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Our Board & Staff

We Take Pride in Making a Difference!

Board of Directors

Debra Frenkel

  • Founder/Executive Director

Through Freedom Waters Foundation, Debra builds bridges in much of what she believes in: sharing one’s passion; building a greater sense of community by building relationships beyond tolerance and understanding through shared experience; and offering opportunity and new ways of being to those who might not otherwise be exposed to full potential possibilities. Debra was…

John Weller

A highly successful yacht broker, John has been awarded the Richard Bertram Yachts top broker award 26 times. His strong experience, excellent communication skills and focus on listening to what his clients are looking for in a yacht have contributed to his success. One of the strongest accomplishments include the construction of the 240′ (73m)…

MikeC

Mike Clover

  • President
  • President, Lacks Enterprises

Mike is a graduate of Grand Valley State University.  He has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1992. He has been an entrepreneur as well as the CEO and CFO of various companies in his career.  After being with Lacks Enterprises for 14 years, he was invited to become President of the company in 2021.…

Paul Stephan

Paul Stephan

  • Treasurer
  • Certified Public Accountant, Retired

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant who retired from the Naples Daily News as the Vice President of Finance. Paul has been married to his lovely wife, Francie for over forty-five years. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. His oldest grandson has been involved with the Freedom Waters Foundation’s Weller Day Boat outings and…

Keith Perfect

Northrop & Johnson Director of Technology & Intelligence, Keith has a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from Broward College. He is extremely passionate and dedicated to his field of study. Keith also boasts an extensive understanding of the yachting industry. In 2007, he joined a local company where he worked on a myriad…

Dawn

Dawn Diehl

  • Board Director
  • Event Director, Winterfest Inc.

Dawn is happily married to George and has three sons. A Broward County Native, Dawn’s love for Winterfest developed when she watched the parade as a child and continued that tradition into adulthood. Dawn proudly celebrates her 29th parade in 2022. She is committed to creating quality, high profile events for the community that brings…

Jeffrey W. Cox, Esq.

After a few years working at a highly respected law firm, Jeff founded the law firm now known as Cox & Company Maritime and Aviation Law. Cox & Company, for over a decade, has distinguished itself from other firms by focusing solely on maritime and aviation law, as it pertains to yacht and private airplane…

Doug Traina

  • Board Director
  • Founder, T.E.I. Industries

Doug was fortunate to be able to incorporate his love of boating when he founded T.E.I. Industries April 1981 with the purchase of a small marina outside of Atlanta, GA. From this start, he has grown T.E.I. Industries into a vertically integrated enterprise encompassing nine divisions: Marinas, Boat Sales, Boat Service, Marine Retail, Boat Rentals,…

Ed

Edward C. Dernulc

  • Board Director
  • Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs

Ed Dernulc joined Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs in March of 2018 as the Director of the Foundation. Prior to joining NBT, Ed has had a 22-year career in banking in the wealth management area for Chicagoland banks such as Northern Trust, LaSalle Bank, Harris Bank and Amcore. In 2007, he went into the fund-raising arena,…

Scott Ward

  • Board Director
  • Vice President and General Manager of Freedom Boat Club Corporate-Owned Territory

Scott Ward oversees more than 100 corporate-owned locations. He leads sales, operations, fleet, and member experience for the Club. Scott has spent his entire career in the marine industry. Prior to joining Freedom Boat Club in March of 2020, Scott has spent the last 15 years working within the Brunswick Corporation; most recently as the…

Dr. Thomas Dammrich

  • Board Director & Retired from NMMA

Dammrich served as President of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) for over 20 years and as President of IPC—Institute Connecting Electronic Circuits for nine years. When Thomas Dammrich became president of the NMMA in 1999, he knew he had to get the industry working together and focused on things everyone could agree to work…

Frank Corvino

  • Board Director
  • President and Chief Executive Officer of Greenwich Hospital

Frank A. Corvino is president of Corvino & Corvino, a Naples, FL based management consulting company specializing in all aspects of leadership and strategic consulting as well as personal coaching. Corvino founded this company in 2015, following 23 years as the president and chief executive officer of Greenwich Hospital. He joined the Hospital in 1988 as…

Honorary Board

Andrew Cilla

In 1972, Andrew graduated from college with a degree in Economics and Business Administration. He began his career in marketing for a boat manufacturing company. In 1976, he joined Luke Brown Yachts. A year later the owner of Luke Brown Yachts advised his brokers that he was closing the doors, due to a lack of…

Marjorie Sherman

  • Honorary Board Member

Loving and supportive friend of Debra Frenkel, Freedom Waters Founder since 2000 and has been a dedicated supporter of Freedom Waters Foundation since its inception.

Jim Sacks

Jim has an entrepreneurial drive that energizes his activities with each new venture. In the 1970s and 80s his intense international salesmanship skills were a factor in propelling Sacks Industries to the top tier of textile manufacturing supply. A shift to South Florida in the early 1980s focused his family’s attention on the pleasures of…

Ronald McTighe

As a youngster, Ron ran everything from a 9’ Johnboat to a 90’ yacht. He ran a thriving live-bait business during his high school years which had him catching bait in the wee hours to sell to local fishermen, and often spending his days aboard those very fishing vessels helping guests catch fish using that…

Staff

Debra Frenkel

  • Founder/Executive Director

Through Freedom Waters Foundation, Debra builds bridges in much of what she believes in: sharing one’s passion; building a greater sense of community by building relationships beyond tolerance and understanding through shared experience; and offering opportunity and new ways of being to those who might not otherwise be exposed to full potential possibilities. Debra was…

Robin Meagher

  • Director of Program and Development

Most recently, she hails from The Triton yachting magazine for professional yacht captains and crew in charge of Operations as well as Sales and Marketing. A 23-year resident of Florida, Robin ran her own consulting business for marketing, communications and event management, and served as Assistant Executive Director and Communications Director for the Builders Association…

Mary Conejo

  • Bookkeeper/HR Coordinator

Mary Conejo is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and has lived in Naples since 1986. She has a finance degree from Florida State University and will have her MBA from St. Thomas University in Miami Florida, by June of 2024. Mary has a heart for service and has spent the bulk of her career in non-profit.…

Marissa Stoneking

  • Administrative Assistant

Marissa is from Panama City, Panama. She met her husband who was in the military while they both worked at the US South Command in Panama City. While in Panama she worked for US Army Service Component Command, Deputy chief of staff resources management, Manpower Division as an Administrative Assistant. Marissa and her husband moved…

Sophia Amvrosiatos

Sophia Amvrosiatos

  • Program Director

Sophia demonstrates a profound passion for her pursuits, exemplified by her dedicated volunteer work at the Freedom Waters Foundation during ger undergraduate studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. Sophia has a BA in Communication with a concentration in public relations and a double minor in marketing and interdisciplinary studies. She is originally from Warwick, New…