(Jacksonville, Fla.)—The Jacksonville Public Library Foundation, Inc. announces its 2009 Board of Directors. Officers include: Betsy Lovett, Chair; Julia (JuJu) Taylor, Vice Chair; Robert B. Main, Treasurer; Ann Hicks, Secretary; and Michael Hightower, Past Chair. Active board members include Joe Augustus; James (Joby) Birr, III; Gregory Broner; Diane Brunet-Garcia; Daniel M. Edelman; Barbara Gubbin; Jackie Nash; Erik Simonsen; Bonnie Sleiman; Susan Smathers; and Mark Wood.
There are five additions to the Jacksonville Public Library Foundation’s 2009 Board of Directors:
James (Joby) Birr, III is a board certified construction attorney at the law firm of Gunster Yoakley. Birr has practiced law in Jacksonville since 2000 and served on the Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Board of Governors. He currently serves as president of the University of North Florida Alumni Association and has been an Alumni Association board member since 2002.
Gregory Broner is the north Florida city executive for U.S. Trust – Bank of America, Private Wealth Management based in Jacksonville. Broner has served on the boards of directors for various community organizations. He received a bachelor’s of arts degree in finance from Ohio State University. Broner lives in Jacksonville with his wife and two children.
Daniel M. Edelman is a shareholder and director of business valuation & litigation support services for Presser, Lahnen & Edelman. He is a University of Florida graduate. Edelman is a certified public accountant and certified valuation analyst. He also is certified in financial forensics and accredited in business valuation. Edelman is involved in many professional and community organizations including the Cummer Museum, Hope Haven, Jacksonville Community Foundation and the University of North Florida. He is married and has three children.
Erik Simonsen is the chief operating officer of Deutsche Bank, Jacksonville. Before he arrived in Jacksonville in 2008, Simonsen worked at Deutsche Bank’s New York office as a relationship manager and served as the global head of a division of the bank’s SOM regulatory team. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Simonsen worked at Copal Partners, a financial research and analysis firm in India, and held technology management and architecture positions at a number of financial and internet services companies. Simonsen earned a master’s degree in business administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a bachelor’s of science degree in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Bonnie Sleiman is a Jacksonville native and had a career in the medical field for 15 years. For the last 29 years, Sleiman has been involved with many charitable organizations, including First Coast Women’s Services, Fresh Ministries, Hospice and her church. Sleiman and her husband live in Jacksonville and have three children.
The Jacksonville Public Library Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation formed in 1986 through the support of concerned private donors and the Board of Trustees. Ever since its inception, the Foundation has built public-private partnerships for the library by encouraging investments for the future through a variety of giving opportunities, including donations, grants, endowment funds, memorials, planned giving programs and signature special events.
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