Governor makes series of South Florida board appointments

Gov. DeSantis decries draconian orders.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is announcing a series of selections to various boards in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Late Friday, the Governor reappointed Matthew Caldwell to a four-year term on the Broward College District Board of Trustees.

Caldwell is the President and CEO of the Florida Panthers Hockey Club. He previously worked as the vice president of the investment management division at Goldman Sachs from 2010 until 2014.

Caldwell is an Army veteran and earned his Bachelor’s degree from West Point. He went on to receive a Master’s degree in business management and a J.D. from Northwestern University.

DeSantis also appointed Zachariah “Reggie” Zachariah, Jr. to a four-year term on that same body. Zachariah clerked with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida from 2009 until 2011. He is now a shareholder in the law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

Zachariah earned his Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the University of Florida (UF).

The Governor also made a pair of selections to the Florida International University (FIU) Board of Trustees.

Leonard Boord was reappointed to that body for a five-year term. Boord is the founder of the investment firm Slon Capital and is the managing director of Lydians Capital. He’s also the co-founder of Intotheblock, a crypto asset company.

DeSantis also appointed Gene Prescott to the FIU Board of Trustees. Prescott is the owner, president and CEO of Seaway Hotel Group. He’s served on the FIU Foundation board since 2001.

Finally, DeSantis named another three appointees to the Board of Commissioners of the South Broward Hospital District.

Doug Harrison will be reappointed to the Board for a four-year term. Harrison is a senior assistant city attorney with the City of Miami. He received his Bachelor’s degree in political science and his J.D. from UF.

New appointees include Brad Friedman and Dr. Luis Orta.

Friedman is the president and owner of Artisan Foods Catering and a member of the James Beard Foundation. Orta, meanwhile, is a school psychologist with Miami-Dade County Schools. He is also an adjunct professor at Carlos Albizu University’s Miami campus and for St. John Vianney College Seminary.

Both Friedman and Orta will serve four-year terms.