Leslie Pantin, Jr. Bio

In 2000, Leslie Pantín, Jr. became president of Pantín/Beber Silverstein/Public Relations, a strategic alliance between The Pantín Partnership, founded in 1988 by Pantín, and JGR + Associates, founded in 1983. This alliance, part of the Beber Silverstein Group, produced one of Florida’s largest Public Relations agencies, representing, among others, McDonald’s, American Airlines, and Merrill Lynch (www.pantin-beber.com). He is a member of the Counselors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America, consisting of just 1,000 professionals from around the world.

A native of Havana, Cuba, Pantín began his career with his family’s insurance agency. His unique introduction to the world of public relations and special events came in 1977, when he and a group of friends created Calle Ocho, the world’s largest block party (www.carnavalmiami.com). This event has evolved into the 10-day festival known as Carnaval Miami, organized by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana, one of Miami’s most active civic organizations. Pantín was the founding president and served for 25 years as a director of this organization.

In 1999 Pantín conceived CubaNostalgia, an annual expo of the Cuba of yesteryear. The annual weekend event attracts 30,000 people, as well as prestigious sponsors. In 2004, it was named the tenth hottest event in Florida by BizBashFla Magazine, and one of the Top 20 events in the Southeastern United States by the Southeast Tourism Society. In her coverage of the event, Pulitzer Prize winner Liz Balmaseda of the Miami Herald called Pantín, “Miami’s marketer extraordinaire.” (www.cubanostalgia.org)

Client Merrill Lynch wanted an event that would cater to the upscale market. In 2003, Pantín created Merrill Lynch arteaméricas, the first art fair to focus exclusively on art from Latin America. The annual fair attracts more than 50 of the most prominent galleries from around the world dealing with art from Latin America, and has become the premier fair of art from the Americas. (www.arteamericasmiami.com).

He was an organizer and is vice chairman of the board of Great Florida Bank which set a U.S. record by raising $60 million in start up capital. With $1 billion in assets, Great Florida Bank is the fastest-growing bank in the U.S. and the ninth largest based in Florida (www.greatfloridabank.com). He also serves on the advisory board of AvMed Health Plans. He has served on the board and the executive committee of Barnett Bank ? South Florida, then Florida’s largest bank, and on the advisory board of NationsBank Dade and Monroe. Pantín had almost two decades of experience in the insurance business before entering the public relations, marketing and special events field. He is an active member of Miami’s thriving business development community.

Pantín has served on the executive committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, where he is a past vice-chairman, and currently serves on the Board of Governors and is a director of the Latin Chamber of Commerce (CAMACOL). On a statewide level, Pantín served as an executive committee member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He is a past president of the Inter-American Business Association (AIHE), the oldest Hispanic business group in Miami.

Pantín has been active in a host of civic organizations, community affairs, and special events in the South Florida region. In 1997, he served as president of the Orange Bowl Committee, which hosted college football’s National Championship game, and is the founding chair of the Orange Bowl Foundation (www.orangebowl.org). He also is a past member of the Miami Business Forum (formerly the Non-Group), Miami’s preeminent civic/business association. In 1996, he co-chaired the City of Miami’s Centennial and actively campaigned for the Safe Neighborhood Parks Act, a $200 million bond program which won approval from voters. In the past, he has held leadership positions for events such as the Summit of the Americas (where President Clinton hosted 31 heads of state from Latin America), Super Bowl XXIII, the Miss Universe pageant, the 1987 Papal visit and The Breeders Cup.

In 2006, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Pantín to a five-year term to the Board of Trustees of Florida State University (FSU), its governing entity (www.fsu.edu). FSU is a comprehensive research university with 40,000 students and the newest medical school in the U.S. From 2002 to 2006, Pantín was chairman of the Board of Trustees of Barry University, a women-founded institution with more than 9,000 students attending its main campus in Miami Shores and law school in Orlando (www.barry.edu). In 1992, Governor Lawton Chiles appointed Pantín to the Board of Trustees of Miami-Dade Community College, the largest community college in the nation, where he served for two years. He is on the advisory board of Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and served on the board of directors of St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School.

A graduate of FSU’s business school and of St. Gregory’s College in Oklahoma, Pantín received the highest alumni honor from both institutions. He is a graduate of Miami’s Columbus High School.

Pantín was a member of the South Florida National Parks Trust, which supports the Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas National Parks; Trust for Public Land’s South Florida Advisory Council and of the Dade Heritage Trust’s Board of Advisors. In 1999 the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme appointed him to the Florida Judicial Management Council. Pantín was on the board of directors of the Collins Center for Public Policy.

A resident of Miami for more than 40 years, Pantín is committed to his community and its unique diversity. He continuously pursues and develops programs through his business and affiliations which benefit South Florida’s various communities. He is an advisor and honorary board member of the Black Executive Forum. In 1995, he served on an ad-hoc committee, which helped Cuban rafters settle as productive workers in the United States. Later that year, he led the effort to bring Super Bowl XXIX to the neighborhoods of South Florida by developing the McDonald’s Super Bowl Huddles, day long clinics for underprivileged children featuring NFL players at local city and county parks.

In 1988, The Miami Herald identified Pantín as one of the 18 private citizens who have shaped Miami, and in 1993 as one of the 100 people to shape the history of South Florida. In 1998, Pantín was among seven individuals awarded the Spirit of Excellence by The Miami Herald.

Pantín chairs the Communications Committee of the City of Coral Gables, where he attended elementary school, and now lives with his wife Martha and two children.