Miami Foundation Names Ascendant Commercial Insurance CEO Pablo Cejas to Board of Governors
Feb 4, 2011
The Miami Foundation announced today, February 4, 2011, that it has named Pablo L. Cejas, chairman and CEO of Ascendant Commercial Insurance, to its Board of Governors. Ascendant is a property and casualty insurance company based in Miami, Florida.
In addition, to his position at Ascendant, Mr. Cejas is the chairman and managing partner of Aquarius Capital Partners, LLC — a private investment firm that manages his family’s investments.
Also today, the Miami Foundation Board of Governors elected Louis-Albert H. Jolivert as chairman and appointed three additional new members to its Board of Governors.
Jolivert has been a member of the Board since 2008 and was last year’s development committee chair. He is a senior director for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, where he is responsible for developing client relationships in the South Florida region.
“With our name change and an invigorated mission I look forward to working toward leveraging the collective knowledge, creativity and resources of the community so that together we can make greater positive impact than any one organization could make alone,” said Jolivert. “I am honored to serve as The Miami Foundation’s new chairman.”
In addition to Mr. Cejas, the three other new Board members include:
Maria Alonso is a corporate social responsibility market manager for Miami-Dade/Monroe counties at Bank of America. She is actively involved in the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, New World School of the Arts, the Miami-Dade College Foundation and Teach for America.
Rick Schatz is the managing director of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A. and is a shareholder in the Corporate and Securities Department. He serves on the firm’s Board of Directors. Schatz and his firm have worked closely with the Foundation for many years.
Bruce Turkel is CEO of TURKEL, which has been creating and working with valuable brands for over 25 years. Turkel led the brand re-launch for the Miami Foundation including the new name and logo.
Returning members of the Board of Governors include Vice Chairperson Liebe Gadinsky; Treasurer Alex Fraser; Secretary Penny Shaffer; Mario J. Artecona; Sergio Bendixen; Robert C. Gilbert, Esq.; Hank Klein; Regine Monestime, Esq.; Raul L. Rodriguez, AIA; Larry Spring; and Jose Vilarello.
Established in 1967, The Miami Foundation, formerly the Dade Community Foundation, has helped hundreds of people create personal, permanent and powerful legacies by establishing custom, charitable funds. With foundation expertise, fund holders have fostered the arts, awarded scholarships, championed diversity, taught kids to read, provided food and shelter for the hungry and homeless, and more.
More than $150 million in grants and scholarships has been awarded in the foundation’s 43-year history. Today, the Foundation is steward to nearly $150 million in charitable assets.