside linebacker. He later went back to finish his degree at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. He stumbled into the advertising world while interning at his brother’s photography studio in South Florida during the summer after his junior year. One year later, in 1985, he graduated from Washington & Jefferson with a BA in economics and moved to Florida.
Contorakes was then recruited to GS&B Advertising (Garcia-Serra & Blanco). From 1986 to 1992 he grew his experience in retail marketing and advertising at the largest Hispanic agency in the country. His entrepreneurial spirit and flare for brand development grew during his time at GS&B and in 1992, Contorakes started up his own company, Evans & Fitzgerald Advertising. In 2003, Contorakes and partners decided to branch out and break from the norms of the corporate world to form Ronin Advertising Group.
Contorakes is active in the community and is a member of several civic and charitable organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors for Children’s Home Society, Recording for Blind and Dyslexic, Coconut Grove Art Show and Zo’s Summer Groove and Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida.
Dr. Wilhelmena Mack
Community Outreach Co-Chair
Dr. Wilhelmena Mack has over 30 years of experience in consulting, human resources, training, community development and collegiate instruction. Mack is President/CEO of W Mack & Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm. W Mack & Associates specializes in human resource consulting, executive coaching, diversity and management training, strategic planning and organizational cultural alignment.
Before starting W Mack & Associates, Inc., Mack was Vice President/Chief Human Resource Officer for the North Broward Hospital District. Prior to joining the North Broward Hospital District, Mack was Vice President, Consulting services with Right Management Consultants. Mack has worked as Director, Training and Development and Director, Community Benefits for the Memorial Healthcare System and as Education Coordinator and Personnel Officer for the University of Miami/ Jackson Memorial Healthcare System.
Mack has always been active in a wide range of community, civic, non-profit and professional organizations. She has served as President on the boards of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, March of Dimes, The Children’s Home Society, The Tower Forum, The Broward Alliance, The American Lung Association and Junior Achievement of Broward County to name a few.
Mack has received numerous awards and commendations. Some them include Who’s Who of American Women, The World’s Who’s Who of Women, American Cancer Society’s Woman of the Year, March of Dimes’ Woman of Distinction, American Lung Association President’s Award, Junior Achievement’s National Bronze Leadership Award, TJ Reddick Bar Association’s Community Services Award and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce’s Circle of Excellence Award in Human Resources.
Mack received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Education degrees from the University of Miami. She received her Educational Specialist and Doctorate of Education degrees from Florida Atlantic University.
Al Padrón
Community Outreach Co-Chair
Al Padrón started his career in advertising in 1972 and in 1974, and after working as a Designer/Art Director with leading advertising agencies in South Florida he joined forces with Carlos Leo to create PL&P Advertising & Public Relations.
He has worked on national and international brands such as World Fuel Services, Embraer Aircraft, Arnold Breads, Entenmann's, Quaker Oats/Latin American Division, AT&T Wireless, and Kraft Foods/Caribbean Division. PL&P currently works with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Florida Department of Transportation along with numerous private sector clients.
PL&P is the oldest full-service, Hispanic-owned advertising and public relations firm in Broward County. The agency has been working successfully in the South Florida area, as well as on a national and international basis since 1974. PL&P’s clients, therefore, have the opportunity of interacting with a fully bilingual and bi-cultural agency that truly understands the workings and philosophies of multicultural markets. This experience has enabled PL&P to produce totally integrated effective campaigns and collateral materials for its clients’ products and services comprehensively throughout South Florida and the U.S.
Padrón was born in Havana (La Habana), Cuba in 1951 and has lived in the United States since the age of one.
Bryan Finnie
Community Outreach Co-Chair
Bryan K. Finnie is currently the Managing Director of Platinum Property Management, Inc., a for-profit commercial real estate and workforce residential developer. Finnie has been an urban development practitioner since 1984, beginning his career as a Project Manager for the West Harlem Local Development Corporation.
Over his career he has managed a $60,000,000 high risk small business investment fund, a $30,000,000 high risk urban industrial and commercial real estate fund, initiated a $30,000,000 Specialized Small Business Investment Fun (SSBIC) and structured the issuance of over $100,000,000 in industrial revenue bonds and debt on transactions in New Jersey and Florida.
In 1999, Finnie was appointed by the State of New Jersey as a member of the Camden Oversight (Take-Over) Board as part of the States’ effort to stabilize Camden’s municipal operations.
Phil Smith
Corporate Marketing Co-Chair
As the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Phil Smith Automotive Group, Smith is responsible for the overall operations of the organization, including working with the equity partners at the locations, as well as orchestrating the acquisition and growth strategies of the organization. Smith has over thirty years of direct hands-on sales and management of automobile dealerships, and has built the organization from the ground up starting from his first equity venture in a Toyota Dealership in Homestead, Florida, in 1980.
Awards received by the Phil Smith Automotive Group alliance include: J. D. Powers Quality Dealer Award (3 dealerships), Toyota President’s Award, Toyota Leadership Board, Toyota Parts and Service Advisory Board, Mitsubishi Diamond Quality Dealer Award, Toyota Customer Service Advisory Board, Toyota Board of Governors, and Ford Chairman’s Award.
Smith is one of the most highly respected dealers in the Southeastern United States, and is a recognized National leader as a Toyota dealer. Smith is currently a member of the Orange Bowl Committee, is Past Chairman of the Southeast Toyota Dealer Council, is past member of the National Toyota Dealer Council, is Past President of the South Florida Auto-Truck Dealers Association, and is a Past Director of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association. Smith is also the Broward County Co-Chair of the 2007 Super Bowl Host committee and Co-Chairs the Cystic Fibrosis Jeb Bush Annual Golf Classic. Smith was the recipient of the 2003 Junior Achievement Entrepreneur of the Year
In December, 2004, Smith headed a group of Fort Lauderdale businessmen and long-time residents that purchased the Coral Ridge Country Club. The group’s goal is to turn this Robert Trent Jones signature course into the premier private club in South Florida.
Smith is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, majoring in Finance and Business Administration.
Jose Cancela
Corporate Marketing Co-Chair
Jose Cancela began his media career as a sales trainee at the Univision affiliate in Miami, WLTV/Channel 23, in 1979. From that start, he has spent the last 25 years dedicated to helping define Hispanic U.S.A.
Cancela was running his first TV station in Phoenix at the age of 27. His experiences include: managing the station groups for both Univision and Telemundo, launching a start up National Hispanic Radio Network and running for Mayor of Miami-Dade County.
Cancela brings unparalleled passion, energy and commitment to everything he takes on, making him one of the most successful Hispanic Media Executives in the country. Today he is Principal of Hispanic USA Inc, a full service Hispanic Market Consulting Firm with offices in Miami and San Antonio, Texas.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Marshall Criser
Government Relations Co-Chair
Marshall Criser is President of BellSouth in Florida, responsible for managing all of the company’s operations in the state. Criser previously held the position of Regulatory & External Affairs Vice President for BellSouth Telecommunications in Florida. He was responsible for the advocacy of BellSouth’s policy and business objectives before the Florida Public Service Commission and other key external stakeholders.
Criser has held various other positions with BellSouth including Vice President-Regulatory and Strategic planning for BellSouth International and was Director of State and Agency Relations for BellSouth Corporation in Washington, D.C. He began his career at Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company where he held positions in regulatory, internal audits and comptrollers.
A Florida native, Criser holds a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Florida. He has also completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD in Fountainebleau, France. He is Chairman of the Florida Research Consortium and is a member of the Florida Council of 100, Enterprise Florida, the board of directors and research foundation of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and IT Florida. Marshall was appointed to the Florida Transportation Commission by Governor Jeb Bush on March 15, 2006. Locally, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Beacon Council and on the board of the United Way of Miami-Dade County. He is past President of Florida Telecommunications Industry Association.
Joel Gustafson
Government Relations Co-Chair
Joel K. Gustafson has served as the Broward Chairman of the 1995 and 1999 Super Bowl Host Committees. He also served as co-Chairman of the 1999 Breeders Cup.
Currently, Gustafson is the District Director for the Honorable E. Clay Shaw Jr.’s 22nd congressional district. Prior to his current post with Congressman Shaw, he practiced law for 39 years in South Florida, up until his retirement from Holland and Knight in 2002.
Gustafson has served on the Florida Commission of Ethics and has previously been appointed to the Florida Commission on Ethics by three Florida governors. In these terms he has served as chairman on four separate occasions. He is also a current member of the Board of Directors of Henderson Mental Health Center.
From 1978 – 1972, he served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Law Revision Commission. Gustafson also held the position of municipal judge for the City of Fort Lauderdale.
In his local community, he is the past chairman of and continued Executive Board member of the Broward Alliance and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Christopher Pollock
Hospitality Services Co-Chair
Christopher Pollock is the President/CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce assuming this position in January of 2004. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1910 and has approximately 2000 members.
Prior to becoming the President/CEO of the Chamber, he was the President of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Lodging and Hospitality Association. He previously spent 28 years in the hotel industry starting his career in South Florida (at the Boca Hotel and the Sheraton Yankee Trader and Clipper Hotels) with stints in St. Louis, Washington, DC, the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Petersburg, Atlanta, and the Dominican Republic. Most recently, he was the General Manager of the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Hotel.
Pollock received his Masters of Business Administration and his Bachelor of Science degrees from Florida Atlantic University. He specialized in Finance and real estate analysis, was president of the Association of MBA Students and was featured on the National Dean’s List.
Larry Gautier
Hospitality Services Co-Chair
Lawrence P. Gautier is currently the Vice President of The Keyes Company in Miami, Florida. He has over ten years of Real Estate business experience. He was Vice President of Colliers International’s Southeast Region, where he was awarded the new business generation award for the Southeast Region by Colliers International for 2000 and 2001. Gautier also worked at Collier’s International Mid-West Region in Cincinnati.
Prior to his work with Colliers International, Gautier served as Vice President at West Shell Commercial/Oncor International in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he won the real estate outsource assignment from Ryder System Inc. to become their exclusive international real estate provider and was awarded ONCOR Manager of the Year in 1998 for the most referral business generated nationally.
In 1999 Gautier moved back to South Florida and has been deeply involved in the South Florida community serving on various Boards of Directors including, The Orange Bowl Committee, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, The Salvation Army, and The South Florida Golf Foundation Board of Directors for the Ford Championship at Doral. He was also Chairman of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission and a member of the Florida International University MBA Advisory Board. Gautier earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Auburn University in Alabama.
Alina Tejeda Hudak
Operations Co-Chair
Alina Tejeda Hudak is an Assistant County Manager responsible for the effective management of the Miami-Dade County government and its more than 30,000 employees. Hudak is a 22-year professional. At the age of 33, she was the first Hispanic female ever to be appointed to the position of Assistant County Manager and has since continued to serve as one of the highest ranking female executives for Miami-Dade County government. She was also the first woman ever appointed director of a large operational department when she served as Director of the General Services Administration Department. During her tenure in the Manager's Office, she highlights her greatest accomplishments as the creation of the County's Citizen Outreach Department, Team Metro, and her years of work on procurement reform which led to the creation of the Department of Procurement Management.
Over the years, Hudak has been actively involved in a variety of community organizations including: the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), the Board of Directors of the United Way and the Junior League of Miami's Community Council. Hudak has served as the County's logistical lead to numerous special events including three Super Bowls, five National Championship parades, Olympic Soccer, the Volvo Cup Ocean Race, the NASDAQ-100 Open Tennis Tournament (now the Sony Ericsson Tennis Tournament), the Annual County Employee Picnic, and the Salute our Troops Event 2004.
Dele Lowman
Operations Co-Chair
Dele Lowman is a Special Assistant to the County Administrator. In this role, she manages a variety of special projects on behalf of the County Administrator, primarily focused on organizational development and performance management. Lowman joined the County Administration team in 2003 through the National Urban Fellows (NUF) program, a selective 36-year-old graduate fellowship dedicated to grooming women and minorities for leadership roles in the field of public administration.
Prior to joining Broward County, Lowman worked in Tallahassee for the State of Florida, both at the Florida Commission on Human Relations and for the Florida Sterling Council, a public/private partnership with the Governor’s Office.
Several of Lowman’s career highlights include: initiating successful efforts to cultivate customer loyalty and stakeholder commitment, initiating forums for employee and volunteer recognition, delivering presentations to hundreds of employees and stakeholders and designing and implementing an innovative facilitated business planning process. In her personal life, Lowman has served as a volunteer reader and mentor, was chosen by her graduate school peers to receive the Luis Alvarez Outstanding Leadership Award, is a WLRN Circle of Friends member, is a member of Leadership Broward Class XXV and serves on the Steering Committee for the Urban League of Broward County’s Young Professionals Network.
She is a magna cum laude graduate of both Florida A&M University (Bachelors of Criminal Justice) and Baruch College (Master of Public Administration).
SPECIAL EVENTS
John Webb
Special Events Co-Chair
As director of sports development for Greater Fort Lauderdale, John Webb is responsible for recruiting and retaining sporting events that create economic impact and hotel room night activity for the Greater Fort Lauderdale area.
Webb graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1979 and he earned a Masters Degree in Administration from the University of Mississippi in 1981.
Webb was the former Track & Field Head Coach at the University of Florida from 1985 to1995, where he was named the NCAA’s National Coach of the Year in 1989 and a five-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year.
Before joining the Sports Development movement in Broward County, Webb was employed by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
John has been involved with the following Committee or Boards: NCAA Championship Committee, University of Florida Athletic Advisory Board, Florida State Community Colleges Athletic Advisory Board, Governor’s Task Force on Sports, Florida Sports Foundation Board Member, Florida Sports Foundation Grant Committee, Collegiate Coaches Association Board Member, Florida Special Olympics Event Committee, Nike Coaches Board Member, Orange Bowl Foundation Board Member, U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Standards Advisory Board and several College and University Athletic Advisory Boards.
Victor Diaz
Special Events Co-Chair
Victor Manuel Diaz, Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Podhurst Orseck, P.A. For the past 20 years, Diaz has been a trial lawyer handling a broad range of civil litigation, including complex commercial litigation and mass tort litigation.
Diaz has been recognized as an elite civil trial lawyer by numerous national and regional publications, including Who’s Who In American Law (1995); Chamber’s USA Guide to Leading Lawyers for Business (2004; 2005); South Florida Legal Guide (2005); Florida Trend Magazine’s Florida Legal Elite (2005; 2006); Madison’s Who’s Who (2006) and Best Lawyers in America (2006).
In 2000, the Florida Supreme Court awarded Diaz the “Tobias Simon Award”, the State’s highest recognition for public and pro bono service. In 2003, he was elected by his peers as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Diaz graduated in 1982 from Duke University as the Valedictorian of the College of Arts and Sciences, obtaining a double degree in accounting and management science. Thereafter, Diaz attended the Yale Law School where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law and Policy Review.
Elaine Adler
Volunteer Services Co-Chair
Elaine Adler currently serves as President of the Aventura Marketing Council. Adler is responsible for growth and community involvement of a non-profit marketing council dedicated to promoting Aventura as a destination location for businesses, residents, shoppers and travelers. Adler oversees: new membership development and retention; communications with tourism and hospitality organizations and educational institutions; creation of new projects targeted at bringing residential communities into working relationship with Council; communications for city, county and statewide issues; editor of monthly newsletter and Aventura News.
From May, 1976 to February, 1991, Adler served as the President of the North Dade Chamber of Commerce. As such, she was responsible for overseeing the growth and management of regional chamber of commerce comprised of approximately 600 members.
Adler is a member of: Women's American ORT; Super Bowl XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI Host Committee, Board of Directors; Florida Breeders' Cup 1989, 1992 and 1999, Board of Directors; Blockbuster Bowl I, II and III, Board of Directors; Summit of the Americas, Board of Directors; Florida Olympic Soccer Host Committee, Board of Directors; Volvo Ocean Miami Race, Board of Directors; Flamingos in Paradise for Miami-Dade County Chairman; Latin Grammy Awards Host Committee and Aventura Health Foundation, President.
Adler attended the University of Illinois, Champagne/Urbana from 1961-1962 and then went on to complete her education at Nova University in Fort Lauderdale. She earned a degree in Public Relations with a minor in Mass Communications, with special emphasis on psychology; graduated Summa Cum Laude in August, 1980.
