The Central Florida Foundation Board of Directors recently elected officers Thomasa Sanchez of McCormick Research Institute as board chair, Waymon Armstrong of Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) as vice chair, and Jeffery Jonasen of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A. as immediate past chair. Carlos Carbonell of Echo Interaction Group also joins the board of directors. Each of these individuals’ expertise and professional work within Central Florida will help to power high-impact philanthropy on a local level.

Thomasa Sanchez
Thomasa Sanchez connects her passions to the community as a social entrepreneur, college professor, community leader and keynote speaker. She is the founder of Heavenly Hooves, now known as McCormick Research Institute, and has served as the organization’s full-time pro-bono CEO since 2002.

McCormick is a nonprofit organization that empowers individuals with disabilities and Veterans with PSTD to thrive with horses, hope, health, and purpose. Under Thomasa’s leadership, McCormick has served more than 25,000 individuals, earned worldwide acclaim as a trusted leader in psychotherapy incorporating equines, and has published research in partnership with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine.

Waymon Armstrong
Recognized as both a pioneer and visionary in the simulation and training industry, Waymon Armstrong provides strategic leadership to ECS as its founder and CEO/President. Armstrong has been consistently recognized for his community contributions, entrepreneurship, and business leadership by customers, the community, and industry organizations. An award-winning global training and technology solutions company, ECS is a trusted provider of training, maintaining, and sustaining military service members and first responders around the world.

Jeffery Jonasen
Jeffery Jonasen is an attorney and a shareholder at Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A. He has more than 20 years of business law experience, handling acquisitions, joint ventures, securities offerings, financings, and other domestic and international business transactions, and representing start-ups, non-profits, medium-sized businesses, and Fortune 500 companies.

Carlos Carbonell
Carlos Carbonell founded Echo Interaction Group, a tech company that creates mobile applications and offers a software platform to deploy Augmented reality-enabled apps and immersive AR experiences. He is a widely recognized leader in Central Florida’s business, entrepreneurial, nonprofit, political, and civic landscapes.

Central Florida Foundation is the region’s community foundation. The foundation holds more than 400 funds and has invested over $73 million into the community since 1994 to address social issues affecting the region.

This post was written by Laurie Crocker.