Meet the leaders of our dynamic giving communities

As the 2020-21 campaign gets underway, United Way’s giving communities are gearing up for a year filled with doing good on behalf of the community. Spearheading the efforts among the giving communities – each comprised of volunteers with common interests, age and/or contribution levels – are:

  • Cristina Pereyra-Alvarez, Brian Y. Goldmeier and Cristian LaCapra as co-chairs of Tocqueville Society
  • Soledad Picón as chair and Jennifer Marquez as vice-chair of Women United
  • Ann Keil Dux and Jake Freeman as co-chairs of Young Leaders
  • Nicole Acosta and Randy Carballo as co-chairs of LINC
  • Jonathan Alfonso and Ivan Mladenovic as co-chairs of Small Business United

Learn a bit more about each of our giving communities and their chairs:

Tocqueville Society

The Tocqueville Society is an influential group of dynamic leaders who are devoted to building a stronger Miami. This group connects through philanthropic leadership to improve lives.

Cristina Pereyra Alvarez

Co-chair Cristina Pereyra-Alvarez is a retired judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit and has joined the JAMS panel after an exemplary career as a lawyer, judge and legal journalist. She earned her first law degree from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City and upon returning to the United States, she earned a second law degree from the University of Miami School of Law.

Brian Goldmeier

Co-chair Brian Y. Goldmeier is founder and president of BYG Strategies, Inc., serving as principal advisor and strategist to numerous South Florida government, education and business leaders. He also serves as a United Way board member. Goldmeier holds a master’s in business administration and bachelor’s in sports management from Endicott College.

Co-chair Cristian LaCapra is senior vice president, wealth strategist at Northern Trust, where he actively represents the bank within the South Florida community, working closely with community partners on boards and maintaining consistent involvement in community events. He earned his bachelor’s in finance with a minor in economics from the University of Florida.

Women United

Women United is a circle of purpose-driven women, passionate about making a difference in Miami through philanthropy and service. This group comes together to celebrate women who continue to break glass ceilings, change the rules of the game and make history.

Soledad-Picon

Chair Soledad Picón is principal at Hatched, a consultancy that advances the brands, communities, impact and missions of purpose-driven organizations by increasing revenue, building audiences, leading teams and engaging boards, communities and employees. She is a strategic communications and business development executive, philanthropist and an accomplished fundraiser with more than twenty years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in Miami-Dade. She holds a bachelor’s in architecture from Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires with a specialization in restoration of classical buildings.

Jennifer-Marquez

Vice-chair Jennifer Marquez is an estate planning attorney at her firm, Jennifer A. Marques, P.A., where she works with high net worth foreign individuals, establishing complex corporate structures for their US investments. She earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and philosophy from Florida International University and her law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law.

Young Leaders

Young Leaders is an engaged group of young professionals, 40 and younger, who share their time, talent and resources to help make Miami’s future brighter for all.

Ann Keil Dux

Co-chair Ann Keil Dux is an Emmy award-winning journalist who leads Dux Communications, a Miami-based consulting firm that providing clients with brand-building, professional development services to include public speaking, on-camera and media training, virtual presentation and video marketing. She holds a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism from Boston University, a master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University, and a Global Executive MBA from the University of Miami.

Jake Freeman

Co-chair Jake Freeman is an associate at CBRE, specializing in landlord representation throughout South Florida. He provides leasing advisory services for a 2.5 million square foot portfolio of institutionally and privately-owned office properties. Freeman earned a bachelor’s and master’s with concentrations in finance and marketing from the University of Miami.

LINC

LINC (Lead. Impact. Network. Change.) is a group of dynamic individuals, 30 and younger, who bring knowledge and skills to elevate their community, connections and social calendar through volunteer engagement and personal development.

Nicole Acosta

Co-chair Nicole Acosta is a marketing specialist at MBAF where she leads the firm’s graphic design projects, social media strategy development, strategic planning for niche industry initiatives and corporate culture activities. She holds a bachelor’s of business administration in marketing and international business from Florida International University.

Randy Carballo

Co-chair Randy Carballo is executive vice president of tenant advisory practice at Blanca Commercial Real Estate, Inc., where he collaborates with the firm’s leasing team on key assignments. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration with a focus in real estate from the University of Central Florida and is currently pursuing a certificate in commercial real estate from Cornell University.

Small Business United

Small Business United is a diverse group of entrepreneurs cultivating change in Miami through networking and innovation.

Jonathan Alfonso

Co-chair Jonathan Alfonso is founding attorney of Title Answers, Law Firm, which advises clients in all aspects of a real estate transaction and whose client base ranges from local individuals to large institution investors, private equity groups and foreign investors. Alfonso holds a bachelor’s in accounting and master’s in accounting with a concentration in tax law from the University of Florida. He earned his law degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Ivan Mladenovic

Co-chair Ivan Mladenovic is founder of Preemo, an IT company with 15 full-time engineers and service staff, providing support and technology consulting to more than one hundred companies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He holds a bachelor’s in communication from the University of Miami.

For more information on the United Way Giving Communities, visit unitedwaymiami.org/join.

2021-01-07T12:02:33-04:00 September 11th, 2020|