Executive Advisory Board

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    Beth Angelo

    Ronnie & Jerrold Rosenbaum, Family Foundation

  • Roger Antoniazzo
    Roger Antoniazzo

    Sr. Manager, University Relations
    Abbott

    Roger is the Abbott MBA and Graduate Programs Sr Manager (University Relations). Before joining Abbott in 2011, he held various leadership roles with Walt Disney Company, ESPN and Blue Cross Blue Shields. He attended school in Switzerland, Italy, France and the USA, where he graduated from.
  • Georgina Avila
    Georgina Avila

    EVP Design & Merchandising
    Perry Ellis International

    Gina Avila is Executive Vice President of Design and Merchandising for Perry Ellis International – a global leader in the design and distribution of mens and ladies apparel and accessories. She has been with Perry Ellis for 25 years and is an integral part of the leadership team. She has held senior management roles in sales, product development, design, merchandising and recruitment. Key strengths include leadership, goal focused strategies, fiscal management, strategic communications, talent management and mentoring. Notable accomplishments at Perry Ellis include new business development, implementation of 3D technology and digital innovation, key leader in change management and establishing corporate processes.

    Prior to joining Perry Ellis, Gina worked for JByrons and Macys where she gained retail experience in store management, buying and planning roles.

    Gina graduated from the University of Florida in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and a minor in Business Administration. She has 2 daughters and enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, playing pickleball and watching college football.
  • Todd Bavol
    Todd Bavol

    CEO
    Integrity Staffing Solutions

    As the CEO of Integrity Staffing Solutions, my focus is on providing the leadership necessary to help the company fulfill its mission of generating opportunities for everyone to thrive. This includes our associates, clients, and internal employees. My approach is different from other staffing leaders in that I firmly believe an associate-first model ultimately leads to success, not only for our associates but also for our clients and the local economies we serve. For clients, the benefit of working with Integrity Staffing Solutions is that we have the same access to talent and resources as a national firm but employ a hometown service mentality that values and celebrates each community.

    This philosophy has been a part of Integrity Staffing Solutions’ core values since I co-founded the company in 1997. Our advocacy on behalf of our associates has led them to consistently perform at the highest level and deliver exceptional service to our clients. As a result, we have experienced double-digit growth since opening our doors and fully anticipate that trend to continue moving forward. Because of our network of dedicated associates, we have also led the industry in many high-volume staffing initiatives and launched some of the largest RPO and contingent staffing engagements in the U.S.

    With over 35 years of industry experience, I have had the good fortune to collaborate with some of the best and brightest in the staffing industry. During this time, I have counseled many on how to build their contingent workforce solution, offered advice on labor laws, and provided critical insights into labor market trends.

    When I’m not advocating on behalf of Integrity’s associates, I like to focus on exercise and nutrition. I’m also involved in several social causes and animal advocacy initiatives. I am a proud University of Florida Alum.
  • Amy Casari
    Amy Casari

    Group Talent Acquisition Manager
    Enterprise Holdings Northeast FL

    Amy graduated from Florida State University and started with Enterprise in 2011 as a Management Trainee in North Carolina. Since then she has experienced an amazing company culture of teamwork, competitiveness and drive to be the best in the industry. Based on her performance and leadership, she was quickly promoted through the ranks from Assistant Manager to Branch Manager in December 2012. With Enterprise’s promote from within model the opportunities for career progression didn’t stop there. In August 2014, she was promoted to Regional Human Resources Manager over Western North Carolina. There she had the opportunity to make an immediate impact on the growth and development of over 500+ employees in the region. Then in January 2018, Amy transitioned into the Talent Acquisition role to oversee the entire hiring process as the Regional Talent Acquisition Manager of Western North Carolina. Most recently, Amy was promoted to the Group Talent Acquisition manager of Northeast FL, where she has the opportunity to seek amazing talent to bring to Enterprise team.
  • Susan Chronister
    Susan Chronister

    Senior Director of Sales
    Belkin International

    Susan Chronister is an experienced leader driving sales of various electronics businesses and is currently leading sales for Belkin and Linksys at Walmart and Target. Previously, Susan was Vice President of Sales at Element Electronics, where she was instrumental in bringing the start- up to a billion-dollar business by creating the corporate strategy and annual operating plans, developing all sales reporting and forecasting tools, hiring a sales and marketing team, and delivering Walmart’s first ever Private Brand TV business. Under Susan’s leadership within 5 years Walmart awarded Element Supplier of the Year for Entertainment, Toys and Seasonal, Element also received the Walmart Impact Award for Job Creation in the US. Prior to Element Susan was AVP of Sales at TracFone Wireless where she led Walmart’s multibillion dollar private brand, Straight Talk. While at TracFone she received multiple awards from Walmart, including Multichannel Supplier of the Year Award and the General Manager People Performance Supplier of the Year Award. Prior to TracFone, Susan spent 4.5 years at Walmart strategically leading the cross functional Family Toy and Video Game teams where she was a consistent high performing executive who increased market share year after year. While at Walmart, her work was honored with 2 Gold Effie Awards, WOW Award, Excellence in Big Bets Award, Merchandising Spark Award, and the Excellence in Live Better Award and was a member of the Entertainment Merchants Association Board. Prior to Walmart Susan spent 11 years in the video game business driving sales at EA, Atari, THQ and Mad Catz and another 6 years as a merchant in video games. Susan is a graduate of the University of Florida, was on the first Student Retail Advisory Board, and worked at the Center for Retailing. While at UF, she had an internship at Hallmark Cards and JCPenney. As a JCPenney intern she was part of the pilot for their store management training program. Because of her experience at UF she is passionate about mentoring retail students and loves being a guest lecturer for the MAR2290 class. Go Gators!
  • Dan Doyle
    Dan Doyle

    SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer
    Beall’s Inc., Bradenton, Florida

    Daniel J. Doyle joined Beall’s Inc. in 1990 as Director of Loss Prevention.

    Dan has over 30 years of retail experience in Human Resources, Loss Prevention and Risk Management areas. He has held prior positions at both Marshall Field’s and Lord & Taylor Department Store chains.

    In 2009, Dan was promoted to SVP of Human Resources and Loss Prevention.

    In 2011, Dan was promoted to a newly established and expanded role as SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). His responsibilities include strategic and direct leadership relating to critical initiatives around Talent Management, Recruiting, and Training & Development. Dan continues to provide leadership in the areas of Compensation, Benefits, Employee Relations, Risk Management and Communications & Community Affairs.

    Dan holds a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
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    Jim Eisch

    Executive Vice President and COO
    Pinch A Penny

  • Paul Ferrante
    Paul Ferrante

    Talent Acquisition Leader
    JCPenney

    I learned about the passion of serving people and brand loyalty while working in college in Boston. While attending Boston University for a degree in business, I had the opportunity to work for an amazing restaurant and then for a great hotel chain. From there I knew that I had to work somewhere making people happy and providing exemplary service!

    After college I went into a training program for Westin Hotels and was transferred to Houston, TX. I learned so many operational duties, had so many guest interactions and met some amazing leaders. I ended up meeting a guest who led me into luxury retail at the age of 25.

    My new retail career took me to parts of the country to live that I had never seen – Chicago, San Francisco and Honolulu. As retail changed, my career took me to ‘big box’ leadership roles, much wider merchandise assortments and much higher sales volume Store Manager leadership assignments. After having lived all over the country I settled in Dallas in 2000.

    I spent 15 years at Kohl’s opening and growing the chain from 150 stores to 1100 in store management and HR roles then joined JCPenney in 2010 for a Senior HR role in their Home Office.

    I have enjoyed every second of the crazy retail roller coaster. I have made life long relationships, had some amazing role models, learned about customer behaviors (both good and bad) and gained personal so much more than I anticipated along the way….. It has been a great ride and I am happy to share it with you!
  • John Foster
    John Foster

    Global Procurement Director
    Nestle, SA.

    John Foster is a University of Florida Alum, class of 2010, and a former student of the David F. Miller Center for retail. During his university studies, John was very involved in the center and earned the Walgreens Certificate in retailing. He also served on the Student advisory board for the center and completed his retail summer internship in buying with Sam’s Club in Bentonville, Ark. John brings a variety of retail and consumer goods experience to the Miller Center Executive Board, ranging from store management, sales, buying, private label, and commodities procurement. John currently works for Nestle as a Global Procurement Director for Dairy managing a multibillion-dollar spend and team worldwide. John is originally from Weston, FL but currently resides in Panama City, Panama.
  • Mindy Gulledge
    Mindy Gulledge

    Assistant Vice President – Sales
    Integrity Staffing Solutions

    In 2018, Mindy Gulledge joined Integrity Staffing Solutions in senior sales leadership for national and branch strategic business development.

    Previously, I was the Director of National Strategic Sales, with Shiftgig, a Chicago based technology company, that provides SaaS technology and staffing solutions on demand to the hospitality, restaurant, and retail industries via mobile app.

    Prior to joining Shiftgig, I served as Vice President of Enterprise sales (Retail Solutions) at Headway Workforce Solutions, where, since 2010, I served as Senior Portfolio manager for Retail Accounts and Executive Recruiter. Previous to joining Headway, I was in Talent Acquisition/Recruitment for The Grapevine Group. I enjoyed a diverse career in the retail industry.

    I began my career with Macy’s South/Bullock’s holding management positions for their stores and then moving to merchandising. I joined The Athlete’s Foot in 1992, as a planner in licensed apparel. In 1994, I joined Federated Department Stores-Rich’s/Lazarus. In 6 years, I joined in the launch of their planning division and moved into merchandising as a buyer in both Luxury/Collection textiles and Intimate Apparel. Upon leaving Federated, I spent 4 years in sales and manufacturing with Remote Control Inc. and Maidenform, Inc. I earned my degree from the University of Florida. Go Gators!
  • Brian Jeffcoat
    Brian Jeffcoat

    Technology Talent Recruiting Partner
    Lowe’s Companies, Inc.

    • Joined Lowe’s: June 2016
    • Career Highlights:
      • Senior Auditor at Lowe’s
      • Senior Auditor and Process Analyst at Target
      • Executive Team Leader at Target (various roles)
    • Education:
      • UF, BBA Marketing
      • UF, Certificate of Retail
      • NRFSP, Food Safety Manager Certification

  • Jim Lewis
    James E. Lewis

    Founder and CEO, Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC

    Recognizing a trend in 2002 that retailers were increasing their expectations of the supplier base, Jim founded ERS to help improve the retail business acumen of suppliers. As a former Buyer at JCPenney he managed or bought key categories in Men’s, Children’s and Home Textiles. Over the last 18 years ERS has vastly improved the decision-making capability of retailers, suppliers and licensors enabling them to turn inventory faster, forecast more accurately and deepen visibility to sales. Jim has been featured in various Technology, Apparel, Home Textiles and Licensing publications and has conducted seminars at industry associations and trade shows including NRF, the New England Ecommerce Users Group, Retail Smarter, The Licensing Show and MAGIC. Jim and ERS were recently honored to be selected as a Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Provider by Retail CIO Outlook magazine.
  • David Magnotta
    David Magnotta

    Recruiting Manager – North America University Operations
    Amazon

    David Magnotta is currently a Recruiting Manager for Amazon’s North America University Operations team. David’s team is responsible for the sourcing strategy, candidate engagement, and placement of both full-time and intern hires across Amazon’s Operations field roles. Previously, David has been a Sr. Recruiter for Amazon Operations, supported recruiting efforts for Amazon’s physical store formats, and held various management positions with Macy’s, Target and Lowe’s. He graduated from the University of Florida Fisher School of Accounting in 2013 and holds a minor in Retailing Leadership from the Warrington College of Business at UF. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, exploring local parks and beaches, and discovering new Peloton classes. David lives in Seattle with his wife, Norma, and his two dogs, Austin and Benson.
  • Ted McCaffrey
    Ted McCaffrey

    Strategic Growth Advisor, gStore product
    GreyOrange

    I’m a University of Florida graduate with a degree in Finance in 1982. I also walked on the baseball team my freshman year, and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

    My long career in retail began in 1983 working for the essential but very low margin consumer package goods industry working for a broker selling food lines to grocery chains in the New England area. I then became a Regional Manager of a company called SuperVideo, which sold Video Rental concessions to the grocery industry….pre-Blockbuster Video. And what is a Blockbuster Video anyway?!

    After different sales positions with many companies selling to the retail space over the years, my career got interesting when I joined Tyco selling this new IoT (Internet of Things) technology called RFiD to the retail vertical in 2004. While the timing seemed perfect, with companies like Wal-Mart and Target driving adoption, the technology was still a ways off.

    In 2013, I left Tyco for a division of eBay called VendorNet where I sold Omnichannel solutions. VendorNet enabled retailers to leverage their store inventory for their customer’s web purchases. I sold solutions like Buy Online, Ship-from Store, or Pickup In-Store to companies like DSW, Abercrombie & Fitch, Shoe Carnival, and Payless ShoeSource…and this is where I found my passion for data.

    In 2015, I returned to Tyco since my experience with Omnichannel showed how bad a retailer’s inventory accuracy is, and that they need RFiD to track their inventory better…and then left again in 2022 to join a robotics software company called GreyOrange. I am now their Strategic Growth Advisor for their gStore product, which provides real-time inventory solutions for store inventory.

    My wife and I moved from the Boston area after 23 years and live in Sarasota Florida. We’re very proud to have 2 sons, one in NYC in Investment Banking, and other is in Aviation Electronics for the Navy.

    In January 2024, I was selected for The Top Retail Experts (TRE) distinction, which is one of the most prestigious global accolades in the Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. The honor is presented annually and includes several distinguished categories: Academia, Analysts, Associations, Consultants, Finance, Media, Real Estate, Specialists, and Technologists.
  • Jean McCarthy
    Jean McCarthy

    New Business Development Manager
    Qurate Retail Group – QVC and HSN

    Jean McCarthy is a retail professional with 15+ years in the industry. She is a University of Florida alumni who graduated cum laude with her BA in Business Administration, a minor in Mass Communications, and a certificate in Retail from the David F Miller Center for Retail.

    Since leaving the University of Florida, Jean has had a diversified retail background working in multi-channel platforms (brick & mortar, e-commerce, catalog, social, and television retailing), in the off-price, big box, department store, luxury, and specialty business sectors. She has experience in the fields of corporate retail, wholesale, importing, and manufacturing.

    Currently Jean is the head of new business development for QxH (QVC and HSN) Home Decor based in St Petersburg, Florida. Her strengths include Strategic Planning, Business Development, Creative Direction, Global Product Trends, Product Development, Direct Importing and Sourcing, and Buying/Merchandising.
  • Kayley McCranie
    Kayley McCranie

    Sr. Manager of College Recruiting
    Macy’s

  • Clara Miller
    Clara Miller

    Retired District Manager
    JCPenney

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    David Miller, Jr.

    The Miller Group

  • Samantha Padgett
    Samantha Padgett

    General Counsel
    Florida Restaurant & Lodging Assoc.

    Samantha H. Padgett serves as the General Counsel for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. Samantha provides legal advice and services to the association and its leadership and serves as an advocate for the restaurant and lodging industries at the federal, state and local levels.

    Samantha is a member of The Florida Bar. She graduated cum laude from the University of Florida College of Law in 2005 and received her B.A. from Emory University in 2001. Samantha previously served as the Vice President and General Counsel of the Florida Retail Federation (FRF).

    Samantha enjoys reading, writing, traveling, Florida Gator football, and being a Little League mom. She resides in Tallahassee with her husband Warren, son Grayson, and daughter Bradley.
  • Jon Reitz
    Jon Reitz

    Regional Vice President
    Walgreens

  • Kelli Snell
    Kelli Snell

    Director of Sales
    PepsiCo-Frito Lay

    Kelli Snell earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida in 2004 and her MBA from the University of Arkansas in 2016. During her time at UF, Kelli was very involved in the Center for Retailing and earned her Retailing Certificate. Kelli interned with Burdines, and began her career in Retail with Kraft Foods. During her 17 year career in Retail, Kelli has worked for Kraft Foods, Starkist Tuna, Abbott Labs, and PepsiCo-Frito Lay across the Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Ohio markets. She has advanced through several positions of increasing responsibility which include: retail operations, management, analytics, shopper insights, finance, training and development and account management. She is currently manages Warehouse and White Space sales for the Frito Lay division of PepsiCo.

    Kelli is passionate about the advancement of women in Retail, and has held several officer roles in Women’s Sales Organizations within each company she has worked for. She has also been inducted into the prestigious C200 Women’s Sales and Entrepreneurship Organization as a Scholar, and recognized as an up-and-coming woman in business.

    Kelli believes in the principle of “paying it forward” and actively participates in her community. She is passionate about education, family, and fitness. Kelli’s hobbies include: anything outdoors (which includes Gator Football), staying abreast and discussing current events with friends, traveling, learning about new cultures, and being the best mom to two future gators!

  • John Thomas
    John Thomas

    President
    Pinch-A-Penny

  • Ashley Turner
    Ashley Turner

    Campus Recruiting and Corporate Development Manager
    Belk, Inc.

    Ashley Turner is a Campus Recruiting and Corporate Development Manager at Belk, Inc, a private department store company based out of Charlotte, NC. Ashley oversees the recruitment for campus programs and leads all development programs. Her team focuses on attracting, developing, and keeping talent at Belk! Previously, Ashley worked as a campus recruiter for a digital marketing technology company. She’s been on the executive board of the North Carolina Association for Colleges and Employers for five years. She graduated from Elon University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing and Sales. In her free time, she is active with sports intramural leagues, boutique fitness classes, and has a passion for traveling!
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    Don Unser

    Group President
    NPD

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    Tiffany Venturino

    Rooms To Go

  • Janet Wincko
    Janet Wincko

    Sr. VP of Associate Relations
    City Furniture

    Janet Wincko is Senior Vice President of HR Operations and Services at CITY Furniture. She joined CITY Furniture in 1989 and is currently responsible for HR Operations, HR Technology, Total Rewards (Compensation & Health Insurance Benefits/Wellness) and Risk Management, and Corporate Communications.

    Janet serves as the Chair of Florida State University’s Center for Human Resource Management Board and well as the Vice Chair on CareerSource Broward’s Workforce Development Board. She is also actively involved on many Advisory Boards at UF, FAU, and FIU.

    Janet has been recognized for her professional achievements by the South Florida Business & Wealth’s (SFBW) Excellence in Human Resources Award, as well as by the Girl Scouts for their Lead the Way Award.

    She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Total Rewards Association of South FL, Association for Talent Development (ATD), and a graduate of Leadership Broward Class XXXIII.

    Janet, a native Floridian, earned a Masters Business Administration (MBA) degree and a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree (BBA) with a concentration in Human Resource Management from Florida Atlantic University.

    Janet is married and has two children, including a Son who is a Senior at the University of Florida majoring in Architecture.