This is such an exciting time at FRLS as we celebrate our year of service. FRLS was invited to present to the Florida Bar Foundation last month and we had an excellent presentation which include a presentation of our program video, made possible by Denise Sawyer, our Marketing and Communications Director. We have added coordinators to aid in accomplishing our goals in increased marketing and communications, as well as program outreach and education that are led by Sueanna Jones.
I want to provide updates on new executive and administrative roles and program updates.
FRLS has onboarded a Deputy Director, Lisa Lee Boemmel, who has worked with the Department of Children and Families in Circuit 10 for the past 9 ½ years (8 ½ years as a supervising attorney) and prior to that, she served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the Attorney General in the Tampa office for 7 years. Lisa gained valuable knowledge regarding guest relations and managerial experience while working in hotel management prior to and while attending law school. Lisa received a Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, in Washington, D.C. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel/Restaurant Administration and a minor in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. A highlight of Lisa’s university days was having the opportunity to study international business and relations for a year at Richmond American University in London, England, where she had the opportunity to play intramural basketball. Lisa grew up amid the corn and soy fields of rural central Illinois where she detasseled corn for only one summer in her teens before determining that a future in agriculture was not for her.
FRLS also has onboarded a CFO, Jeffrey Greene, who has worked with Waterleaf International from 2019 – 2023, as Chief Financial Officer for an engineering and project management firm; he served as Chief Financial Officer for the City of West Palm Beach for seven years; he served as Chief Financial Officer for T3 Communications, Inc., for 4 years; and prior to that he served as Chief Financial Officer for the City of Ft. Myers for 4 years. Jeff attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a B.S. in Business Administration-1983 Maga Cum Laude. Jeffrey joins us with significant years of financial management experience and has served as Chief Financial Officer in both private and government sectors.
Sisi Chen has continued her education as she worked in critical roles in the Ft. Myers office as well as our MFW unit. She has been approved to join FRLS' finance and accounting department.
We had an excellent first quarter board meeting, highlighting all of our program advocacy and outreach and we will be planning another program-wide virtual meeting in the next month. Lisa and I are planning to meet with each regional office in person or remotely, in the second quarter program-wide meeting. We are planning a two-day program-wide meeting in 2023 under Denise’s planning.
It has been a busy time for administration, and I want to share some of the highlights of what we have accomplished for FRLS, with the assistance of each Regional Office and each of our staff members. Those highlights will be shared via email with FRLS staff.
Again, thank you so much for all you do to continue our program mission and vision. It is a great day at FRLS!
