United Way recognizes outstanding community leaders
March 7, 2018
United Way of Northeast Florida is thrilled to recognize some of our outstanding honorees for Atlantic Circle’s 2018 Cocktails and Conversation event.
Honorees
Daniel Davis
Daniel Davis was named President and CEO of JAX Chamber in 2013. His focus on promoting business-friendly policy, growing an entrepreneurial culture and reaching out to our entire community has led to significant membership increases during his tenure. Under Daniel’s leadership, JAX Chamber was one of four national finalists for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives 2016 Chamber of the Year Award.
Daniel has in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business issues and he is dedicated to further growing our local economy. Prior to joining the Chamber, Daniel was executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA), Florida’s largest local membership trade association representing the building and construction industry in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns Counties.
Daniel previously served on the Jacksonville City Council and was elected President of the Council in 2007 – the youngest person to serve in this capacity. In addition to leading JAX Chamber, he served in the State House of Representatives representing District 15, which encompasses parts of Duval County.
Daniel is married to his wife of 20 years, Rebekah Davis and they have four children. Daniel also serves on numerous nonprofit organization boards throughout Jacksonville.
Cindy Funkhouser
Cindy is the president and CEO of Sulzbacher Center, the largest homeless resource provider in Northeast Florida. She also served as their vice president of health services and the chief program officer.
Prior to this, Cindy served as the executive director of Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry in Jacksonville Beach, a faith-based organization that provides emergency assistance for families in crisis. In Cindy’s first career, she was a sales and marketing professional for a Fortune 500 company for over 20 years. Cindy sat on the boards of the Sulzbacher Center, the Beaches Resource Center Foundation, BEAM, Beaches Watch, the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition and the United Way Agency Directors Executive Committee. She currently sits on the Brooks College of Health Dean’s Council, the HUD CoC of Northeast Florida board, the Jacksonville Chamber Board of Governors and the FSCJ Human Service Advisory Council.
Cindy graduated from Florida State University with a Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work in 2003. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from George Mason University and is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville 2014 Class.
Albert G. Hakaim
Albert G. Hakaim, M.D., FACS, is professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Florida. He is a vascular surgeon with 20 years of both clinical and research experience specializing in arteriosclerotic and aneurysmal disease. His past and current research experience has focused on experimental and clinical results of a variety of stent-grafts for thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms, and he has participated in clinical trials involving carotid stenting, making him a subject matter expert in the field of cerebrovascular and aortic aneurysmal diseases.
Dr. Hakaim’s department oversees 400 patients annually with aortic aneurysms and an equal number with carotid arteriosclerotic disease, giving him an extensive expertise in the study of both.
In addition to his clinical activities, Dr. Hakaim is active in clinical research as the principal investigator for the carotid revascularization endarterectomy verses stent and medical management (CREST-2) and had developed the first custom stent-graft for aortic aneurysm repair at Mayo Clinic as part of an FDA approved IDE protocol.
Dr. Hakaim obtained his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and his medical degree and Master of Science degree from Ohio State University. His internship and residency were at Cleveland Clinic. He completed his training with fellowships in organ transplantation, vascular surgery and endovascular surgery.
Coretta Hill
Coretta Gooden Hill has a passion for community service work and has a combined 20 years of experience in non-profit management, media and public relations, strategic planning and resource development. As Vice President of Volunteer and Community Engagement, she leads a team in planning corporate engagement activities for United Way of Northeast Florida’s top campaign accounts and developing new strategic volunteer initiatives that impacts education, income and health.
Coretta began her career with United Way of Northeast Florida in June 1999 as a Campaign Manager, where she was promoted to Director of Campaign Programs after the first year. She traveled with her military husband to Buffalo, NY and Okinawa, Japan before returning to Northeast Florida and accepting a position with United Way as the Director of Volunteer and Community Engagement before she was promoted to Vice President.
While in Buffalo, Coretta served as the State Director of Development for the March of Dimes in June 2002 and was promoted to the local Executive Director of the Western New York Chapter within one year. Following her stint there, she became the Marketing Director for Central Texas College’s Pacific Division in Okinawa, Japan.
Prior to first joining United Way of Northeast Florida in 1999, Coretta has held positions such as Communications and Marketing Director of United Way of Southwest Georgia, Public Information Manager for the City of Albany and News Writer for the Albany Herald newspaper in Albany, Georgia.
As a long-time executive professional in the nonprofit industry, Coretta also leads by example as a volunteer in her personal life as well. She’s a member of the Board of Directors for Changing Homelessness, a member of the Community Coaches program for the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Creekside High School Parent Advisory Council and a volunteer reader for United Way’s ReadingPals program.
Coretta earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Albany State University with a concentration in Non-profit Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Fort Valley State College. She and her husband Marcus have two children, Christopher, 26 and Kimari, 17.
David Miller
David Miller is the co-founder and executive chairman of Brightway Insurance, one of the largest property and casualty insurance agencies in the country. With annual sales over $500 million, Brightway has earned recognition from Forbes as the #1 Franchise to Buy in the U.S., from Entrepreneur Magazine as the No. 1 insurance franchise in the country, and from Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the country nine years in a row.
David is passionate about creating positive outcomes that have positive results for multiple stakeholders. He calls this operating mandate “W Cubed,” (W3), which stands for Win, Win, Win. All Brightway people—almost 800 strong—embrace this as the way we do business. And, David is expanding the concept beyond Brightway into the greater community through various public and private endeavors.
David currently serves on the board of directors for United Way of Northeast Florida and is the chair of the Tocqueville Society. He is a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council and a past board member of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Jacksonville and the Amelia Island Concours D’elegance.
David and his wife Monique have two children, Josh and Leah.
Linda and David Stein
Linda and David have supported United Way of Northeast Florida for more than 50 years. They have been Tocqueville Society members since 1991 and are founding members of Team de Tocqueville since its inception in 2004.
David was the chairman and chief executive officer of Southern Industrial Corporation, the original franchisor of 32 Jacksonville area Burger King restaurants and chairman of Jacksonville-based King Provision Corporation. His 45-year involvement in Burger King is highlighted in a book published by McGraw Hill titled “The Burger King” and is known nationally as a pioneer in the Burger King system. David is currently chairman of T.L. Cannon Corporation, a franchisee of Applebee’s restaurants in New York and Connecticut.
Linda earned her Bachelor of Music Education from Jacksonville University and retired from Delta Airlines after a 21-year career. Linda serves on the boards of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, the Jacksonville Humane Society, Jacksonville University and MOCA Jacksonville. Linda also serves on the Mayo Clinic Leadership Council. Through Baptist Health Foundation, she established the Linda Berry Stein Going Home Endowment Fund, which provides critical needs for disadvantaged children after leaving Wolfson Children’s Hospital. In addition, she has served with the Jewish Community Alliance and Jacksonville Jewish Federation allocation committees. Linda’s past community involvement also extends to Aspen where she has worked with Les Dames d’Aspen benefiting the arts along with Sunshine Kids, which serves children with cancer.
On June 15, 2006, Linda and David presented a check for $1 million to develop the Stein Fellowship for young professionals and to support United Way’s Helping Students Achieve focus area. With this gift, the Steins became United Way’s second million-dollar donors and became members of the Million Dollar Roundtable. The Stein Fellowship is a premier multigenerational mentoring program designed to identify and shape the next generation of community leaders in Northeast Florida. Each year, selected young professionals are paired with Tocqueville Society members to receive mentorship for their professional and philanthropic development. Stein Fellows in turn ensure middle school students stay on track to graduation by mentoring sixth graders through Achievers For Life. Since its inception in 2007, nearly 200 young professionals, paired with 87 Tocqueville Society mentors, have cultivated leadership skills through this unique program.
Born and raised in Jacksonville, David is passionate about this community and is dedicated to educating its future leaders. In addition to supporting United Way, David was the guiding force behind the founding of the Jewish Community Alliance here in Jacksonville. He has served JAX Chamber, University Medical Center, University of North Florida Foundation, WJCT Public Broadcasting and numerous other local organizations and clubs as an officer or board member.
Linda and David are true stewards of our community and believe strongly in giving back to make a real difference in people’s lives.
Kerri Stewart
Kerri Stewart joined JEA as Chief Customer Officer in 2017, bringing more than 14 years of experience to the organization. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff for Jacksonville, Florida Mayor Lenny Curry, providing policy and public affairs guidance to the mayor.
Prior to returning to the City of Jacksonville, Kerri was a Partner and Senior Vice President at Infinity Global Solutions. Drawing on her extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, she focused on assisting clients in the areas of government privatization, public infrastructure development, general management consulting and government relations. She also served as interim president of Visit Jacksonville, Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville as part of her management consulting practice.
Prior to joining IGS, Kerri served as the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Jacksonville/Duval County, Florida under Mayor John Peyton and Mayor Alvin Brown. In this role, she oversaw day-to-day government operations for the city, including directing a nearly 5,000-member workforce and managing the $1 billion municipal budget and $164 million annual capital improvement plan. During her first tenure with the City of Jacksonville, Kerri led several successful privatization studies and implementations, and she has shared her experiences in this area at a variety of conferences and other professional venues.
During her years of public service, Kerri also served as director of the city’s Housing and Neighborhoods Department, created the Office of Operational Efficiency (now known as the Inspector General’s Office), and served as a policy advisor to Mayor Peyton.
Prior to joining the City of Jacksonville, Kerri worked as a Program Manager for Alltel Information Systems in Leeds, UK and Jacksonville, Florida. She is a graduate of the University of North Florida’s Coggin School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, double-majoring in Marketing and Management.
Scott Wooten
Scott Wooten, FACHE, serves as Baptist Health Jacksonville’s system chief financial officer and is a key contributor to Baptist Health’s business model and strategic direction.
Baptist Health is a locally governed faith-based non-profit health system located in Northeast Florida and is a $1.65 billion top line mid-sized health system with AA stable outlook bond rating from S&P.
Scott received his B.S. Business Administration from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and his MBA from the University of Dayton in Dayton Ohio. He is also a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
His 30-year career history includes service with Price Waterhouse, Denver, Colorado; Adventist Health System in Orlando, Florida, Ft. Worth, Texas and their affiliate Kettering Healthcare in Dayton, Ohio; Alegent Creighton Health in Omaha, Nebraska; and Baptist Health Jacksonville, Florida.
As part of his community involvement, Scott serves on the Boards of the Cathedral Arts Project as the treasurer and chair-elect, and the American Heart and Stroke Association for Northeast Florida along with other community activities supporting Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Philip Zoller
Philip Zoller is Florida Blue’s vice president of talent management. In this role, Philip has accountability for talent acquisition, functional and operational training, employee development, and leadership and executive development for the company.
Prior to joining Florida Blue in 2009, Philip served in leadership roles at Convergys and Triton Solutions. He most recently served as vice president of enterprise learning and development in the organization’s HR department.
Throughout his career, Philip has been active in community and professional organizations. He has served in various board roles and was recently selected as an executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America (North Florida Council). Additionally, he is a member of the University of North Florida’s Continuing Education Advisory Council and Health Administration Leadership Institute, a member and past president of the International Society for Performance Improvement and member of the Association for Talent Development.
Philip holds a Master of Science in Instructional Systems from Florida State University.
Moderators
Nelson Greene
Nelson Greene moved to Jacksonville in 2005 to attend the University of North Florida, where he later graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Years following, he returned to his alma mater, UNF, to attain his master’s degree in Public Administration while working full-time at a local credit union. From the start, and throughout the time, Nelson sensed pronounced fondness and took great interest in the prosperous municipality and community that is Jacksonville.
Nelson currently works for a software company, originated in Jacksonville, which specializes in financial technology. He appreciates any opportunity to further advance his knowledge to later be able to share with others. Nelson has been supporting and volunteering with non-profits and professional organizational involvements for 11 years. He is a 2017-2018 co-chair for Atlantic Circle.
Ashley Pratt
Ashley Pratt is the operations manager for the Department of Transplantation at Mayo Clinic in Florida. During her nine years at Mayo Clinic, in addition to her current role, she was the operations manager for nephrology, health systems engineer and the desk and scheduling supervisor for transplant. Ashley received a bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from UNF and is currently pursuing her dual master’s degree in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management at UCF, graduating in December 2018.
In addition to her role at Mayo Clinic, Ashley has a passion for mentoring and making an impact in the community. She is a 2015-2016 Stein Fellow alum, a 2017-2018 co-chair for Atlantic Circle, serves as the secretary on the Board of Directors for the Katie Caples Foundation, and is a volunteer for several community events.
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