TAMPA, Fla. (January 14, 2019) – Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts (TBBCA), the leading Tampa Bay non-profit organization that for over thirty years has united businesses to champion arts and culture for a prosperous community, is pleased to announce the board of directors 2019 executive officers and the election of four new directors.

Stephen Gay, of Gay & Associates with Smith & Associates Real Estate, will serve as President of TBBCA Board of Directors, Sharon Britton, attorney at Phelps Dunbar is Vice-President; Adam Unger, Director, Oxford Creative Studio is Secretary; and Lisa Carver, CFO of The Wilson Company, is Treasurer.

“I am pleased for new directors Everald Colas, Dorothy Davis, Mario Lovett, Sr. and Jose Miranda to take an active role as leaders and help further TBBCA mission in support of arts and culture as vital economic drivers, catalysts for innovation, creativity, transformation, and essential contributors to quality of life,” said incoming TBBCA Board President Stephen Gay.

“As we celebrate our non-profit’s 30th anniversary year, this is an exciting time for Tampa Bay BCA to appoint new leadership and welcome new directors with diverse cultural and professional backgrounds and passion for the arts,” added Susana Weymouth, TBBCA Executive Director.

Everald Colas is an award-winning architect, educator, and storyteller with design experience in commercial, aviation, multifamily, and institutional buildings. Currently, Mr. Colas is the owner of Storyn Studio for Architecture. Before starting Storyn, Mr. Colas was the lead for Wannemacher Jensen Architects for the James Museum of Western + Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, FL. Prior to joining WJA, Everald was a senior architect for Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and co-lead the mixed-use E126 Gotham Residential project in New York City. Before joining BIG, Mr. Colas was a specialist at Grimshaw Architects where he worked on the Qatar Civil Aviation Building in Doha, and a project manager at Kliment Halsband Architects, where he completed several New York projects. In 2016 he was awarded the AIA Garcia Award for design excellence. In 2018 he was awarded University of Florida Young Architects Design Award. Mr. Colas holds both a Master of Architecture degree and a Master of Science in Architectural Pedagogy degree from The University of Florida.

Dorothy Davis is President of Dorothy Davis Inc., an international project management and consulting company with expertise in design, management and implementation of strategic international, domestic and municipal cross-sector programs and special projects. Born in Liberia and raised in Tunisia, Nigeria, Switzerland and the U.S., as the daughter of a pioneer African American US Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Davis has an extensive international background. Her company works with Heads of State and government, the United Nations, diplomatic corps, private sector, celebrities, civil society, media, national to local governments and non-profit organizations in the US and around the world. A visitor to Tampa Bay for 20 years, Ms. Davis now resides in St. Petersburg. She is a member of the Program Committee of the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs and an Advisor to the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association of the United States of America Tampa Bay Chapter. She also lectures and manages exhibitions of her father’s legacy as a pioneer photographer, journalist and diplomat under Griffith J. Davis Photographs and Archives. Ms. Davis received her M.S. degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and her Bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and film with a minor in political science from Boston University.

Mario Lovett, Sr., is founder and President of Legacy Athletics, a non-profit organization that values racial equity, non-discrimination, diversity and inclusion. Established in 2009 with 6 boys, Legacy Athletics now provides services to over 500 student athletes. Coaching, mentoring, financial and personal assistance are offered to address the needs of underserved and disadvantaged students, particularly African American youth. Summer reading and reports are part of the programs implemented, and over 70% of Legacy Athletics student athletes go to college. Mr. Lovett was born and raised in Tampa, and attended Leto High School, where he was a three-year letterman and inducted into the Leto basketball Hall of Fame. Mr. Lovett received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from University of Central Florida, an NCAA Division I school, where he was a star student-athlete at the. Mr. Lovett is a Certified Fitness Trainer and the member of the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), has successfully completed the Master Trainer Course with the National Federation of Personal Trainers (NFPT), and is a Certified Performance Exercise Specialist with the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), one of the top ranked accredited personal training certifications.

Jose Miranda has been an integral member of Behar Peteranecz Architecture in St. Petersburg since 2017. As an architect, he has contributed his skill and insight to several commercial projects around the Tampa Bay area. Prior to relocating to Florida, Mr. Miranda led project teams in the design and construction of residential, educational, and cultural projects throughout the Northeast U.S., primarily in New York City and Boston. Many of those projects included collaborations with local artists to thoughtfully incorporate art into the built environment. His professional experience with architectural firms includes Murphy Burnham & Buttrick, Hickox Williams, Ann Beha, and Carl Abbott, FAIA, Architects. Mr. Miranda received both his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture from the University of Florida. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects.

About TBBCA
TBBCA is a non-profit founded in 1989, one of 11 national Business Committees for the Arts, part of the private sector network and national pARTnership Movement of Americans for the Arts. In 2019 TBBCA celebrates 30 years of uniting Tampa Bay businesses to champion arts and culture for a prosperous community, because the arts are good for business, and business is good for the arts. Through pARTnerships and programs, TBBCA connects, motivates and recognizes the business community’s leadership and support of arts and culture as vital economic drivers, catalysts for innovation, creativity, transformation and development, and essential contributors to quality of life. TBBCA is a 501 (c) (3) #CH32681 www.tbbca.org For more information contact 813-221-2787 or Executive Director susanaweymouth@tbbca.org

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