Marisol is an accomplished retired, professional and bilingual (Spanish, English) CPA.  During her 38-year career, she was a highly successful CEO, CFO, VP of Finance, Corporate Controller and Auditor with a different array of areas of expertise in various industries.

 She started her career as an auditor with 2 of the largest international auditing /consulting firms:  PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Ernst & Young in both the USA and her native Chile.

 She went on to work for AT&T, where over more than a decade she leveraged her financial acumen to manage and lead auditing, controller and CFO functions for various international entities across the US, Canada and Latin America.

 She diversified her experience by joining one of the nation’s largest children’s museums - the Miami Children’s Museum - as the Chief Financial Officer in 2007.  During her tenure and leadership, the operations were reorganized and attained self-sustaining revenue plans.

 She followed that success by becoming a Partner at Tatum Consulting (a division of Spherion Corporation). She was responsible for business development in Miami.

 She was recruited to become the CFO and later the CEO of Bayview Center for Mental Health in a transitional role.  The organization was successfully dissolved with the sale of all hospitals, licenses and assets, including all human resources.

 She retired in 2018 and continues her community work as Chair of the Board of the Educational Leadership Institute, Inc. (501c3).

 She holds an MA and BA in Accounting and Auditing from the Universidad de Chile.  She maintains her CPA through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  She has completed the Advanced Management Program at Duke University.

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Betsy Rodriguez, Director of Finance for a nonprofit organization in Miami since October 2021. She previously worked at the VE Restaurant Group as Restaurant Controller for a chain of restaurants overseeing the accounting and finance department for over 20 locations; she also implemented processes & procedures and increased the business growth.  She earned an International Business degree from Florida International University; later, she returned for a second bachelor's degree in Accounting from Kaiser University and a master’s degree in accounting from Nova Southeastern University.  

Betsy has worked in the accounting field for over 16 years with several not-for-profit organizations and for-profit companies, holding titles from Accounts Payable Clerk to Director of Financing.  She has been lucky to have worked with great companies in her career that share her love for what she does and her passion for organization and success.

Associate Professor and Director of Early Childhood Programs 

Florida International University

Dr. Bleiker has over thirty-five years of experience teaching in early childhood education.  He began his career as a preschool teacher working with low-income families in Heyward California while pursuing a master’s degree a Cal State East Bay.  He continued his education at Stanford University where he received his doctorate in Child Development.  Following graduation, he accepted a position at the University of New Mexico where he taught for seven years.  In 2001 he was hired to be the program director of Early Childhood Education at Florida International University where he still teachers.  Dr. Bleiker is an expert in the area of school readiness.  He is the co-founder of the landmark Miami School Readiness Project that continues to shed light on what factors predict school success in low-income preschool children.  He is also the creator of NumberWays Pre-K, an early math readiness program. 

Ken holds a B.S degree in Finance and Economics from Fairleigh Dickinson University. For the past 20 years he has dedicated himself to serving the community through his volunteer work with multiple non-profit organizations. 

He has most recently served as a senior consultant for the Executive Service Corp of Florida. A wonderful organization that provides greatly discounted consulting services to Florida nonprofits. Ken has also provided his services to TRAC-Citysquare an organization that provides “one stop” housing and nutrition assessment/intake and referrals to homeless youth within the greater Dallas, TX area.

His commitment to the local community goes on with his service to M25 of Miami Beach, Inc., a 100% donor funded organization with no administrative costs, where he served as president of the organization for 15 years. Working diligently to address the diverse needs of the disadvantaged in Miami Beach he oversaw core services such a grocery assistance, basic wound care and diabetic complications, nutrition education and a program that served 400-500 lunches per week. Partnerships were developed with the Veteran’s Administration and City of Miami Beach Homeless Outreach teams.

He shared his skills and knowledge to the Miami Beach Service Partnership first as a member and then serving as a board member and ultimately as board chair. This partnership, funded by The Children’s Trust, provides services to at risk children and their families in Miami Beach. Core funded services included tutoring, individual & family counseling, case management and youth employment. Gaps in needed services existed. Under his leadership they contracted referral services for disability advocacy, mental health, substance abuse, autism support and domestic violence. 

Some of the other organizations he’s provided his time to include the Miami Beach Community Church, Save Political Endorsement Panel, Head Start of Miami-Dade County, Family Court Services, Jewish Community Services, City of Miami Beach - Disability Access Committee, Big Brother/Sister of Miami and Guardian Ad Litem.

His professional career includes SVP of small business solutions with Chase Merchant Services. VP of New Market Development with Visa USA. VP/business manager at NaBANCO the largest merchant credit card processor. The parent company also owned Western Union and TeleCheck.

Pau has been passionate about health and wellness since her

teenage years, and she strongly believes in the healing power

of a plant-based diet, meditation, yoga, and mindfulness as the

key to healthy living.

She got certified as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

(INHC) by the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) of New

York, where she studied and was trained by leaders and

researchers of the health and nutrition world, such as Deepak

Chopra, Joel Fuhrman, Andrew Weil, and Joshua Rosenthal.

After studying more than 100 dietary theories, different

practical techniques to have a healthy life, innovative coaching

techniques, and her deep knowledge of Yoga, Meditation, and

mindfulness practices, she founded Pau’s Secrets with the

purpose of helping people get healthier and happier.

She holds a degree in Food Science, Food Safety, and Quality

Control awarded by “Universidad Tecnológica Nacional” (UTN)

from Argentina.

Paula is 500 E-RYT Yoga Alliance certified in Power Yoga®,

Prana Vinyasa Flow® Yoga, Yoga Trance Dance®, and YACEP.

In 2019 she published her first book “The Secret Ingredient”

with healthy recipes and lifestyle tips.

She is originally from Argentina, but it has been residing in The

United States for over 17 years, where she lives with her

husband and her two children.

Preston Gilmore is a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for driving impactful change and fostering growth within communities. With a background in campaign management and performance marketing, Preston brings a wealth of expertise in strategic planning, innovative execution, and effective communication.

In his role as a Campaign Marketing Manager at Walmart Connect, Preston demonstrated his ability to envision, plan, and execute innovative campaigns that reached and influenced millions of customers across digital channels. He leveraged his skills in programmatic display, SEM, email marketing, CTV, and event marketing to deliver engaging and relevant messages that drove awareness, conversions, and loyalty for Walmart Connect’s partners.

Prior to his experience at Walmart Connect, Preston served as a Marketing Lead at DISH Network, where he developed and executed full-funnel marketing strategies to acquire customers, launch new products, and strengthen DISH Network's wireless ambitions. His role involved optimizing marketing campaigns across various digital channels, conducting A/B testing, and providing strategic direction based on insights and performance metrics.

Preston's commitment to excellence and dedication to community service align closely with the values of the Educational Leadership Institute. As a Board Member he is excited to leverage his skills and experience to strengthen, support, and empower young children, their families, and educators. Through collaborative efforts and strategic initiatives, Preston aims to inspire positive change and foster lifelong impactful growth within the South Florida community.

Preston holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Economics from North Dakota State University and has accrued extensive experience in paid media advertising, lead generation, campaign management, and social media marketing. With a strong foundation in marketing strategy and a deep commitment to service, Preston is poised to make a meaningful contribution to the mission and vision of the Educational Leadership Institute, Inc.