Writers

Susie Glass

Susie Glass is currently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cervera Real Estate, one of South Florida’s leading real estate brokerages. Susie’s expertise lies in branding, social networking, online media and advertising.  One of her primary roles at Cervera is to provide extensive marketing and sales support to Cervera’s team of 250 agents. Each week she visits all of the Cervera offices to work closely on marketing and outreach initiatives at an individual office level.

Susie holds a B.A. from Florida International University in Philosophy and English.  In addition, Susie is a LEED Accredited Professional currently serving as the USGBC Miami & the Keys Communications Chair and serves on the Board of Directors for Environmental News & Views.

 

Christina Pirello

Christina’s love affair with food began at a young age when she spent many happy hours cooking with her mother, who centered family life in her Italian kitchen. “My mom was always so happy while she was cooking. It was the place where the whole family gathered, and it was a place I knew great joy came from,” she remembers.

That joy might have been the very thing that prepared Christina to be open minded about the healing power of food, because she would need it. At age 26, she was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. By the time her illness was identified, the cancer had already advanced to an acute stage. Her doctors gave her little reason to have hope for the effectiveness of conventional medical therapies and told her she had only months to live. Initially, she was discouraged and uncertain. Then a co-worker introduced her to Robert Pirello, a whole foods advocate who helped her adapt her lifestyle and diet based on whole, unprocessed food.With love, dedication and death-defying discipline, Christina overcame the odds, and in the process developed an expertise in cooking with whole foods. After just two months of eating beans, grains and vegetables, her doctors noticed a significant improvement in her condition. In fourteen months, her cancer was gone.From that time, she was utterly convinced of the close relationship between diet and health.She knew her life’s calling was to help others discover the importance of this relationship in their own lives. To that end, she studied and became an expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture and earned a Masters Degree in Nutrition. Today, almost 26 years later, Christina is a glowing example and inspiration on the power that our food choices have on our overall health and wellbeing.

Since 1988, Christina has been teaching vegan whole foods cooking classes, conducting lifestyle seminars and lecturing all over the United States about the powerful role food plays in our lives.She has shared her deep and clear knowledge in a variety of settings – from natural food stores to corporate boardrooms – and not one life is left unchanged when she leaves the room.Even if her audience is skeptical about her message that our food choices are directly linked to national epidemics such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, they’ll never think of food in the same way again…which is precisely the point.

Christina is the Emmy Award-winning host of the television series Christina Cooks!, which airs weekly on over 200 national public television stations nationwide and has aired in 50 foreign countries on Discovery Health. She and her husband Robert publish a bi-monthly newsletter and together they also operate Christina Trips, a travel company specializing in healthy vacations to exotic destinations.

Christina has written five cookbooks, the bestselling Cooking the Whole Foods Way, plus Cook Your Way to the Life You Want, Glow, A Prescription for Radiant Health and Beauty and Christina Cooks: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Whole Foods, But Were Afraid to Ask. Her latest book, This Crazy Vegan Life was published in January, 2009 and she is currently at work on her sixth book.

In January of 2010, ‘Cooking the Whole Foods Way’ was named the healthiest cookbook of the decade by Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine.

In 2008, Christina founded The Christina Pirello Health Education Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to changing America’s relationship with food, with community outreach, media programs and several in-school programs designed to teach our kids to make healthier choices before it’s too late. She works closely with the city of Philadelphia on various school and farm market programs under the umbrella of The Initiative.

 In January, 2009, Christina, along with other nutrition experts, offered testimony to the U.S. Senate subcommittee working to revise the food pyramid guidelines for healthy eating. Her topic? The value of eating a vegan, plant-based diet.

 Christina holds a faculty position at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, where she lectures as a professor of culinary arts. She also serves on the board of The Farm Market Trust, The Green Council of Philadelphia, The Green City Youth Council of Philadelphia, The 9^th Street Italian Market Business Association, The Chefs for Humanity Chef’s Council and is a member of IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. She is a weekly blogger for The Huffingtopn Post, specializing in natural foods and nutrition. Christina earned both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Fine Arts from the University of Miami, and was awarded a Masters Degree in Nutrition in 2003.

Sarah Bucci

 

Sarah is the federal field associate with Environment Florida, a state-wide, member-based environmental advocacy group.  Sarah graduated with a B.A. in political science and environmental studies from Muhlenberg College in 2009.  While in school, Sarah worked to pass a renewable energy standard through Congress with U.S. PIRG and interned with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network in Washington, D.C. working to create clean energy solutions on the national and local level.

Sarah came to Florida in 2009 to work with Environment Florida.  She has worked on a broad range of issues from restoring federal protections to Florida’s rivers, lakes and streams to stopping the threat of new offshore oil drilling, restoring the Everglades and pushing for clean, renewable energy.Sarah is based in Miami and besides protecting the environment enjoys cycling, outdoor sports and going to the beach.

Andrea Cuccaro

Andrea Cuccaro is a statewide organizer in Florida for 1Sky inside Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. 1Sky is a grassroots advocacy group composed of environmental groups, clean energy business leaders, faith groups, students and many local civic groups nationwide working to urge federal leaders to pass bold policy solutions to climate change. Southern Alliance is working for clean energy policy solutions in eight states in the Southeastern United States. She has worked for state and regional climate change policy solutions in Washington with 1Sky inside Climate Solutions and Washington Environmental Council, in addition to similar work in other advocacy groups. She helped to form state, regional, and national coalitions of people working for clean energy solutions. Andrea attended University of Central Florida and attained a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a minor in environmental studies, and a master’s degree in public administraion at the University of Washington in Seattle with a focus on environmental policy, and also worked for the City of Seattle’s Environmental Management Team as the Adopt-a-Street Program Coordinator.

 

Kathryn Lorusso

Kathryn Lorusso is a high school guidance counselor and former journalist who spends her days counseling teenagers and mediating life drama at Trinity High School in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.  She spent most of her life in Miami, Florida working for The Miami News and then Dade County Public Schools and has lived in DFW for 11 years (without the ocean).  Kathryn also works at Tarrant County College as an on call counselor for adult students returning to school and runs the ARK (Adults Relating to Kids) Truancy program for Hurst Euless Bedford ISD in the evenings.   In her spare time, she writes newsletters and a blog for a local bikram yoga studio and her own fledgling vegan cooking company, VegOut Catering,  and also writes for several other online magazines including www.thisdishisveg.com and www.bikramyoganorthtexas.com.

Kathryn attended Florida International University where she earned a master’s degree in English Education and then St. Thomas University where she earned a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy.  She has always been passionate about food and the environment  and manages to remain relatively stress free by dabbling in organic gardening with native Texas plants, giving vegan/macrobiotic cooking classes, throwing down poses in a hot bikram yoga studio, writing for online magazines and rescuing (and being rescued by) greyhounds.  She misses the ocean breezes and tropical smells of Florida but visits as often as she can to get her “fix” of scuba diving and high school friends.  Kathryn is currently researching her future diesel engine car which will alternately run on used French fry oil.

Rudy Socha

 

 

Rudy Socha is CEO of Wounded Nature – Working Veterans a Charleston, SC based 501c3 non-profit focused on cleaning beaches, promoting recycling and assisting veterans to obtain their first civilian job. To learn more, visit www.woundednature.org.

 

 

Lawrence Budmen

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lawrence Budmen is a former cellist and teacher. He has attended hundreds of concert, opera and dance performance around the globe and is a freelance writer and music consultant. He has written reviews for numerous publications including South Florida Entertainment News & Views, ENV Magazine (Environmental News & Views), the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald, Coral Gables Gazette, and American Record Guide. Mr. Budmen is also Florida correspondent for the internet publication Music and Vision (www.mvdaily.com) He has also been program annotator for several concert series including Sunday Afternoons of Music, Miami International Piano Festival, Symphony of the Americas and the Boca Raton Symphonia. An archive of his reviews and commentaries on music can be found on his website – www.Lawrencebudmen.com.

Ron Levitt

Ron Levitt is a free-lance writer, former Asst. Sec of State, former United Press Staff Correspondent, and is founder/chairman of a public relations firm. The Levitt PR Group (www.levittgroup.com). He is vice president of the Theatre League of South Florida,

He currently edits Florida Media News (columnist and theatre critic) and is Florida Correspondent for the Huffington Post. Levitt was a columnist and theatre critic for Entertainment News & Views and will now do the same for ENV Magazine, as well as periodic pieces on our environment. He is president of the South Florida International Press Club (since 1990) and is secretary of the Society of Professional Journalists (South Florida chapter). He is a theatre critic and a Carbonell voter (and a member of the American Theatre Critics Assn and the International Theatre Critics Assn.). and serves on the Board of WLRN Public radio/TV in Miami and on the Executive Committee of the University of Miami Citizens Board.

In other pro-bono activities, he is a past president of both the French-American and European-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, served as chairman of the Dade Cultural Alliance and was vice-chair of the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council. He serves on the Broward Democratic Executive Committee and on the board of the Weston Democratic Club. As a past Florida president and Southeastern Chairman of the Public Relations Society of America, he was awarded the first PRSA Royal Palm Award for outstanding public service, is a recipient of the Maxie award (1999) for his support of the arts and in 2008 won the Remy award for public service awarded annually by the Theatre League.

He has taught Creative Writing at the University of Miami and has written for magazines both in the U.S. and internationally. He is a one-time prize-winning Naval Journalist (Dept. of Defense Award for Editing the best Service Publication. and is a frequent speaker at universities and civic organizations.

Lanny Smith

Award-winning performing artist and songwriter, Lanny Smith, is better known as the Earthman to millions of children and adults throughout the nation. Earthman uses the power of music and the arts to reopen people’s eyes to the beauty of our Planet Earth, and the power each of us has to make a difference in our community, and our world. He states, “My focus as an artist is to help the audience feel, and then think about the power each of us has to make a difference in our world.”

Lanny, through his powerful original music, inspired theatrical spirit, and strong activist organizational skills, has crafted a musical outreach which has brought a vital environmental message to more than 1500 major festivals, community events, and more than 1200 elementary schools. His concert/global warming action tours have inspired people in cities such as Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston, Nashville, New York, Washington, Asheville and Atlanta. His powerful songs have been recorded in many languages.

As founder of The Earthman Project, Lanny has brought together the finest musicians, dancers, writers, visual artists, and web designers to use their talents in making a difference. Their website (www.Earthman.TV) is the most innovative music/arts and web technology website on the Internet today. The project’s Climate Crisis Jam music video and curriculum is being implemented in Miami-Dade County Schools. Their River of Grass and The Pledge (An Earth Anthem) Children’s Song music web media, in English and Spanish, have inspired people worldwide.
In 2006, Lanny received the prestigious North American Association for Environmental Education, Outstanding Service to Environmental Education award. He has also been named the Miami-Dade Children’s Cultural Coalition Arts Educator of the Year award, and the Keep Florida Beautiful Outstanding Individual Achievement Award. Smith is a graduate of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund Environmental Leadership training.

Lanny is also intimately involved in music education as he has hosted the Grammy Concerts for Children, sponsored by The Recording Academy, and the Palm Beach Pops Concerts for Children series. Known as the “Music Man” to thousands of children, he mixes fun and education about all forms of music, composers, and instruments.

His work has been supported by many organizations including: Radio Disney, Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management, The Miami Children’s Museum, Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs, The National Wildlife Federation, The National Audubon Society, Dade & Broward County School Systems, The Recording Academy, AT&T, and The Miami Herald. You can see Lanny’s web site by clicking onto www.earthman.tv

Grant Campbell

Grant Campbell is an environmental activist. He is a member of the Broward County Audubon Society Board of Directors where he serves as Chair of the Conservation and Environment Committee and as the Director of Wildlife Policy. As a board member, he has written many articles for distribution at their events as well as press releases and informational handouts. He is a member of the Broward Sierra Club and participates in several online environmental groups.

He grew up in rural Michigan and has always had an interest in outdoor things. He relocated to Florida in 1968 and has watched Broward County go from a sleepy little community that only came to life at spring break, to the regional metropolis it has become today. The growth of Broward County has come at a tremendous cost to the environment, and he is determined to do everything in his power to save what is left. As John F Kennedy once said, “We can all do a little, and we should”.

Marci Zaroff

ECOentrepreneur and pioneer Marci Zaroff coined the term “ECOfashion” and launched lifestyle brand “Under the Canopy” in 1996, when after a decade in the natural/organic food & beauty worlds, she recognized that the “missing link” in the wellness equation was a leading brand of organic & sustainable textiles. She served variously as Under the Canopy’s CEO, President and Board Member and in July 2009, left Under the Canopy to drive her mission to the next level. In 2010, Marci will be launching a new cutting-edge sustainable fashion brand called “FASE” (Fashion-Art-Soul-Earth) with an experiential e-commerce platform, lifestyle stores & retailer partnerships. Marci is one of the world’s leading authorities in organic and sustainable apparel and home products. As a visionary, trailblazer, innovator, keynote speaker, industry spokesperson and market driver, Zaroff has established extensive sourcing, production, marketing, media & retail relationships globally.

Marci has a degree from the Haas Business School of the University of California, Berkeley. A vegetarian since the age of 16, prior to Under the Canopy, Marci co-founded a thriving health and environmental educational center & certification program, AVEDA spa, national magazine and organic cafe in New York City, known today as “The Institute for Integrative Nutrition”. She speaks worldwide on sustainable textiles & green business, was a key driver in defining the USA & global Standards for organic fiber certification, and has launched organic fiber initiatives in the nation’s top retailers from Whole Foods & AVEDA to Macy’s, Bed Bath & Beyond & Target. Marci is featured extensively in major TV & print media, and has been honored with numerous awards. Marci serves on the Advisory Boards of the Organic Exchange, Green Spa Network, Teens Turning Green, South Florida Living Green Fair, Sustainable Brands International and Transfair.

An artist and yoga enthusiast, Marci resides in Boca Raton, FL with her two “green” teens, Jade and Mason, where she co-founded “South Florida Green Drinks” to build her local green community.

Marguerite Gil

Since arrival in Miami (1981) has worked as a writer for various publications including Entertainment News and Views (Arts, Entertainment and Dining Writer, 17 years) Miami Sun Post (columnist, Metro Edition, 3 ½ years and Dining writer, Miami Beach Edition, 1 ½ years), Where Magazine (Arts Writer 2 ½ years), Concept Magazine (Architecture Writer), Dine Magazine (Food and Travel Writer 2 years), Weekly Sun (Dining Writer), contributor to Miami.com.

Painter/Sculptor/Instructor/Artist in Residence

Her art works both paintings and sculptures has been seen in numerous galleries. In this context, she has won numerous awards, been published in magazines and newspapers, extensively interviewed on many television and radio programs and continues to create artworks, while closely working with a number of Arts organizations and Schools in South Florida.

• Marguerite and her architect husband Robert, are also the co- hosts of the longest running French/American radio program (23 years) on W-DNA in the U.S.
• Both Marguerite and Robert were Knighted by the French Government as Knights in the Order of Arts and Letters in 1999.
• Education: Master’s Degree in Literature and Civilization from the Universite de Paris VIII, Minor in Urban Planning
• Final judgment “Tres Bien.” Parts of the thesis with visual support were published in Viola Sachs’ The Game of Creation (Ed. Mouton, Paris) which is now included in The Library of Congress, Washington.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Universite de Paris VIII
• L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaus Arts, Paris, France: Studies in Art, Architecture and Urban Planning as an Auditeur libre.
• MDC, Miami, Studies in Journalism, Internship at Channel Seven
• New York University and Hunter College: Studies in Biology.
• Personal information: Birth place, Paris, France
• Fluent in French, English, Spanish

All of the above information is documented and can be consulted for verification. Details: megs@gate.net

Rodi Alexander Friedman

Certified Nutrition Coach

rodialexander@yahoo.com

Rodi Alexander Friedman has been an international Entertainer for over 20 years, performing in Theaters, Atlantic City, on Cruise Ships, and working with many celebrities.

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Rodi’s passion in the education of nutrition is just as strong as her passion to perform. A health advocate for over 20 years, Rodi has spent the last 3 years as a Certified Nutritional Coach, donating her time lecturing in schools, and educating children, teachers and parents on good nutrition and improving their health. She has also worked in the fight against childhood obesity with Shaq’s Kids at the Metamorphecise Fitness and Spa. Rodi has served on the Broward County Nutritional Advisory Committee and has been askedto appear every week with a nutritional message on Broward County’s school TV broadcast system. Her passion and goal is to reach as many people as is possible due to the deteriorating state of human health today. Her lectures are filled with much passion, high energy, and a plethora of information. Rodi is currently working as a Nutritional /Health Coach for the high profile company,Elite Health at Mount Sinai Hospital,

In addition, for the past 15 years, Rodi’s continual association as a board member for the subsidiary of the Organ Transplant Foundation of South Florida has enabled her to bring her expertise and passion for health for generations to come.

 

Robin Roth

Entertainment news now ENV Magazine, The Travel Magazine, and Rock Over America…I write the movie reviews, conduct celebrity interviews (see attached list of interviews), restaurant and hotel reviews, and report on special events, political events, shows, concerts and red carpet events. I have traveled extensively to do this work. The movie reviews are co-written with my writing partner. We write under our pen names, “The Blonde and the Maven” bringing our special brand of HUMOR, INFO AND GOSSIP to the reviews. I have worked for ENTERTAINMENT NEWS (NOW ENV Magazine) for 6 years.

I am thrilled to be a part of the new ENV Magazine. I am looking forward to working with the new and original staff and I am very excited to watch us grow. “Go Green with ENVy” is a wonderful motto and I look forward to contributing many pieces directed to the many celebrities who have focused on the importance of green awareness.

PHOTOGRAPHER: I provide all of the photographs for my reviews and interviews. Furthermore, I sell photos to several publications world wide.

PAST EMPLOYMENT: SINGER/ COMEDIAN with my own show, “THE ROBIN ROTH ONE WOMAN SHOW”. I TRAVELED ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY. In addition, I have been an ON-AIR TV REPORTER: VALLEY CABLE TELEVISION IN L.A.

ACTRESS: 30 national commercials (LIST UPON REQUEST) I enjoy Membership in SAG, AFTRA and EQUITY

EDUCATION: University of Miami

INTERESTS: Travel, people, the Arts, helping others in need via charitable projects, politics.

LIVE SHOWS REVIEWED AND CELEBRITY INTERVIEWS – (Las Vegas shows. political interviews, personalities from the worlds of business and sports, actors/actresses from TV and film, singers and instrumentalists). Reviews and interviews provided upon request by writing to TheEntertainer33@aol.com

CONTACT NUMBER: 702-334-9752

EMAIL ADDRESS: THEENTERTAINER33@AOL.COM

WEB: robinrothentertainer.com

Judith Belmont, MS, LPC

Judy Belmont, M.S., L.P.C. is a Psychotherapist, Wellness Speaker, and Self-Help Author, and is a member of the National Speakers Association. Her newest upcoming book with co-author Lora Shor (release date 10/17/2011) is called “The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life: How to Get Through Life’s Holes Without Getting Stuck in Them!” After all, life is not smooth and predictable like American or Cream Cheese. Life has holes, and it’s how you get through them that counts!

The life skills focus of “The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life” also provides the foundation of her two previous books for mental health professionals, “86 TIPS and Tools for the Therapeutic Toolbox” and “103 Group Activities and TIPS.”

In her 35 year career, she has presented before thousands of people on various mental health and wellness issues. In her interactive keynotes, seminars and radio and TV appearances, she provides “hands on” ideas and life skills that improve resiliency and life satisfaction.

Judy has founded Worksite Insights, which offers corporate wellness seminars, coaching and consultation. Her passion is to provide people valuable tools to achieve Resiliency and Wellness for Life!

Judy holds a B.S. in Psychology from The University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Hahnemann Medical College.

Visit her web site at www.judybelmont.com
She can be contacted at JABelmont@resiliencyandwellnessforlife.com

 

Linda Diamond

Born and raised in Panama, Linda Diamond is a choreographer, dancer and  TV producer for WPAT  and woodstocktv.org.  Her MA is in Dance in Education from New York University, and BA in French from University of Southern California.

As a choreographer her career has spanned several decades.  She was the founder and Artistic Director of FUSION  Dance Co,, which is considered the first professional Modern Dance group in South Florida.  She received 2  Fine Arts Council of Florida awards for choreography from George Smathers, and has received grants from the Harkness Foundation for Dance, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Foundation, Dutchess County Arts Council, the Puffin Foundation  and the experimental Television Center (under New York State Council for the Arts).   Her works have been performed in NY, Connecticut, Florida and internationally. She is certified by N.Y. State as a Performing Arts (Dance teacher).

She is currently Artistic Director of LINDA DIAMOND & CO. which performs in NYC and the MidHudson Valley Region in NY State. Her theatre,   the Woodstock Diamond Sokolow Dance Theatre has been named to honor the late Anna Sokolow, for whom Ms. Diamond had Christopher Street in Greenwich Village co-named, “Anna Sokolow Way”.

Linda Diamond has written free lance articles for Backstage Newspaper, Community Newspapers in Miami , and currently for ENV Magazine. She encourages the awareness and heritage of  Modern Dance in our culture through her television interviews and writing.

She can be reached at   reviewdancing@yahoo.com and (845) 282-1156

Bill Hernandez

 

For Bill Hernandez, his love for writing began at a very young age. By the age of fourteen, he published his first news article in the local newspaper in Long Island, New York. He became the editor of his High School newspaper and worked at a local horse stable in The Hamptons during the summer months.It was during this time that singer/songwriter, Billy Joel was keeping horses there and he thought of an idea.” Billy was doing a string of concerts at the Nassau Coliseum and I approached him to ask if he would be interested in doing an interview for our High School newspaper”. “He was very kind and gave me the name of his publicist, who made the arrangements”. Billy’s publicist arranged the interview, along with tickets to his performance. “After that, I was hooked. I have been at it ever since”.Bill Hernandez is a native of Los Angeles, California and has been reviewing music concerts and conducting celebrity interviews for twenty-one years. He has interviewed such music greats as BB King, Roberta Flack, Bon Jovi, the late Clarence Clemons, Frankie Valli, and Donna Summer. Currently, Bill features his reviews and interviews on AllVoices.com, and makes his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Phyllis Green

 

Musical Comedy Song-Stylist, Phyllis Green, will be continuing with our new ENVy Magazine in her position as Theatre Critic. Phyllis has participated in theatre as a Director, Writer and Lead Performer in many musicals. Phyllis has been a Cabaret Act for many years, with venues on cruise ships, conventions, in hotels, condominiums, temples and churches, all met with great enthusiasm. With this background, her understanding of the many facets of a theatrical production is wholehearted; giving her the tools to delve deeply into the piece she is reviewing.

An active Board Member of Leading Ladies, Inc. a charity organization that raises funds for the Transplant Foundation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, Phyllis holds the office of Program Vice-President of this dynamic organization.

English, Journalism, Composition, Drama and Music were always her favorite subjects, and it is with great pleasure that Phyllis stays on the job!!

Nancy Powell Radlauer

I am passionate about ENV Magazine’s mission of inspiring and engaging others towards a meaningful  commitment to protecting our planet. Our goal is to advocate and educate. As a seasoned professional, committed to ethical journalism, I look forward to collaborating with you on our path to Green Awareness. Each one of us can make a difference…Just imagine the possibilities!

JOURNALISTIC BACKGROUND:• Restaurant Reviewer/ Columnist/ Photographer (Local & global focus, Articles on food, travel, products, personality profiles, the arts, and special events) for South Florida’s Entertainment News & Views, the Premier Arts, Dining, & Entertainment Newspaper (now ENV Magazine)

• Free-lance Writer (Profiles of public figures, Destinations, Cuisine, Special Events), Contributor to Social Affairs Magazine and Las Olas Magazine

• Chargée de Presse, (Coverage of Culinary Events, Photography) for Gastronome Magazine, National publication of La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, an International Food & Wine Society

EDUCATION/ WORK HISTORY: 1999-Master’s Degree in Dispute Resolution (Nova Southeastern University); Mediated cases on Fair Employment Practices for Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board and U.S. Postal Service; In 2000-Founded SOS…Strategies & Options for Success, which specializes in mediation; facilitation; and the design, development, & delivery of corporate training focused on personal & professional skill-building (SOSpowell@aol.com); Participating Faculty member at Florida International University in Management & International Business, since 2001 teaching face-to-face, hybrid, & fully online courses in Business Ethics, Crisis Management, Organizational Behavior, Mastering Virtual Teams; Previously taught at Broward College and Johnson & Wales University

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Chairperson of Florida’s Human Rights Advocacy Council (Governor Jeb Bush appointee); 5-year tenure with Miami-Dade Community Relations Board (CRB) including Executive Board Member, Chairperson of the CRB Expansion Committee, Chairperson of No Place for Hate (a county-wide diversity awareness campaign); Current Advisory Board Member of Hands on Miami (Miami-Dade County’s premier resource for community volunteering)

CURRENT MEMBERSHIPS: South Florida International Press Club; Leading Ladies-Transplant Foundation; South Florida’s Simcha Chapter; Hadassah; Secretary of Williams Island Cultural & Entertainment Committee

PERSONAL PROFILE: Born in Montreal, Canada; Moved to South Florida(1968); Married Dr. Charles Radlauer (2008)

SPECIAL INTERESTS: Travel, skiing, cooking & hosting dinner parties, bridge, civic engagement, judging culinary competitions (Taste Down Under, Johnson & Wales University); teaching, corporate training; Grand Benefactor of the South Florida Grand Opera

Available for National & International coverage of restaurants reviews, culinary products & news, travel & destinations, personal profiles, the arts, entertainment, & special events!

PHONE: 305-801-8181

E-MAIL: PowellReviews@aol.com or NancyReviews@yahoo.com

Tracey Gallentine

Ms. Gallentine is a Senior Account Executive with Ameresco, the largest independent Energy Services Company in North America who has designed, implemented and managed over $4 billion in successful energy solutions, has been directly involved in delivering energy performance contracting and energy efficiency solutions to customers for the last 15 years.

Ms. Gallentine worked for FPL Energy Services, Progress Energy Solutions, and Energy Systems Group in the same capacity prior to joining the Ameresco team. Prior to that Ms. Gallentine was a Director of Facilities Planning for two large school districts in Florida.

She has 25 years professional experience in: facilities planning and building; managing multi-million capital budgets; and initiating, developing, and facilitating energy efficiency projects throughout the State of Florida.

Ms. Gallentine holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of South Florida, and is currently pursuing her LEED accreditation. She is a past president of the FEFPA and her local Junior League, a current board member of FSPMA and FASBO, and is currently a State co-chair of the Florida Energy Services Coalition.

Bobette Wolesensky

ENV is excited to announce that Bobette Wolesensky has joined us as a writer. Bobette was raised by a Depression era baby – Robert – who has a deep love, reverence and respect for nature. Through him, she learned at an early age that nature respects those who respect nature. Bobette, 2009 Greenpeace Lead Activist of the Year and a Sierra Club Home Energy Ambassador, teaches speech at Palm Beach Community College (soon to be Palm Beach State College) in Boca Raton.

Her passion is helping others to understand what the naturalist and founder of Sierra Club, John Muir meant when he said, “ When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” She truly believes the if everyone can learn to see that what they do today has a huge impact on tomorrow, we will all learn to walk softly on this planet.

“When someone tells me that they have started recycling, or have written a letter to a legislator about an environmental issue, or have started walking instead of driving on a short trip, I know they are seeing how their actions affect the bigger world. Those are the days I know my work as an educator, activist, and environmentalist is important.”

You are just as likely to find Bobette at her computer learning as much as she can about the natural order of things as you are to find her working side by side with elementary school children planting school gardens in Boca Raton. She and her college students work closely with children in several elementary schools on conservation education projects in hopes that future generations learn the value of environmental stewardship at an early age too.

Political action and conservation education will be the focus of Wolesensky’s writing for ENV Magazine. “While my Greenpeace perspective is national and international – and I know that affects us in South Florida – I’m also active with the Palm Beach Environmental Coalition and hope to share information about environmental issues in our own corner of the universe with readers. Remember though, and I’m paraphrasing Muir here, everything in the universe is hitched to everything else, and my writings reflect that.”

Peter Perez

Peter is a recent graduate of Duke University with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. As an undergraduate, he was involved with various research projects including: the effect of emerging pharmaceutically active compounds on microbial growth, how climate change is expected to affect the invasiveness of certain plant species, and methods to prevent desiccation cracking in clays. He also won second place at the Waste-Management, Education and Research Consortium for designing a simple, low-maintenance means of using wing energy to clean brackish water.

After graduation, Peter spent the summer interning at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce as the liaison to the Sustainable Business Council. Through this experience, he gained exposure to various environmental businesses. These new experiences taught him about the business side of helping the environment.

As a graduate student at the University of Southern California, Peter is working towards earning a Masters in Engineering Management as a means to fuse his passions for business and environmental engineering.

 

Margarita M. Fernandez

Margarita (Maggie) Fernandez currently serves Miami-Dade County as the Sustainability Program Manager for Outreach & Public Affairs and the Executive Assistant to the Director of the Office of Sustainability. In these roles, she is responsible for public outreach, education, and community awareness programs, as well as media relations activities dedicated to the dissemination of information regarding the County’s on-going sustainability and energy programs. She also manages and administers Miami-Dade County’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.

Ms. Fernandez previously served an Assistant to the County Manager in the County Executive Office where she served as the right-hand to the Chief Assistant County Manager in the coordination and administration of all operational elements of Miami-Dade County government. Her most recent responsibilities included staffing the Budget and Finance and Government Operations committees of the Board of County Commissioners, the Charter Review Task Force, and the Miami-Dade County Strategic Plan Re-Write. She also managed the County Manager’s Management Trainee Program and created the Urban Fellows Program.

She began her career as the Media Relations Coordinator in Miami-Dade County’s Office of the Mayor. Her responsibilities included dealing with all matters related to the media and serving as the Chief Liaison to the Mayor’s Marketing Council.

She gained municipal government experience while serving as the Special Events Coordinator for the City of Miami Beach. In this capacity, Ms. Fernandez was responsible for marketing the City of Miami Beach as a destination for quality events, including the first ever Art Basel Miami Beach, South Beach Wine & Food Festival and MTV Latin Video Music Awards.

Ms. Fernandez is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama where she holds a Bachelor of Science, Political Science.