A group of 11 emerging leaders from a diverse group of industries have been selected to lead the 6th year of the Hightower Emerging Leaders Fellowship as Board of Directors. The Hightower Emerging Leaders Fellowship, established in 2017, brings together a class of talented professionals with prominent and influential Jacksonville leaders.
The fellowship is named for Mike Hightower, who as JAX Chamber Chair in 2009 helped launch ImpactJAX (now NextUp JAX), the Chamber’s young professional organization.
Ashley Pratt, Director of Community Engagement, Mayo Clinic in Florida and 2019 Hightower Fellow, will lead the 2022 Board as Chair. Lauren Braddock, Commercial Account Manager/Operating Partner
SERVPRO of Mandarin, SERVPRO of Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra and 2019 Hightower Fellow, will serve as 2022 Chair-Elect.
Other members of the 2022 Board of Directors include:
- Chris Warren (Founding Member), Director of Revenue and Policy, Urban SDK
- Thomas Lee IV (Founding Member), Vice President, Lee & Cates Glass Inc.
- Andrew Kisz (Founding Member), Advisory Manager, Deloitte
- Obi Umunna (Class of 2019), Managing Partner, Umunna Legal Group
- Whitney Meyer (Class of 2020), Senior Vice President and Chief Community Impact Officer, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Bill Hoff (Class of 2020), Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Department of Veteran Affairs
- Amber Wilson (Class of 2020), Executive Director, First Coast American Heart Association
- Belkis Plata (Class of 2020), Managing Partner, Plata Schott Law
- Monica Hernandez (Class of 2019), Vice President, Bank of America
