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(2003 to 2008) As the Director of Public Policy for the world’s largest regional hotel association, which represents over 80% of Central Florida hotels, I handled Governmental Affairs, Public Relations and the Political Action Committee, reporting directly to the Association President. I was charged with developing professional relationships with elected officials in the tri-county area, as well as Florida State Legislators and looking out for the interest of the industry and the 117,000 working men and women members of the association.
While working with the Governmental Affairs Committee, I was responsible for monitoring, lobbying and coordinating action plans, for legislative matters that affect the hospitality industry within the tri-county region. This function included writing bi-monthly “Governmental Affair Updates” for membership distribution, as well as creating Resolutions of Support, position papers/letters, legislative impact analysis, any lobbying handout materials and speaking on behalf of the organization at any necessary public hearings or committee meetings in the tri-county area.
I was further responsible for all public relations functions of the association, which includes writing, distributing, and following up on press releases/media alerts, as well as serving as the point of contact for all media inquiries. Additionally, I prepared remarks, created media kits, and prepared CFHLA leadership for media interviews. Public relation tasks further included the creation of the association’s comprehensive annual report, which was also used year-round as a marketing tool.
While working with the CFHLA Political Action Committee (PAC) I developed candidate questionnaires; coordinated candidate interviews; communicated endorsement selections to media and hospitality industry; created posters with the endorsed candidate slate; compiled and submitted the State Financial Reports; and facilitated candidate contributions and fundraisers. Fundraising efforts also included securing in-kind donations for special PAC activities, collecting personal checks for candidates, and coordinating all aspects of the annual PAC Golf Fundraising Tournament. During election years I further worked with respective County Supervisor of Elections Offices to coordinate the logistics of hotel voter registration drives and voter absentee ballot request campaigns.
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(1998 to 2003) As a Management Analyst I created and implemented the Division’s Performance Measures Plan, which was used to justify the Division’s annual budget; assisted management in researching and compiling special reports for the Board of County Commissioners; handled Division’s citizen relations; and as a nationally certified Economic Development Finance Professional offered insightful technical consultations to residents interested in starting a new business.
As a Senior Contract Administrator, I evaluated county bids and proposals, as a voting member of the procurement committee; presented procurement committee with Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) scores for each bid/proposal; attended all contract related meetings to explain county mandated M/WBE subcontractor participation goals; monitored awarded contracts for compliance; and successfully arbitrated mediations between General and Sub Contractors, where I earned several commendations for the skills I demonstrated during those sensitive proceedings. I managed over $65 million worth of contracts for Orange County Government.
During my tenure with Business Development, I participated in extensive community outreach and business networking functions, to further organizations visibility; created Division’s standardized educational workshops; hosted monthly workshops in Spanish and English, and through workshop marketing efforts, built extraordinary relationships with all facets of our local media.
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| (1995 to 1998) I had the opportunity to work for Orange County Commissioner Mary I. Johnson. In addition to administrative support, I was responsible for all citizen relations (population 180,000); handled the annual office budget; reviewed weekly agendas, which included the preparation of synopsis reports and briefings; researched and tracked specific legislative issues from all levels of government. I further attended different local and regional board meetings where Cms. Johnson served as a county delegate, thus allowing me to interact often with an array of elected and appointed officials. These individuals often turned to me to answer questions on legislative items I had researched and analyzed. Additionally, I supervised office interns and all aspects of the reception desk during the office's Vice Chairman year. This task included creating and administering quarterly performance reviews for both receptionists; overseeing common area budget for supplies and capital purchases and supervised the handling of the BCC division's payroll.
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