THE LATEST DISTRICT NEWS

As my first post as Board President, I want to tell you about my journey with the organization. My hope with this story is to show you the beautiful surprises I was blessed with by serving. Serving has given me more than I could ever imagine.

The Board of Directors is pleased to introduce Amilcar “Amil” Córdova as the new Executive Director of the Gateway Orlando District. Mr. Córdova is the Owner and Founder of Córdova Marketing Solutions, which provides consulting, marketing, and advertising services. He served as the Executive Director and was previously elected as the President of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida. His experience also includes advertising with El Nuevo Día, the largest newspaper of Puerto Rico, and co-founding and serving on the Board of Directors of Amigos Profesionales Business Network, an organization with the purpose to help connect Hispanic professionals and business owners to the general and Anglo markets of Central Florida. Mr. Córdova studied business at Florida Metropolitan University and University of Phoenix. Mr. Córdova also supports the community by volunteering and riding his bicycle for different charities, in particular Young Survival Coalition, an organization dedicated to providing essential services for breast cancer survivors under the age of 40. He is originally from “City of Giants” in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Mr. Córdova is married to Mily Colon. He has two sons and four grandchildren. Mr. Cordova started as the Executive Director on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Please join us in welcoming him to the Gateway Orlando District. He can be contacted at the Gateway Orlando District phone number at 407-534-7847 or Director@gatewayorlando.org . Thank you for your continued support of the Gateway Orlando District.

As we end March, I wanted to reflect on Women's History Month. I immediately think of my personal career field and industry. As the President of Gateway Orlando, many women have influenced our organization. Many of our members, possibly you, are leaders in our business community. Lastly, we cannot forget our female customers or clients. Esther Lloyd Jones is one of the trailblazers of my career field of Student Affairs. She was the first person to receive her master's degree in Student Personnel Administration, the field which eventually became Student Affairs that includes job functions such as Residence Life, Student Activities and Career Services. Student Affairs began with Placement Secretaries, who assumed administrative functions from faculty members. From its founding, Student Affairs has been a feminized profession. More women than men hold Student Affair positions. However, unfortunately it is also a less respected and paid field to its faculty member counterparts. Fewer women rise the ranks of Student Affairs to the Director or Vice President level. Also, there are fewer female college and university presidents than their male peers. If a woman is president of a college or university, she is less likely to be married or have children than a man is. I am proud of my current employer, Keiser University. In addition to the Student Services Department, women hold Financial Aid, Admissions, Faculty, Academic Dean and Campus President positions. Dr. Arthur Keiser founded Keiser University with his mother Evelyn Keiser. Belinda Keiser is the Vice Chancellor of Community Relations and Student Advancement. In addition to her Executive Leadership role with the university, Mrs. Keiser holds leadership positions with statewide workforce boards and chambers of commerce. I am glad that Keiser is not unique that more women are pursuing college degrees than men. It is great that women realize the importance of pursuing higher education. Although, I would say that women are more likely to attend Keiser University to pursue career fields to change the course of their lives and their families. When we think of women and Gateway Orlando, I think we all immediately think of Susan Wilcox. She was not only a trailblazer for women and Gateway Orlando, but she was also a general trendsetter for the organization. Susan established the Golf Tournament, Gala and Chalk Art Festival. She established the 501(c)3 Gateway Orlando Arts. One trait of Susan that I immediately think of is that she was not afraid to ask for help or advice. Maybe it is the perception of weakness or vulnerability that men do not ask for help or advice. Perhaps, men do not generally behave this way, but I know I have seen this in myself. However, we know men generally are less likely to ask for directions when they are lost. Even though we immediately think of Susan as a female leader of Gateway Orlando, she was not the first female president of Gateway Orlando. Nicole Goodman was the first President and Layla Eagle was the third President of then Semoran Business Partnership, which became Gateway Orlando. As the founding President, Nicole held a critical role. Layla stood up as President, when there was a gap and uncertainty for the organization. There are countless women, who I can recognize as having a contribution to the Gateway Orlando District. In addition to our Presidents, two of our five Executive Directors were women, including Mayra Rubero and Lourdes Mola. From Susan, Lourdes and our other women leaders, Gateway Orlando established Women Leading Women. Because women are statistically less likely to advance (e.g., the glass ceiling) and earn less money than their male counterparts, it is important to focus programming specific to our female leadership. Men and women simply have a different ways of working and networking. Women perform better in women exclusive networking or business groups. However, this is not a female exclusive group. Men are welcomed to join the group. I would prefer that whenever possible we obtain female speakers, so it is truly Women Leading Women (and men). Even though Gateway Orlando is one of the City of Orlando Main Street Programs, I am sure many of our members may not even know who Pauline Eaton is, but they should. Pauline manages all of the Main Street Programs for the City of Orlando. She provides training and mentorship to all of the Directors and Boards of Directors for every City of Orlando Main Street Program. Before Pauline worked with the City of Orlando, she was a Main Street Manager, business owner and elected official. Everything I know about the City of Orlando Main Street Program and Main Street America is due to Pauline. We have female trailblazers in all of our career fields. You know who the Esther Lloyd Jones is of our field. Perhaps you or someone you know had roadblocks because of your gender. Maybe you were inspired to start your own business because of the roadblocks that you faced becoming one of our many female entrepreneurs. I would like to recognize you for your accomplishments. Also, I would like to recognize your female employees for all of their hard work and accomplishments. Lastly, I would like to recognize our female customers or clients. No one in the corridor does this better in my opinion than Honest-1 Auto Care. Honest is in its name. Why? Because what do we all think about when we go to get our car serviced - the mechanic is going to take advantage of us. What about when our mothers, wives or daughters go to get their cars serviced? 66% of Honest-1 Auto Care's customers of women. In addition to providing them honest service, the appearance and service, including complimentary shuttles and children's play areas, focus on women. Like I shared, most of our students at Keiser University are female. How many of our businesses' primarily clientele are female? Who makes the consumer decisions in households? Who makes the major financial decisions in families? How are we focusing our businesses to serve a female clientele? Dennis Ferraro, President

The mural is part of an initiative to beautify one of the most traveled streets in the City of Orlando.

Our deepest condolences go out to Susan Wilcox’s family in this most difficult time. Susan Wilcox passed away on Monday, January 4th surrounded by family and friends. Susan was a dedicated community volunteer for over decade and served as the President of the Board for Gateway Orlando. We will miss her dearly and will keep her family in our prayers.

The past few months have been some of the most challenging times we have ever faced. No one could predict the impact a pandemic would have upon our organization, our city, our state and the entire world. The need to reinvent our everyday life was pushed to the very limits. All businesses and organizations were hit hard. But our smaller operations absolutely struggled to keep their heads above the water and simply survive. While our mission as an Orlando Main Street operation has not changed, we have become even more relevant in support of our 500 businesses helping them to navigate and understand vital information from our city and county officials. We have provided a channel to push out information that in some cases help our businesses reimagine their core operations and find PPP funding and PPE to stay afloat. These are not normal times. And we do know the future holds more opportunities to change direction and help companies find new ways to turn a profit. Brick & mortar has all but disappeared. Masks are the new haute couture and shopping online is the new past time. While some of our restaurants have pivoted to carry out, curbside delivery and apps like Door Dash, others have closed their doors forever. I am not sad to say goodbye to 2020. In spite of these dire obstacles, Gateway has continued to grow and thrive. From October of 2019 to October 2020, we added 14 New Members. November through December 2020 we added an additional 7. We are moving in the right direction. 2021 promises to be a record year, on many different fronts. Here are a few of the initiatives we have in place: Reinstating the Gateway Guardian Program with Arnaldo Leon as Chair. Gateway’s Women Who Lead , led by Bernadette Cipriani-Major and Co-Chair Alice Burgos, will present monthly workshops for our women’s empowerment series. Gateway’s Restaurant Academy – The brainchild of our new Director Lourdes Mola. We will present programs in concert with our larger corridor restaurants to help smaller operations not only survive but flourish, helping our area to become a place for dining, diversity and culture attracting tourists, residents and 436 travelers to experience the uniqueness of the Corridor. How to Work with Government - A Series presented to the Community by Commissioner Tony Ortiz Art – We will be adding our very first mural, with more transformational art and beautification projects planned. We will continue to enhance the Semoran Corridor and create spaces for our community to gather and enjoy. Spearheaded by Susan Wilcox Conversations on the Corridor and Coffee on the Corridor will continue. Interns to help with Social Media marketing are on the forefront. Grant writing and new member acquisition are part of our plan. Image and increased branding opportunities are being sought out to enhance our standing and create awareness of who we are and what we do. In closing, I will ask that you consider carving out a few hours a month to help us achieve our goals.  Watch the newsletter for specific projects that touch your heart. Be part of the transformation taking place in our very own community. If you happen to be a database person, a marketing guru or a plain old “people person “. I am calling on you to share your gifts. My wish for the New Year, is that you are blessed with happiness, joy and light and that this year will be safe and healthy for us all. With Love From, Susan Wilcox Board President Gateway Orlando chair@gatewayorlando.org

The Gateway Orlando District is pleased to announce its monthly meeting schedule. All are welcome to attend! Are you looking for new ways to get involved in your community? Reach out to director@gatewayorlando.org for more information. The meeting schedule is as follows: Board of Directors Meeting - 3rd Friday, 10 am Coffee on the Corridor - 2nd and 4th Tuesday, 8:30am Monthly Networking Social - 4th Thursday, 6pm Annual Membership Meeting - 3rd Tuesday in August Monthly meeting with Commissioner Tony Ortiz, Orlando District 2 In addition to these recurring meetings, we invite you to take a look at our events calendar here and on Facebook ! We have a video series entitled "Conversations on the Corridor" which is uploaded twice monthly in Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.