board members

President
Bill Solomon
is recognized as a hands-on manager whose focus is results-driven. He always gets the job done. His hard work and dedication to the county and to his staff is proven in his daily work environment and in his ASPA involvement at both the local chapter and at the national level.

He teaches courses on public administration as an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University. Currently, Bill is responsible for maintaining $27 million capital inventory, green initiatives, Community Based Organizations capital Development grants and procurement of capital equipment. Bill’s management responsibility also includes the procurement of all goods and services for special events and in times of natural disasters for the Miami-Dade Park & Recreation Department.

Bill has dedicated his life to the public service; his career spans over the past 29 years. He has served on the board of the South Florida Chapter for many years and is a Past President of this Chapter.

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President-Elect
Charles Scurr currently serves as the Executive Director of the Citizen’s Independent Transportation Trust. The Transportation Trust is responsible for the oversight of the Peoples Transportation Plan and the ½ penny sales tax approved by the voters of Miami-Dade County in 2002. The Trust administers approximately $180,000,000 in funding annually and is financing major transportation investments such as the extension of the Metrorail System to Miami International Airport. He also teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at Florida International University.
Mr. Scurr has had an extensive and distinguished career in the public sector. He served as the first City Manager of the Village of Palmetto Bay, Florida. Palmetto Bay, the “Village of Parks”, was incorporated in late 2001 and has become one of the finest municipalities in Miami-Dade County. Mr. Scurr also served as City Manager of the City of South Miami, Florida, which received the “All-America City” award from the National Civic League in 2001. This award is one of the highest and most prestigious honors a city can receive.
He also served as an Associate Vice President at Florida International University and as the Executive Assistant (Chief of Staff) for Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami. He served with the Urban Mass Transportation Administration in Washington, DC and Atlanta, Georgia, and with the Miami-Dade Transportation Administration.
He has been active in civic, charitable, business and sports in South Florida for over 25 years. He served as President of the South Florida Super Bowl XXIII (1989) and Super Bowl XXIX (1995) Host Committees and was the Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for the Lipton Championships. He has served as a Trustee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Chamber South and the National Football League Youth Education Town and Treasurer of Coral Gables Congregational Church.
Mr. Scurr has been featured in Miami Today, MVP Magazine and other publications. He has been recognized with a number of awards including the Bronze Medal Award for Superior Achievement from the US Department of Transportation and the Outstanding Leadership Award from the United Way.
Mr. Scurr received a Bachelors Degree from Indiana University and a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago.
He is married to Barbara Ibarra and has three sons - Adam, Brian and Daniel. Barbara is Vice President of Jungle Island, a major theme park attraction in downtown Miami. Adam is graduate of Piedmont College and is now an Elementary School Teacher in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Brian served in the United States Navy and is now a Police Officer in the Atlanta area. Daniel is a recent graduate of Vanderbilt University and is now the Director of Bands at Coral Gables Senior High School.

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Recording Secretary
Agatha Caraballo is a PhD candidate and research fellow in the Department of Public Administration at Florida International University (FIU). Her dissertation focuses on the “Impact of the Round II Urban Empowerment Zones on Local Communities” and explores the effect of the federal economic development program on regional business growth and local hiring. Prior to receiving the 2012 Doctoral Evidence Acquisition Fellowship from FIU’s Graduate School, Agatha taught undergraduate statistics and worked as a research assistant. Presently, she is the President of the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society at FIU, an initiative of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. Agatha was first elected to the Board of Directors of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) South Florida Chapter in 2010, and serves as the Recording Secretary and Scholarship Committee Co-Chair. In addition, she is an Advisory Board Member for the national Council for Corporate Responsibility and a Board Member and the Best Practices Meeting Chair for the South Florida Diversity Council.

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Corresponding Secretary
Roslyn H. Alic-Batson
received a MSM, Public Administration from St. Thomas University in May 2001. She is employed by Miami-Dade County as a capital improvement analyst in the office of Capital Improvements. Since 2003 she has been working on the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program along with other responsibilities within the department.

She most recently has served as Corresponding Secretary and Marketing Committee Chair, and has been a past president of the South Florida Chapter of ASPA. She serves on the board for the Section for Women in Public Administration (SWPA), and serves as the SWPA committee chair for the ASPA National Conference 2009. She is a past member of the board and Vice-Chairperson of the North Dade Community Development Federal Credit Union, Member and Public Relations Office of the Grenada Cultural and Civic Association, and Treasurer of the Miramar Democratic Club. She has an interest in politics and has worked on several political campaigns in the South Florida area.

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Treasurer
Steven Bobes
has been employed by Miami-Dade County for over 32 years. He is an Administrative Officer for the Passenger Transportation Regulatory Division of the County Consumer Services Department. Steven worked for the Clerk of the Courts for 16 years before joining Consumer Services. Steven has been an ASPA and South Florida Chapter member for over 20 years. Over that time he has served the South Florida Chapter as President, Director, and is affectionately referred to as treasurer for life by his ASPA colleagues. In addition to his service to the local chapter, Steven has also served on the ASPA National Council, various National ASPA committees and the SECoPA Board of Directors. He is past treasurer for the ASPA Section on Ethics and currently the treasurer for the ASPA Section on Certified Public Management.

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Immediate Past President
Glenn C. Joseph
is Vice President/Director for Munro & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in government and public relations, political consulting and management.

He has an extensive background in the Aviation Industry where he has worked extensively over the past twenty-five years in different capacities for; Eastern Airlines, Pan American Airways, Carnival Airlines, Flamingo Air International, Ltd., InterIsland Airways, Ltd., Sky King, Ltd., and Air Jamaica Holdings, Inc. He has also worked for eleven years in the Travel Industry. He has an MBA from the University of Phoenix in Business Administration, International Relations, and Public Administration. He did some graduate work at City University of New York in Management Information Systems, Financial Accounting, and Industrial Relations. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Financial Accounting from University of New Haven and an Associate of Arts degree from New York City College. Glenn Joseph resides in Miramar, Florida. He has served on the Board of the South Florida Chapter and most recently chaired the Program Committee.

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National Liaison
Meredith Newman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at Florida International University. Prior to her career in academia, Newman served with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (in France and Vietnam), the U.S. Department of State (in Senegal, Malaysia, and Singapore), and the World Bank. She is widely published in the areas of public management, human resources and gender, and the emotive aspects of work. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Editors’ Choice Award, Public Administration Review. Her book entitled, Emotional Labor: Putting the Service in Public Service (Mary Guy and Sharon Mastracci, co-authors) is the recipient of three Best Book awards. Newman is an Associate Editor of Review of Public Personnel Administration; past Chair of the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration; President of the American Society for Public Administration; and a Fellow of the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration.

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Board of Directors
Diane Benitez
Though her work is in the private sector, she has long been committed to community efforts and organizations.
Her background is extensive and diverse as she has worked as both a police officer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and has served in the U.S. Army learning valuable lessons in leadership and conflict resolution during these service opportunities.
Diane holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida International University in Public Administration as well as an Associate of Science Degree from Broward College in Computer Programming.
Diane serves on the Miami-Dade Community Action Agency Board and has been assigned to serve on the Greater Miami Service Corps board as lesion for the Community Action Agency (CAA). She serves as chair for new start-up nonprofit organization Daughters-2-Mothers, an organization that is hoping to facilitate the adjustment process of young mothers through mentoring.
Diane is currently working toward attaining her Masters degree in Public Administration at Florida International University.
While attending Florida International University Diane has earned recognition with membership in the Golden Key Academic Honour Society; Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society; Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; Sigma Alpha Lambda National Leadership and Honors Organization and Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration, serving as Secretary on the Board of Pi Alpha Alpha.
Diane is married to Michael Kilgore and is a proud mother and grandmother. In her spare time she enjoys entertaining and spending time with family and friends.

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Board of Directors
Allan Rosenbaum
holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Currently, he is the Director Institute of Public Management and Community Service, College of Urban and Public Affairs at Florida International University. For the past eight years, Allan Rosenbaum has served as Director of the Institute for Public Management and Community Services and Professor of Public Administration at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida.

FIU is a 35,000 student state university and the Institute is its principal vehicle for working internationally in the areas of governance reform, decentralization, legislative development, strengthening local government and democratic institution-building. Toward those ends, the Institute has been involved in several projects funded by USAID and other international organizations in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. The Institute, in conjunction with Miami-Dade County government, each year organizes the Inter-American Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities, which has become the largest and most important annual meeting concerned with the development and strengthening of local governance in Latin America.

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Board of Directors
Deborah Tavera has 10-years of corporate experience that includes but is not limited to, fundraising, networking, corporate sales and event planning. She also has experience in the public sector. She currently is an auditor for Miami-Dade County Parks & Recreation Department where she has had the opportunity to continue to develop her critical thinking and analytical skills. Academically, Deborah holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Political Science and History from Rutgers University as well as a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. And, as her degrees may allude to, she possesses a strong interest in government/politics, history and foreign affairs. Deborah has always looked for an organization that would allow herself to tie-in her two personas: the businessperson and the academic. She believes an organization like ASPA will allow herself to find the happy medium she has been searching for. For ASPA, Deborah has a modern vision for how to lead the chapter into the future. She imagines an organization that will focus not only on its current members that have for years built the character of ASPA, but also an organization that will focus on its legacy through the recruitment of young public administrators. The nurturing between the youth and the current leaders will forever keep the mission of ASPA alive. This will be her key cause – to identify those “youngsters” who are interested in joining our organization and inviting them in to see all the things this chapter has to offer. More importantly, she will focus on maintaining that spark of interest to have them keep coming back. These are the points that will push ASPA’s character and ultimately, its legacy through the forces of time.

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• Board of Directors
  Seraphin W. Bernard
  is a Special Administrator with the Budget and Finance Bureau of the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. He previously worked in a number of different capacities with Miami-Dade Transit Department. Because of Mr. Bernard’s experience conducting outreach throughout the County, he was tapped by the Miami-Dade County Manager’s office to work on the Building Better Communities Bond Program in 2004. He was the North Central coordinator for the public education campaign, which won the County a National Association of Counties award. Mr. Bernard also worked as Central Coordinator for the People’s Transportation Plan referendum campaign, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2002. Mr. Bernard is actively involved in the civic life of the community. He is currently President of the Miami chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) and is a member of the Parish Council for the Church of Notre-Dame in Little Haiti. Mr. Bernard holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and master's degree in Public Administration from Florida International University.
  

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  Board of Directors
  Jonathan P. West
  earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University. He is a professor of Political Science and Director of the Masters of Public Administration program at the University of Miami. For 28 years he has directed UM’s graduate MPA program, for 15 years he served as Chair of Political Science and for a year and half he was Interim Chair in the Department of International Studies. Professor West’s research interests include public policy and administration, human resource management, productivity, local government, and ethics. He has published eight books and over 100 articles and book chapters.
  
  For ten years he has been the managing editor of Public Integrity journal. Dr. West has served on the board of the South Florida Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration for multiple non-consecutive terms over the past three decades. He has also served multiple terms on the governing boards of the ASPA Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations (SPALR) and the Ethics Section. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Scholarship in Public Sector Human Resources Award from ASPA’s SPALR Section. He has been on the program committees for national ASPA Conferences, regional SECOPA and SPSA conferences, and local ASPA “best practices” conferences.
  
  He is a past president of the Florida Political Science Association. As a member of the Board, Professor West would draw on his experience to help ensure the success of the national conference and the continued high quality of our local best practice conferences.
  

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  Board of Directors
  Tatiana A. Escobar
  

  recently completed her M.P.A. at Nova Southeastern University and holds a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia. While her professional development includes working for the Town of Davie at the Planning and Zoning Division in the area of long-range planning, as well as a Realtor, she truly dedicates herself to any activity that she engages in, and has proven the ability to succeed at every project she sets her mind into.

  Previously to moving to South Florida, Tatiana took business classes at Valencia Community College where she got involved in Phi Theta Kappa as senator of scholarship and was nominated for multiple awards including the All-USA Academic Team and the Florida Academic Team.

  Tatiana worked as a banking attorney, particularly in the area of public and private trust and traveled to Venezuela and Ecuador representing her company in deals that included the administration and sale in Bogota of timeshares in Margarita Island, the construction and administration of the Transportation Terminal in the border town of Ipiales, as well as, the construction and development of low-income government funded projects in various towns in Colombia.

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  Board of Directors
  Martha L. Ayerdis is the President of Human Resources of MWL Management Inc. a Human Resources Consultants firm providing conferences, seminars and special events in South Florida.
  Prior to her current position, Mrs. Ayerdis worked at Miami Rescue Mission, as a Director of Human Resources. For several years she worked in the corporate sector as a Sales and Marketing Manager of United Health Care in Miami. For more than ten years, she worked in the government sector in the human resources department in several positions such as Payroll Supervisor, Labor Relations Specialist, Supervisor of Recruiter Department, Benefits and Worker Compensation Specialist.
  On June 4, 2010 Mrs. Ayerdis won the Carol Donaldson Award as ASPA’s Chapter Member of the Year. In 2002 she won the Davis Productivity Award of the State of Florida. She also won the employee of the year award of Metro Dade County.
  In 2004, Mrs. Ayerdis earned a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami. She already held a previous bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and Human Resources Management from Saint Thomas University. At the present, she is working on her Ph.D. in Public Administration with a major in nonprofit sector and leadership at Walden University.
  

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  Board of Directors
  Adrianna A. Brown earned her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Miami. She is an Events Planner for the Division of Advancement at the University of Miami. For five years, she has helped to organize and host numerous high-profile events for the University of Miami, including functions to support the University’s $1.4 billion Momentum Campaign and other recognized events for the institution, such as visits by the Dalai Lama, notable public officials, renowned news editors and journalists, as well as Democratic and Republican Forums, Global Business Forums, etc. During her graduate studies, Adrianna served one year as Treasurer for the Graduate Student Association (GSA) overseeing and making recommendations on the budget allocated to graduate students. As Graduate Representative for the Graduate Grievance Committee, Adrianna served a year as a student representative on graduate grievances with a select panel of faculty who reviewed student and departmental cases and made recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School. As Ex-Officio Member for the Graduate Council, Adrianna served for one year as a student representative on a review board comprised of faculty from each of the University’s schools and colleges to evaluate new policies and programs related to the student curriculum and experience at the University. In 2009, she was inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society (AEL) for her scholastic achievement, leadership, and commitment to social service. Most recently, Adrianna has served as Logistics Co-Chair and Team Captain for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Coral Gables, which raised almost $30,000 in support for cancer prevention and treatment. Adrianna attributes many of her accomplishments to her mentors and wishes to be a mentor to others in the future.

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