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| Cuban-American, community activist, Miami historian, preservationist and freelance writer, Herb Sosa is a founding member and Director of UnityCoalition/Coalición Unida, Florida's leading Latino/Hispanic gay civil-rights nonprofit initiative, offering leadership on issues that concern Latino/Hispanic LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) and other minority groups, the Caribbean and Latin America. Offering leadership development, social & political empowerment and public speaking lectures both locally and nationally, Mr. Sosa has also been instrumental in the development and leadership of UC Florida PAC, a political action committee, Generación Q, a Latino LGBTQ youth support group and the annual Miami Masquerade Ball benefit - attracting hundreds of attendees who support the efforts of Unity Coalition. Sosa is co-founder and Editor in Chief of Ambiente Magazine (www.ambiente.us), a Florida and Latin America focused bilingual e-magazine for the Latino/Hispanic LGBT community, as well as being involved in the production of AmbienteTV, a national Latino/Hispanic LGBTQ weekly TV program - the first of its kind in the nation- seen in over 171 cities in the U.S. and Latin America. Sosa also heads Herb Sosa Design, a full service image, public relations and web design service, with an impressive list of local, national and international clients and is a regularly published national freelance writer. Mr. Sosa brings over 20 years of corporate and not-for-profit leadership experience in the community. Previously, Mr. Sosa was Corporate Creative Director for Burdines Dept. stores. He also was Executive Director of Miami Design Preservation League, overseeing 7 architectural historic districts in South Florida and the 26 year old, 400,000+ in attendance, Art Deco Weekend Festival on Miami Beach’s famed Ocean Drive. As founding partner of Beach Image Group, Sosa oversaw all aspects of Image development for small businesses, including promotion, product design, advertising and graphic services. Clients included: The Govt. of Mexico, Commissioner Nancy Liebman, Lario’s Restaurant, and Goodbodies Shop. In 1995 Mr. Sosa created and developed the Ba-Balú Store concept in Miami & Miami Beach, celebrating Cuban heritage thru art, cigars, music and unique giftware, and earning the store the unique distinction of being named one of Conde N’ast Traveler Magazines top 100 destinations in the world in 1996. Sosa served as chairman of Miami Beach's Historic Preservation Board for over six years, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Miami Design Preservation League, Dade Heritage Trust, Miami Beach Community Development Corp., Shelbourne & Fernwood HIV/AIDS Housing, and variety of other organizations throughout South Florida. In January 2004, Herb Sosa was named one of Tentaciónes Magazines Top Ten Latina/o activists in the U.S. and in 2005 was named one of OUT magazines Top 100 LGBT Activists and featured on LOGO TV. In summer 2006, Orgulloboriqua.net named Sosa one of their Orgullo Del Momento - Pride of the Moment- recipient and on April 2008 Sosa was named Terra.com's Activist of the Month. Service Currently Unity Coalition of Miami-Dade: President/Director UC Florida PAC board member 2004-2006 National Latino LGBT Leadership –Unid@s/Sigamos Adelante: National co-chair Belle Meade Home Owners Association: Historic Preservation Advisor 2001 -2004 Miami Acción Positiva: Board of Directors LLEGÓ: National Latino Exec. Director’s Roundtable GMCVB: Board of Directors & Historic Preservation Advisory Committee Design & Architecture Month/Biennal 2001: Miami-Dade Chairman Urban Environment League, Board of Directors 1994-2002 Dade Heritage Trust: Board of Advisors, President, and Board of Trustees City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board: Vice Chair, Chairman Shelbourne House: Treasurer, Vice President 1987-1995 Miami Design Preservation League: Board of Directors, Design Chairman, Tour Guide, Product Design & Development 1980-1982 Interact Service Honors Club, Jr. Rotary Club – Miami Senior High School Recognitions 2008 Activist of the Month - April 2008 - Terra.com 2006 Named to Orgulloboriqua.net’s - Orgullo Del Momento, Pride of the Moment Award 2006 Herb Sosa named one of OUT Magazines Top 100 activists in the U.S. 2006 Featured in LOGO TV’s documentary on Top 100 activists in the U.S. 2005 National co-chair of Sigamos Adelante/Unid@s – Nat’l. LGBT advocacy organization 2005 Was invited to write the Forward Message for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Hispanic and Latino Same-Sex Households in Florida: A Report from the 2000 Census 2004 Herb Sosa named one of Tentaciónes Magazines Top 10 Latino activists in the U.S. 1997 City of Miami Beach Commission Proclamation, June 20th - Herb Sosa Day 1997 Chivas Regal Entrepreneur Award 1996 Café con Leche PBS Documentary, first-generation Cuban-Americans 1996 Up and Comers Business Leaders Award 1992 Miami Design Preservation League, Award of Recognition 1986 Metro-Dade Co. Parks Dept. Award, Amelia Earhardt Park Visitors Center Design 1982 Silver Knight Nominee, Art – Miami Senior High School Burger King Foundation College Scholarship for Art Studies Experience Currently Freelance Writer Published locally & nationally in House King Magazine, Revista House King, Preservation Today, Ambiente, SunPost, Miami Herald, Miamigo, Tentaciones & various other publications Herb Sosa Design A full service image, public relations and web design service, with an impressive list of local, national and international clients www.herbsosa.com Editor-In-chief, Ambiente E-Magazine AMBIENTE Magazine is a bilingual Hispanic publication produced monthly, free of charge, distributed electronically around the globe, and reaches over 30,000 loyal readers monthly, with a direct market of Florida, the Caribbean & Latin America www.ambiente.us 2000-2003 Executive Director, Miami Design Preservation League & Art Deco Weekend® Non profit historic preservation organization, with over 600 members and year round educational programs, the Art Deco Museum, the Art Deco Welcome Center, Art Deco Weekend with over 500,000 visitors to Miami Beach each year, and dedicated to protecting Miami Beach's seven historic districts and their architectural legacy www.mdpl.org Responsible for 12 employees, 300 volunteers and a combined annual budget of $1,450,000 1995-2000 Owner, Babalú A gift and memorabilia boutique for everything Cuban – With stores in Miami Beach, Bayside and on the web, Babalú was named one of Conde N’ast Traveler Magazines top 100 destinations in the world in 1996 and featured on various movies, TV and news shows. Organizer, Española Way Artist Market Created and managed the weekly Española Way Artist Market, including over 50 artists & vendors weekly, entertainment scheduling and street improvements 1992-1995 Owner, Beach Image Group Image development for small businesses including promotion, product design, advertising and graphic services - Clients included The Govt. of Mexico, Commissioner Nancy Liebman, Lario’s Restaurant, and Goodbodies Shop 1990-1992 Creative Director, Visual Presentation Products A multi level design and manufacturing firm in Florida. Organizational and personnel responsibilities of corporate retail design, product development and quality control of local national and international manufacturing, supervising staff of over 80 in Florida with clients as Lerner New York, The Limited, Bloomingdale’s, Henri Bendel, and Burdines 1982-1990 Creative Director, Store Planning & Visual Merchandising, Burdines Dept. Stores Oversaw for the corporate image and development of 42 department stores across Florida & developed special projects for Federated Dept. Stores Corporate affiliates across the U.S. Responsibilities included seasonal themes & development, new store concepts, fixture, shop concept, mannequin design, and overall corporate image Supervised 250+ employees, and a 2.4 million annual budget |
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| RETAIL CONSULTATION DESIGN MANAGEMENT PACKAGING DEVELOPMENT |
| HERB SOSA BIO |
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| CONTACT: 786.271.6982 |
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