ACLU of Florida Board of Directors
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President
Michael E. Pheneger, Colonel, US Army (Ret.), is the President of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. He previously served the organization as Secretary, Treasurer, and National Board Representative. On the National Board, he served for four years on the ACLU's National Executive Committee and the Budget and Audit Committee. He frequently serves as a spokesperson on Civil Liberties issues - particularly those involving the nexus between Civil Liberties and National Security. He spoke widely on the USA Patriot Act, torture, Guantanamo, and warrantless wiretapping. He has submitted declarations in federal court proceedings supporting ACLU requests under the Freedom of Information Act and served as an expert witness in the Greater Tampa Chapter's "pat-down search" case to enjoin pad-down searches as a condition of attending NFL football games.
Colonel Pheneger spent 30 years on active duty as a US Army Intelligence Officer retiring in 1993. He had overseas assignments in Germany, Vietnam, Korea, Panama, and the Middle East. His key assignments include: Commander, US Army Intelligence School (Fort Devens - then a part of the National Security Agency's Training System); Director of Intelligence, US Special Operations Command (MacDill AFB); Deputy Director of Intelligence, US Central Command (MacDill AFB); Commander, 470th MI Group (Panama); G2, Second Infantry Division (Korea), and Director of Operations, 66th MI Brigade (Germany). He holds an M.P.A. from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, a B.S from Bowling Green State University, and is a graduate of both the Command & Staff Course, US Naval War College, and the US Army War College. After military retirement he developed training programs for adult professionals for the University of South Florida's Professional and Workforce Development Division. He teaches courses on the Bill of Rights, The Constitution, Terrorism and Geo-Politics for learning-in-retirement programs in Tampa and Sarasota.
Vice President
Bill Schoolman holds a B.S. in Management and a Juris Doctor Degree. He has served in a number of senior management positions at both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. His last position before retiring was as the president of the American Pet Products Association (APPA) in Greenwich, Ct. APPA is the national trade association for the pet product industry with members from the US and international business community. Schoolman previously worked at the Professional Examination Service (PES) as the Executive Vice President and the American Institute of CPA's. Schoolman currently serves as the vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and has served as president of the ACLU of Florida's Broward Chapter.
National Board Representative
Lorie Fridell was elected to the Board and to the position of Secretary in February 2006. Dr. Fridell is a criminology professor at University of South Florida in Tampa. Her major research area is law enforcement; she is a national expert on both police use of force and racially biased policing. In the late 1980s and early 1990s she was the volunteer chair of the ACLU's Tallahassee Chapter, and also served as the state board secretary during those years. She then moved to Washington, D.C. for six years, returning to Florida in 2005. She has provided valuable advice to the board regarding the issue of non-lethal weapons such as Tasers.
Secretary
Sandy Hoover came to Florida from Louisville, Kentucky where she taught for 27 years in the Jefferson County Public School System before retiring in 2003. She was very active in the Jefferson County Teacher's Association and served as an officer for many years. She also received several local, state and national teaching awards. During her tenure, four of her government classes represented the state of Kentucky at the "We The People" competition in Washington, D.C. Sandy was active with the ACLU of Kentucky and served as Chair of the ACLU Board of Directors of Kentucky from 2001 to 2004. Since moving to Florida Sandy has been an active member in the Pinellas ACLU Chapter. She also coordinates an after school elementary tutoring program.
Chair of the Development Committee
Marcia Hayden serves as the Chair of the ACLU of Florida Board of Directors' Development Committee, working closely with the development staff to advance the fund-raising goals of the organization. Hayden is a graduate of National Louis University with a degree in Educational Therapy and is currently an Educational Consultant for Houghton Mifflin. Since 1986, she has served as Editorial Assistant with Scott, Foresman and Company; Managing Editor of Ebony Jr! magazine; Senior Editor of Reading with D.C. Heath and Company; Executive Editor of Reading at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; Vice President of English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education at Scott Foresman and Company; and Vice President of Operations with Vaughn Marketing Group.
Her past and present civic involvement includes: Chicago UNICEF, Detroit Urban League, Detroit Urban League Guild, Wellington Shores Homeowners Association, Wellington High School Advisory Council, Village of Wellington Education Committee, Urban League of Palm Beach County, Urban League of Palm Beach County Guild, Artists Showcase of the Palm Beaches, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Palm Beach Chapter, ACLU-Palm Beach and ACLU-Florida. Marcia Hayden has lectured at colleges, high schools, and elementary schools throughout the United States. In addition, she has been a panel member at many conferences: International Reading Assoc., National Black Child Developments Institute, Chicago Association of Black Journalists, EVERYCHILD, EDPRESS, TESOL, Children Reading Roundtable, and the DuSable Museum.
Chair of the Legal Panel
Mike Masinter has been a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University since 1978, specializing in civil rights law, employment discrimination law, and related subjects. The Legal Panel consists of a dedicated group of volunteer attorneys who review, and approve, all requests for legal action by the ACLU of Florida.
Affiliate Affirmative Action Officer
John De Leon is the managing partner of the Miami office of Chavez and De Leon, P.A. and has acted as lead counsel on cases involving sophisticated legal issues resulting in multi-million dollar awards. He obtained his Juris Doctor in 1986 from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. Mr. De Leon also holds a Masters of International Affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, New York, New York (1992) and an A.B. from the University of Miami, Coral Gables Florida (1983).
Immediate Past President
Jeanne Baker is an attorney in private practice in Miami, specializing in criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels. She was elected to a 3rd consecutive term as president in February 2006, having served as a board member since the early 1990s. Prior, she served on the ACLU Boards of MA and VT. During her FL tenure, Jeanne has served for 6 years as FL's representative to the National Board. Jeanne has assisted on numerous ACLU cases since joining the organization in the mid-1970s. She has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors for the ACLU of FL, including a special gift to launch the organization's Religious Freedom Project.
ACLU of Florida Board of Directors
(Alphabetical - Updated July 2010)
- Hannah Ackerman
- Ray Arsenault
- Jeanne Baker
- Michael Barfield
- Ahmed Bedier
- LisaAnn Benham
- Michael Berman
- Nancy Blackburn
- Bill Boettcher
- Jeff Borg
- Dale Boswell
- Shirley Boughton
- Lisa Bruno
- Henry Comiter
- Christopher Curtis
- John De Leon
- Barbara Engle
- Lorie Fridell
- Lynnette Garcia
- George Griffin
- Samir Gupte
- Marcia Hayden
- Turia Hayden
- Sandy Hoover
- Geoff Kashdan
- Brad Koogler
- Jeanette Madea
- Mike Masinter
- Andrea Flynn Mogensen
- Jennifer Parrado
- Mike Pheneger
- Gerard "Jerry" Rifenburg
- Les Rivkin
- Maria Rodriguez
- Ethel Rowland
- Sonya Rudenstine
- Carlene Sawyer
- Mark Schneider
- Bill Schoolman
- Pamella Settlegoode
- Kim Slote
- Holly Stewart
- Jeanne Tanke
- Pete Tannen
- Khatanga von Heitman
- Rosemary Wilder
- Doug Wilson
