Team
board of directors
XAVIER CORTADA
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Xavier Cortada is a Cuban-American artist who has used art to engage communities across six continents in addressing social and environmental concerns over the past three decades. He is a Professor of Practice at the University of Miami Department of Art and Art History, with secondary appointments in the School of Law and the MIller School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. Recently named Miami-Dade County’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence, Cortada has served as Chair of the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, Vice Chair of the Florida Arts Council, on the executive committees of the Community Relations Board and Regis House, and on the boards of South Arts and the University of Miami Alumni Association. His studio and social practice are based at Pinecrest Gardens, South Florida’s Cultural Arts Park.
FRANK JIMENEZ, ESQ.
CHAIR
Frank R. Jimenez is General Counsel of GE HealthCare, a NASDAQ 100 medical technology company. He previously served as the general counsel for NYSE-listed companies Raytheon Technologies Corp., Raytheon Co., Bunge Ltd., Xylem Inc. and ITT Corp. In prior public office, Frank served as the 21st General Counsel of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Acting General Counsel for Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He serves on the Board of Directors of Fortune 500 company HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) and of the non-profit Equal Justice Works. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, the Yale Law School, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and the U.S. Naval War College.
JUAN CARLOS ESPINOSA
VICE-CHAIR
Juan Carlos Espinosa is a political scientist with degrees from the University of Miami and Florida State University. He is currently Dean and Faculty Fellow of the Honors College at Florida International University. Espinosa has taught numerous freshman and upper division seminars, most recently “Climate Change and Public Policy,” a two-semester course that blended climate science, literature, and community-based research.
Espinosa is a national leader in interdisciplinary Honors education arguing an academic major does not give students sufficient preparation for life after college. A critical part of the reform is the tearing down of the wall between the curricular and the co-curricular and providing students with opportunities for experiential learning through internships, jobs, competitions, and projects.
ADAM ROBERTI
SECRETARY
Adam Roberti is the executive director of the Cortada Foundation, a nonprofit using socially engaged art to inspire collective action around climate change and biodiversity loss. Roberti collaborates with Florida Hall of Fame artist Xavier Cortada to implement large-scale eco-art initiatives such as The Underwater and Reclamation Project. He leads partnerships with schools, parks, businesses and governments to engage vulnerable communities in building resilience and advocating for equitable policies. A University of Miami double alumnus, Roberti has been recognized as a 30 Under 30 honoree, an Aspen Institute Fellow, and a speaker at the National Academy of Sciences. He also serves on the board of the Broward Young Democrats, and the City of Hollywood's Sustainability Advisory and Floodplain Management Committees.
ANTHONY BAILEY
TREASURER
Dr. Anthony Bailey is the founding dean of the USC Bovard College and he also serves as the Vice President for Strategic and Global Initiatives at the University of Southern California.
Before joining USC in 2011, Dr. Bailey led Kaplan International Colleges, a chain of 44 schools with operations across 20 countries, and earlier worked as a group brand manager at the Ford Motor Company and a marketing analyst at PortMiami. He started his career at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and he remains an active scientific diver and member of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences.
Bailey received his BA and MA from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and his doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
Danniel Cortada
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Danniel Cortada is a Miami-born mixed-media sculptor who uses overlooked materials to explore value, time, and transformation. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Florida International University and is a former Miami-Dade County Public Schools art teacher, named Dade Art Educators Association New Professional of the Year (2021) and Rookie Teacher of the Year (2022). In 2013, he received the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards American Visions Medal and a gold key, with work exhibited in New York City through the Art.Write.Now. National Exhibition.