LaVerne Daley- SME, Employment VP, CTI Consulting Chair, Employment Committee- Mission United

1. SUPPORTING OUR
VETERANSA Call to Action in South Florida
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Coral Gables Museum
5:00 p.m. Registration & Networking
6:00-7:30 p.m. Program
7:30-8:30 p.m. Bites & Cocktails
AGENDA
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Charles Johnson, Shareholder, Richman Greer P.A.
Military Affairs Committee Chair, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
NATIONAL ANTHEM
SPONSOR REMARKS
Jorge Villacampa, Area President, Miami-Dade and Monroe County, Wells Fargo
Diana Gonzalez, Coordinator, Military Miami-Dade, a program of The Beacon Council
A CALL TO ACTION IN SOUTH FLORIDA
The Honorable Tomás Regalado, Mayor of City of Miami
INTRODUCTION OF PANEL
Don Slesnick, LTC, USA (Ret), Army Reserve Ambassador, Florida
PANEL DISCUSSION
Paul Russo, MHSA, FACHE, RD, Director, Miami VA Healthcare System
José Cintron, Miami Field Office Director, US Department of HUD
LtCol. Tony Colmenares, USMC (Ret), Director of Military and Veterans Services, Miami Dade College-Wide
LaVerne Daley, Chair, Employment Committee, Mission United
Moderated by Don Slesnick
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
CLOSING REMARKS
Presented by
Sponsored by

2. SPEAKERS
Mayor Tomás Regalado started out as the youngest reporter on staff at WFAB, La Fabulosa. Regalado
quickly ascended from reporter to assistant producer. At twenty one, Regalado was hired by WCKT an
NBC affiliate as the Latin American News Editor and host of the news program Tele-Amigo. In 1970,
Regalado decided to leave the news desk and became the stations first international news correspondent.
In the years that followed, Regalado traveled to Africa and covered the civil war in Angola, the riots in
Soweto, South Africa and the civil war in Mozambique. In 1983, Regalado, who was no stranger to the
White House and had interviewed Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, became the
first Cuban American member of the White House Press Corps. As a member of the Press Corps, Regalado
traveled with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. Regalado accompanied the
presidents on their foreign trips, including but not limited to summits from 1983 to 1993 and met such
figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Anwar Al Sadat. In this time period, Regalado also covered the presidential campaigns
and national party conventions. While a full time News Director on Spanish language radio Regalado also worked for The Miami Herald
as a weekly columnist. He covered the civil war in Nicaragua and El Salvador and has visited over 78 countries throughout the world.
Along with his wife Raquel, Tomas spoke several times before the Human Rights Commission of United Nations in Geneva Switzerland
against human rights violations in Cuba. In September of 1996, Regalado was elected City wide as Commissioner. Regalado was re-
elected in 1999, and then again in 2003 without opposition. In his last election in 2007, Tomas was re-elected by 94 percent of his
district. On November 3, Tomas P. Regalado was elected Miami's 33
rd
Mayor with a 72 percent margin.
Don Slesnick is the managing partner for the Law Offices of Slesnick & Casey, LLP. He has been in
private practice since 1976, representing public sector employee organizations. In 2011 he concluded ten
years as Mayor of Coral Gables, Florida. He served as the 2009-10 President of the Florida League of
Mayors. As of May 1
st
, 2014, Don was appointed Honorary Consul of Australia for Florida. Don is a
Vietnam veteran and a former U.S. Army advisor to NATO forces in Germany. He retired from the Army at
the rank of Lt. Colonel, and now serves the Chief of the Army Reserve as one of his “Ambassadors.” He
was Founding Chairman of “Team Miami” which led the efforts to relocate U.S. Southern Command to
Miami and to save Homestead Air Reserve Base after its destruction by Hurricane Andrew. He was
awarded the U.S. Army’s “Outstanding Civilian Service Award” by the Commanding General of
SOUTHCOM. Don received a B.A. (Foreign Affairs) from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from the
University of Florida and a M.P.A. from Florida International University. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1972, the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1985; is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Labor & Employment Relations and a Florida Supreme Court Certified
Mediator. He is currently the Vice President of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, is currently Chair of The Fellows of the
American Bar Foundation and serves as a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates.
Paul Russo was appointed Director of the Miami VA Healthcare System March 30, 2012. Prior to this
appointment, Mr. Russo served as Director, W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North
Carolina. Mr. Russo received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York College at
Buffalo in 1982 in clinical nutrition. He obtained his registered dietitian (R.D.) status in October 1982. He
began his VA career as a staff dietitian at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, eventually working his way to
the chief of the Integrated Nutrition and Food Service Department between Miami and West Palm Beach
VA Healthcare Systems. He then served as the assistant director of the Miami VA Healthcare System
prior to his appointment as associate director of the West Palm Beach VA Healthcare System from 1994
through 2010. Mr. Russo is also a graduate of Leadership VA class of 1997 and a graduate of the
Veterans Health Administration Executive Career Field class 2003. He is also a certified mentor at the
fellow level and several of his mentees have progressed to senior executive positions within the Veterans Health Administration. He
received his master's degree in health systems administration at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005 and is board certified as a
Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a recipient of the Administrators Hands and Heart Award in 1985 and
Secretary's Award for Dietitian of the Year in 1996. He is a senior member of the American Society for Quality and has maintained his
registered dietitian status.

3. José Cintron has had a distinguished career in the field of housing and community development for over
thirty-seven years. During that time he has served in various senior executive level jobs in federal, state,
county and city governments. His various roles have afforded him the opportunity to influence strategic
public policy formulation at all levels, and also to be responsible for implementing said policies and
producing impactful results for the constituencies he has helped to foster. In January of 2010, he rejoined
US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to become the Director of the Miami Hub for
Public and Indian Housing. His other HUD service encompassed two years as the Regional Public Housing
Director, twelve years during which time he held positions as the Secretary’s Representative (Regional
Director) for New York and New Jersey (appointed by Secretary Henry Cisneros), Field Office Director for
the Florida State Office, Acting General Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and Indian
Housing, Acting Director of Community Planning and Development of the Miami Field Office, and Development Coordinator for the
Public and Indian Office of Miami. During this period he also served as the “Change Agent” (appointed by Secretary Andrew Cuomo)
responsible for the reorganization of the HUD Public Housing Division. Prior to returning to HUD in 2010, Mr. Cintron worked in senior
executive positions for Miami-Dade County, Florida. He left HUD in 2006 to become the County Director of the Office of Community and
Economic Development. He served with distinction and was asked to take on the challenge of serving as the Executive Director of the
Miami-Dade Housing Agency which at the time was under the direct control of HUD. During his tenure, the Agency was returned to the
full management control of the County. His relationship with the federal authorities and his knowledge of public housing helped to
facilitate the prompt return.
Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Colmenares USMC (Ret) grew up in Miami, Florida. In 1978, he enlisted
in the United States Marine Corps and attended recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina. He retired
as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps in May 2008 with more than thirty years of
active service. His career in the military was highlighted by his steady rise through the ranks, first through
the enlisted ranks and then through the officer ranks. Altogether he was promoted /advanced in grade 13
times while serving half of his active duty time in overseas assignments. In Jan 2009 Colmenares was
hired by the American Red Cross as the Director of the South Florida Region BRAIVE Emergency
Assistance Program which he led for 18 months. In 2010, he was re-hired to serve as the Regional
Director for International Services and Service to the Armed Forces for the South Florida Region. In 2012,
he was promoted to lead the Emergency Services Department of American Red Cross overseeing all
operations in Disaster Services, International Services and Services to the Armed Forces serving 4.2 million residents in the tri-county
region. In 2011, he was appointed by the Governor through the Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs to serve
as the Director of the Florida Veterans Foundation for District 8, he is responsible for veterans’ services in 4 counties and helps to
coordinate other veterans programs across the state of Florida with other Foundation Directors. In August of 2013, after resigning from
his position with Red Cross, he was appointed by the Mayor of Miami and serves at the pleasure of the Mayor, in a volunteer capacity,
as the Director of Veterans Services for the City of Miami. In July 2014, he was hired by Miami Dade College as the first College-Wide
Director for Veterans and Military Services..
LaVerne Daley is a Business Executive with over 20 years leadership experience in strategic planning,
employment, recruitment, talent management, workforce development, business development and
community relations. Ms. Daley is passionate about helping companies recruit top tier employees who
serve as Brand Ambassadors for their organizations. Her optimized recruitment methodology using social
media/networking strategies has resulted in numerous personal and team awards including 5 Branch
Peak Performance Awards (2003-2006), the 2004 Individual Award for Cash-In Club, and the 2007
Outstanding Service Excellence Recognition award. She is a sought after Subject Matter Expert, Speaker
and Consultant in leadership, employment, sales development, strategic planning for local municipalities,
community service organizations, human resources associations, colleges and universities in NY, NJ, CT
and Florida. In addition to her career accomplishments, Ms. Daley remains dedicated to many charitable
activities including 211 Broward, Chapman Partnership For Homeless (S. FL), NFTE ( Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) and the
Sickle Cell Foundation, serving as Advisory Board Member, Chair, Speaker, Advisor and Volunteer. She serves on the Advisory Board for
United Way Broward’s Mission United Veteran’s initiative, Chairs the Employment Committee for Mission United and leads social
media/networking training for Mission United’s quarterly Career Boot Camp series. Ms. Daley serves as a mentor and career coach for
transitioning professionals, students and recent graduates.