2024 United Way Miami Annual Meeting and Volunteer Awards Recipients

Vicki Lopez was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November 2022 and represents District 113 that is in the heart of Miami and includes some of the most recognizable and iconic locations in the region, including Key Biscayne, Miami’s City Hall, Calle Ocho, Brickell Avenue, the Miami River, and the Port of Miami. She was appointed by Speaker of the House, Paul Renner, to serve as the Vice Chair on the Select Committee on Health Innovation, as well as on the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee, Postsecondary Education & Workforce Subcommittee, PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, and Transportation & Modals Subcommittee. The Speaker also appointed her to serve on the Housing Development Corporation of Florida Board of Directors, which focuses its efforts on mobilizing capital to finance multifamily houses for individuals and families of all income levels.

Representative Lopez has sponsored condominium legislation and the Live Local Act in the 2023 and 2024 sessions. The condominium legislations have focused on safety and financial reserves as well as governance and community association management. The My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program aims to enhance the safety of condominiums through inspections and mitigation efforts. The legislation is designed for condo owners and associations to harden buildings in order to reduce their insurance premiums. The Live Local Act aims to comprehensively address the urgent need for attainable housing for Florida’s workforce. The Act proposes multifaced strategy to enhance housing options, foster development, and stimulate economic growth.

Representative Lopez has over thirty years of working with non-profit organizations, foundations, research institutions, corporations, government entities, and communities. She has been engaged in public service for the last 30 years. She is a former Lee County, Florida Commissioner and has also received several gubernatorial appointments from Florida Governors Bush, Crist, and Scott and the Florida Senate specializing in affordable housing, employment, education, prisoner reentry and criminal and juvenile justice reform.

Representative Lopez has established and managed relationships with key stakeholders, nonprofit leaders, civic leaders, volunteers, policymakers, legislators, local, state, and national government staff, faith- and community-based organizations, the business community and other interested parties. She has consulted with local, state and national government officials, policymakers and stakeholders on issues related to affordable housing and homelessness, healthcare, education, and criminal and juvenile justice.

Representative Lopez is an alumna of Leadership Florida, Leadership Miami, and Leadership Lee County. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She served as the Vice Chair of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee where she served as the Committee’s liaison to the Workforce Housing and Non-Profit Business Committees. Representative Lopez also served as the Sustainer Advisor on the Board of Directors of the Junior Leagues of Florida Statewide Public Affairs Committee. She is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame where she earned a BBA degree in Accounting.

Fair is academically and professionally prepared, having attended local elementary and high schools in his native home of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He received a B.A. degree in Sociology, graduating Cum Laude, in the top 10% of his class, from Johnson C. Smith University in 1961. He received a M.S.W. degree from Atlanta School of Social Work in 1963.

Fair has served as an adjunct professor at the Atlanta University School of Social Work, Bethune Cookman University, Florida International University, and the National Urban League’s Whitney M. Young, Jr. Center for Urban Leadership.

Fair has met with four different Presidents of the United States, relative to Issues of Concern to Black Americans. He was appointed by President George Bush, to the United State’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Affairs, where his duties, and responsibilities included visiting American embassies in Egypt, Oman and the United Kingdom to promote cultural diplomacy. He served on the United States People to People Ambassadors Program and traveled to Cuba to discuss issues related to child welfare and education.

In 2010, he was appointed by President Barak Obama to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships-Miami Regional Selection Panel, reappointed in 2011. Fair is also known as the co-founder, with former Florida State Governor Jeb Bush, of the Liberty City Charter School; the first charter school organized in the State of Florida.

Fair’s published works include articles in the Miami Herald, Miami Magazine, and Tropic Magazine. He has been a host of both radio and television programs. As an analyst on some of the pressing issues of the day, he has been interviewed by 60 Minutes, Tom Brokaw Show, Ebony Magazine, and National Geographic.

Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson has had an impressive seven-decade career in education, health, and community service.

She has been a strong advocate for education, mental and physical health, community leadership, and volunteer service in Miami-Dade. Throughout her career, she has been a beacon for minorities, addressing community needs and providing support to the most marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented individuals.

Thelma has worked to address specific community problems, such as affordable and quality education, better and affordable health care, and financial and economic stability for different cultural or ethnic groups. Her awareness of cultural challenges has led her to build coalitions and establish schools, health programs, and social services to improve the quality of life for those in need. She is also dedicated to providing opportunities for better health, job training, and workforce development, aiming for a society where all cultures are appreciated and given equal opportunities.

Born in 1927 in Coconut Grove, she began her career as a registered nurse in 1947 and served her country as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II.  Her achievements include founding Miami-Dade’s first Women’s Chamber of Commerce and serving as an Interim City Commissioner for the City of Miami.

Thelma has also been involved in several organizations, including United HomeCare® as a Founder and Board Member, a nonprofit home health and community care organization, and co-founded the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative, providing healthcare and social services to underserved communities. She founded the Theodore R. and Thelma A. Gibson Charter School and the Theodore Gibson Oratorical, Declamation, and Advocacy Project. Additionally, she is the President of the Theodore Roosevelt Gibson Memorial Fund, Inc., a Trustee at the University of Miami, and a Life Member of the NAACP.

Thelma has received numerous awards and recognition for her leadership, including the prestigious President’s Volunteer Service Award for Lifetime Achievement for her tireless service to numerous non-profit organizations throughout the entire State of Florida.  At 96 years old, she continues to inspire and make a difference in the lives of many through her tireless volunteer work and leadership.

Robert E. Sanchez is chairman and chief executive officer of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R), a leading supply chain, dedicated transportation, and commercial fleet management solutions company. He was named CEO in January 2013 and chairman of the board in May 2013.

Over the course of more than 30 years at Ryder, Mr. Sanchez has held many senior executive leadership positions including president and chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO), president of Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), chief information officer (CIO), SVP of transportation management within Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and VP of asset management. He has been a member of the company’s executive leadership team since 2003.

In his earlier roles, Mr. Sanchez played a key part in implementing the strategy to centralize Ryder’s asset management function and improve its cost management which drove an improvement in the return on capital and earnings of the company. As CEO, he has led the development and execution of Ryder’s growth strategy focused on the large segment of businesses that do not yet outsource their fleet management and supply chain functions. Before joining Ryder, Mr. Sanchez held engineering positions at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and Florida Power & Light.

Mr. Sanchez is on the Board of Directors of Texas Instruments. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way Miami (immediate past chairman of the board), Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, and Association of Cuban American Engineers (ACAE). He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami and St. Thomas University.

Mr. Sanchez earned his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Finance and Strategic Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami.

Milana Lamdan is a diligent and self-directed scholar and leader with a strong sense of justice and dedication to her school, NSE SIB K-8, and the community.

Milana’s academic achievements include winning the 2022 FBLA science competition with her innovative Plant Grower project and excelling in the 2024 FBLA leadership competition. As a member and captain of the Geography Bee team, Milana led her team to victory and served as an Educational Excellence School Advisory Council (EESAC) representative in 2023 and 2024. She also won the Youth Poets Competition, showcasing her public speaking and presentation skills.

Her passion for law and debate is evident through her participation in mock trial competitions and her engaging presentations in Speech and Debate. Milana’s leadership extends to her role in Student Government, where she uses her media production skills for campaigns and educational presentations.

Milana’s commitment to community service is profound. She has been actively involved in the Minds Matter Club, spreading awareness of respect, kindness, and suicide prevention. Her efforts have earned her multiple “Random Acts of Kindness” awards. As a Junior Police Explorer, she secured top placements and now leads the program, guiding her team to three championships. Additionally, Milana serves as an FBLA Parliamentarian and engages in environmental activism, participating in the Everglades Environmental Club and city committee meetings.

Milana is dedicated to helping the environment, supporting children who are bullied, and assisting the elderly. With over 300 volunteer hours, Milana finds joy in helping others. She tutors peers, organizes fundraisers, makes toys for animals, and delivers food to elderly and Holocaust survivors. Her involvement with ‘Better Together,’ a project connecting teenagers with senior citizens, showcases her dedication to service. She also volunteered at a summer camp, creating activities and earning heartfelt appreciation from the campers.

Milana’s contributions to her school and community reflect her deep commitment to making a positive impact and helping others. She hopes to continue having a positive impact on the future and to make the world a better place.

Zahra is an incoming freshman at Harvard University pursuing biomedical engineering with a focus on space medicine. She is an analog astronaut, student researcher, and STEMinist devoted to female advocacy in STEM. She strives to help facilitate human exploration of deep space as a future flight surgeon and bioastronautics researcher.

Zahra is the Student Advisor to the School Board of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, representing the voices of over 377,000 students on the dais at monthly school board meetings. She is also a former intern at NASA’s SEES program, where she spearheaded the development of a conceptual rover mission on the Mars Rover Resource Utilization team. She serves as the founder of the Odyssey Scholarship Program, an initiative through which underrepresented students across the world attend STEM summits and receive mentorship on pursuing careers in the space industry. She is a published researcher with the American Geophysical Union and has recently been featured on Nature for her work as the crew biologist on the Astroland Interplanetary Agency’s first all-female analog mission inside a cave. She has also served as a mission specialist on analog missions in Iceland and at sea. Apart from her galactic endeavors, Zahra loves teaching karate as a sensai, scuba diving, and traveling!