Our Board, Staff & Partners
FCA Chairman Michael Spring
Michael Spring serves as director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, where he is responsible for supervision of a public arts agency with an annual budget of more than $40 million and a staff of 100. He represents the Department on numerous cultural and civic organizations including service as chairman of the board of the Florida Cultural Alliance, secretary of the board of directors of Americans for the Arts, a founding board member and officer of Americans for the Arts Action Fund, member and past President of the United States Urban Arts Federation, , chairman of the 5-county regional arts alliance, the South Florida Cultural Consortium, and director of the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council. In 2014, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez expanded his responsibilities by appointing him to serve as a Senior Advisor for the County’s Cultural Affairs and Recreation portfolio, including oversight of the arts, parks and library departments.
In 2004, he helped lead the work to pass a referendum for the Building Better Communities bond program, dedicating more than $450 million for building the next generation of Miami-Dade’s cultural facilities, ranging from major new art and science museums to theaters and neighborhood arts centers. In 2007, he assumed the additional responsibility of leading Miami-Dade County’s outstanding Art in Public Places program, commissioning new work and caring for a collection of more than seven-hundred art works. In 2011, the Department of Cultural Affairs opened the new Arquitectonica-designed, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay, a campus that includes a 966-seat theater, an activities and classroom building, and outdoor concert lawn.
In conjunction with a major reorganization of Miami-Dade County government, the Department also assumed responsibility in 2011 for operating three cultural facilities, formerly managed by the Parks Department: Miami-Dade County Auditorium; Caleb Auditorium; and African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. Operating and programming cultural facilities constitutes a major expansion of the Department’s role in the community.
Over the more than thirty years he has served the Department of Cultural Affairs, Michael Spring has helped build Miami-Dade County’s cultural community into a more than a $1.4 billion annual industry comprised of more than 1,000 non-profit cultural groups and thousands of artists. He has a B.A. degree from the University of Miami and earned an M.A. in painting from New York University, involving studies in Venice, Italy. He continues to paint and develop his interests as a visual artist.
FCA Board Member Jennifer Coolidge
Jennifer McInnes Coolidge has a track record of dedication, service and passion for the arts. Coolidge serves now as an independent consultant after serving for a number of years as Interim Senior Director of Advancement for the University of Florida College of the Arts. Coolidge led the college’s advancement initiatives, including cultivating support for the School of Art + Art History, School of Music, School of Theatre + Dance, Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for World Arts, Center for Arts in Public Policy, and UF Digital Worlds Institute. She began her tenure in 2012.
During her over 30 years of experience as an arts administrator, Coolidge has served as the Executive Director for the Museum of Florida Art in DeLand (2001-2011) and for the Florida Alliance for Art Education, FAAE (1995-2001); Education Coordinator for the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and The Arts Council in Winston Salem, NC, and others. She has served as a strategic planning consultant for a number of organizations including the Center for Human Rights and Civil Liberties at the University of Southern Mississippi; Matthew 25:40 in Charlotte, NC; Rochester Center for Contemporary Art, Rochester, NY; Asheville Arts Council, Asheville, NC and others in Florida. She holds a BA with a concentration in painting from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC and a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from H. Heinz II School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon.
She has served on the Board of Directors for the Florida House in Washington, DC; The Florida Alliance for Arts Education; a member of the Florida Chamber Foundation Strategic Visioning Caucus and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Florida Cultural Alliance. Coolidge has received numerous awards for her leadership in the arts, and completed a fellowship with the Denali Initiative on Social Enterprise in 2000 through the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. In 2002, Coolidge was recognized with a Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Music Educators Association and as a Florida Ambassador of the Arts by then-First Lady of Florida, Columba Bush in 2005.
Coolidge graduated with a BA with a concentration in painting from Guildford College in Greensboro, NC.
FCA Vice Chairman Earl Bosworth
Earl serves as Assistant City Manager for the City of Pompano Beach, Florida. Before taking his current job, he served as director of the Broward Cultural Division where was responsible for administering and directing this local arts agency with an annual $4 million operating budget and capital appropriations for public art. The Division’s primary functions are to develop and strengthen arts and cultural organizations and individual artists through its grants or incentive programs; community development and marketing initiatives; arts education and advocacy efforts; public art administration; and cultural planning for a County that consists of more than 1.8 million residents, 31 cities, 575 not-for-profit cultural organizations, 10,000 artists and 7,773 arts-related businesses.
Earl has more than 23 years management experience in the public and private sectors with the last 10 years devoted to arts administration. Prior to being appointed as director of Broward Cultural Division, he served as the Division’s assistant director for almost seven years. While at the Division, he was responsible for policy and budget development, strategic planning and division-business operations.
He also served as President of ArtServe, Inc., one of the six original arts incubators in the United States. During his tenure at ArtServe, he developed several new strategic partnerships with other nonprofits and the corporate world to assist ArtServe in carrying out its important mission for local emerging artists.
Earl held other posts with Broward County including regulatory operations manager for Consumer Affairs and interim director for Animal Care and Regulation Division. Before joining the County in 2000, he served as assistant administrator for the Wynmoor Community Council, Inc., where he was responsible for assisting in the management of a $23-million operating budget and a staff of 180 employees. He also spent four years with the State of Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Earl has a bachelor’s degree in business from Florida State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University. He currently serves as a board member of the Florida Cultural Alliance and has held several board positions on the local and federal levels including the U.S. Selective Service System, the State of Florida’s Community Association Advisory Board, the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Community Services Board and volunteer positions with Youth Leadership Broward and the United Way. He is also a professional musician and a published songwriter with material in catalogs at various publishing houses in the U.S. and Europe.
FCA Board Member John Copeland
John Copeland joined the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau in 2018 as the Director, Cultural Tourism. John leads these efforts through strategic development and implementation of cultural tourism programs that will expand global awareness of Miami’s art & culture assets. The primary focus is to help drive incremental attendance at local arts and culture institutions, events and attractions. John leverages his extensive marketing, partnership development and education background to further the goals of the GMCVB.
Most recently, John led the Corporate Giving efforts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County building partnerships with a diverse group of corporate partners from throughout South Florida. John joined the Center in November 2011 as Director of Marketing, responsible for overseeing the marketing campaigns of the jazz and classical music series.
From 2006-2011, John served as a member of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs staff where he worked to facilitate significant grants and technical assistance to organizations with a history of distinguished artistic programming. John also worked for the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts on the National Arts Marketing Project and the facilitation of the NAMP Nonprofit Marketing Training program. John served as the Executive Director of the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County, programming a variety of concerts, outreach programs and summer camps. Prior to that, he was a member of the education staff at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.
John has also worked in public education as Director of Bands at Fort Valley Middle School in Ft. Valley, GA. He is a graduate of Georgia College & State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education where his primary instrument was the trombone.
With a strong personal interest in serving the arts education and the community, John volunteers as a Board Member for the Miami Music Project and the Arts & Business Council of Miami.
FCA Lead Legislative Advisor Along With Capital City Consulting
A veteran of more than 30 years in Florida government, Anthony P. Carvalho is known today as one of the few true experts on Florida’s government budgeting process. As Florida’s healthcare and budgeting “guru,” Mr. Carvalho is one of the state’s most sought after consultants by individuals and organizations in need of expert guidance on healthcare systems, tax issues and budgeting strategies. Mr. Carvalho most recently served as President of The Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida (SNHAF), an organization of Florida’s six statutory teaching hospitals, five public hospitals, one regional perinatal intensive care center, and two specialty licensed children’s hospitals. Under Carvalho’s direction, Alliance advocacy efforts focused primarily on government sponsored programs for the uninsured and state health policy impacting access to private health insurance.
Mr. Carvalho’s professional endeavors reflect his expertise, influence and diversity. In 1998, following the election of Jeb Bush as Governor of the State of Florida, Carvalho took a temporary leave of absence from the Florida Hospital Association to serve as Governor Bush’s first State Budget and Planning Director. Additionally, Mr. Carvalho co-founded Capitol Hill Group (CHG), a Tallahassee-based governmental relations management firm specializing in the management of substantive law and state budget issues in the legislative and executive branches.
Mr. Carvalho’s professional experience includes his service as Senior Vice-President of the Florida Hospital Association for twenty-eight years, where he developed and directed the state governmental affairs program for 230 hospitals in the State of Florida. In 2007, Mr. Carvalho served as chair of the Florida Disproportionate Share Task Force at the request of the Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Mr. Carvalho’s tenure as a public servant includes twelve years with the Florida Legislative Appropriations Committees in both the House and Senate, where he served as Staff Director of the House Appropriations Committee for three different administrations.
Mr. Carvalho is a 1974 cum laude graduate of The University of South Florida with a B.A. degree in finance and economics. Mr. Carvalho graduated The Florida State University with a Masters of business administration in 1976. He is a native of Fall River, Massachusetts, married to Sherry Strickland with whom he has two lovely children Dean Antone and Anna Elizabeth.
FCA Secretary/Treasurer Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards has been actively involved in Miami arts, health and political communities for over 30 years, and is a full-time volunteer, operating his own charitable foundation with husband Mark Steinberg, and participating in numerous community organizations. He was a founder and was President of Maximum Dance Company from 1997 – 2004. He was a member of the New World School of the Arts Foundation Board from 2006 – 2015 and was Chair 2008 – 2013. Currently, Dennis also serves as the Vice-President/Treasurer of Thomas Armour Youth Ballet.
He was a founding Board member of South Florida Dance For Life, and he is a former Board Member of Deering Hospital’s Ethics Advisory Board, Area Stage Company and Health Crisis Network. He was part of the Speakers Bureau for Project YES and chaired the AIDS Education Speakers Bureau for Health Crisis Network for six years. He also chaired the membership drive for Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE-Dade) for three years. Mr. Edwards was also the Marketing Manager for Miami City Ballet for two seasons and the former Director of Development with Health Crisis Network where he initiated the first AIDS Walk Miami event in 1987.
He has served on numerous local and state panels, including the Dance Discipline panel for the State of Florida and Capital Grants, Youth Arts Miami and Youth Enrichment panels for Miami-Dade County’s Department of Cultural Affairs. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the “Champions of Equality Hall of Fame” from SAVE-Dade, “Arts Advocate of the Year” from the Arts and Business Council, “Champion of the Arts” from Citizens Interested in Arts the “Leave a Legacy Award” from the Planned Giving Council, and the Dade Human Rights Foundation for community service. He was a finalist in 2014 for the “Non-Profit Board Leadership Award” from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce for his work at New World School of the Arts.
BA in Business from Michigan State University Honors College, with an emphasis in marketing, economics and philosophy.
FCA Board Member Joe Saunders
As Equality Florida’s Senior Political Director, Joe is charged with leading Equality Florida’s civic engagement, mobilization, field, electoral and candidate programs.
For nearly ten years Joe served as Equality Florida’s Field Director, representing the organization in major campaigns including municipal non-discrimination efforts, the statewide campaign against Florida’s anti-marriage constitutional amendment and the successful effort to protect Gainesville’s human rights ordinance from repeal at the ballot. In 2012, Joe ran for and won an east Orlando seat in the Florida House of Representatives becoming one of the first openly gay Floridians elected to the legislature. As a state representative Joe served as the lead sponsor of the “Competitive Workforce Act”, legislation that would finally ban discrimination against LGBTQ Floridians.
Following his tenure in the Florida House, Saunders joined the staff of the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. In this role he held leadership positions in LGBTQ campaigns across the Southern U.S. In 2016, Joe helped lead Turn Out North Carolina the successful effort in North Carolina to defeat anti-LGBTQ incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory – a champion of the notoriously anti-LGBTQ HB 2. In 2017, Joe worked across the pond as the Director of GOTV Programs for former United Kingdom Minister of Justice and openly LGBT candidate for U.K. Parliament, Simon Hughes.
A nationally recognized progressive leader and strategist, Joe has been recognized by Out Magazine as part of the 2016 “Out 100” and is a regular commentator in national and state press outlets.
President & CEO, Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones has served as an advocate, administrator, and programmer in the arts and culture industry for 20 years. As executive director of Bay Arts Alliance, she led the organization in the management and programming of a 2,500-seat performing arts center as well as a visual arts facility with multiple exhibit and educational spaces. With audiences reaching approximately 100,000 annually, she was instrumental in the coalescence of Bay County, Florida’s cultural constituency.
She also was instrumental in the formation of the Ukulele Orchestra of St Andrew and the Orchestra of St Andrew Bay, now the Panama City POPS and has served on the boards of Gulf Jazz Society, Global Arts Society, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s Bay Regional Juvenile Detention Center and the Florida Alliance for Arts Educators.
Jennifer participated in the creation, production, and continuation of several arts, culture, and entertainment events. These events include the first annual Strummin’ Man Ukulele Festival 2017; Backstage Pass Concert Series (ongoing since 2007); Bay Arts Alliance Presenting Arts Series (ongoing since 1982); and The Directors Film Series featuring and hosting Latino film professionals, SEC Fest, Hangout Fest, and Angel Ride (South Alabama).
In 2015, she served as a co-author and committee member for Panama City’s Tourism Bed Tax and advocated for successful passage of the referendum that same year.
She leads music, STEAM, advocacy and professional development sessions in her community with arts, youth, and senior-adult service organizations. As a lifelong singer, she has taken opportunities to perform in her home churches, several FSU ensembles, The Houston Symphony Chorus, Birdland in New York and produced her own cabaret concerts and recording. Currently, Jennifer performs with the Ukulele Orchestra of St Andrew and a smaller ukulele show band and is honored to perform the National Anthem at the North Florida Magistrate’s Naturalization Ceremonies since 2017.
She is a graduate of Florida State University’s School of Music and alumni of the Disney Institute and Universität Lüneburg, Goethe Institute Arts Management and Leadership Programs, and the very proud mother of Maggie Jones, theatre tech major and former Disney-cast member.
She has a deep conviction that the arts and culture are a path to vitality and well-being for every individual and the state of Florida.