CHAPMAN PARTNERSHIP NAMES RAY CASAS, ELSIE HOWARD TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MIAMI, FL – Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 –

Chapman Partnership announced it has appointed Ray Casas, president of Wragg & Casas Public Relations,and Elsie Howard, vice president of Gene Howard Properties,to its board of directors.

“We are pleased to have Ray Casas and Elsie Howard join the board of Chapman Partnership, which was named ‘Most Valuable Non-Profit’ this year by Switchboard Miami,” Chapman Partnership Chairman Trish Bell said.

Casas, during his public relations career, has managed communications services for multi-national companies, large real estate developers, banks, food companies, attorneys and other professional firms and hospitals. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, issues management and crisis counseling.

Before Wragg & Casas, he worked 13 years at Hank Meyer Associates, Inc., where he was executive vice president. While there he led the public relations effort of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Miami and the inaugural Carnaval Miami.  Earlier, he was a reporter for United Press International, the San Diego Evening Tribune and The Chicago Reporter.

Casas serves on the board of directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and Camillus House, and he is a non-lawyer member of The Florida Bar standing committee on advertising. He is a member of the Honorary Board of the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, where he served as a board member for 19 years, including two terms as board president. Casas also served on the board of directors of the Beacon Council and the Board of Regents of Leadership Florida, acting as Miami region chairman for two years. He was the 2001-2002 chairman of the Archbishop’s Charities and Development drive.

Ray Casas holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University.

Elsie Sterling Howard, vice president of Gene Howard Properties, was founder and president of Sterling Public Relations from 1991 until 2002.

Howard is marketing committee chair for the board of governors of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she has served on the board since 2005. Leadership positions include founder of the “In the Garden” gala, which she co-chaired for 17 years.

A board member of the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau, she served as chairperson of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority and the Miami Beach Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Taskforce on Tourism. She was named an empowerment honoree in 2012 by Women of Tomorrow. Corporate involvement includes member of the board of Deutsche Bank Florida, formerly Bankers Trust.

Howard is dedicated to several fund-raising societies, including her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and Mount Sinai Medical Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Guardian Angels.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Melissa Lichtenheld, 305-372-1234
mlichtenheld@wraggcasas.com