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Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Top Technology Executives Recognized at the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards
Leading CIOs honored for leadership, innovation, and business June 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards recognized the exceptional leadership and innovation of top technology executives from World Fuel Services, Kellanova, Belcorp, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Dolphins, TIME & Keyes. The prestigious ORBIE Awards - hosted by SouthFloridaCIO, a chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network - honor CIOs who drive business transformation and make a lasting impact on the industry. Winners were recognized across seven categories: Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate, Corporate, Leadership. The ceremony, which took place at the The Diplomat Resort, brought together top executives and industry leaders to celebrate excellence in technology leadership. 'Great CIOs understand how connections drive transformation,' said Margaret Brisbane, SouthFloridaCIO Chair. 'The ORBIE® Awards recognize CIOs who leverage relationships to drive innovation, solve complex challenges, and shape the future of South Florida.' Meet the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Award Winners: Jeff Smith, COO (ret), World Fuel Services, received the Leadership ORBIE. Eric Firer, CIO, North America, Kellanova, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations. Venkat Gopalan, Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer, Belcorp, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations. Tom Gillette, SVP & CIO, Mount Sinai Medical Center, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue. Sameer Istafa, VP & CTO, Miami Dolphins, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $500 million annual revenue. Sharon Milz, CIO, TIME, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $200 million annual revenue. Wendi Iglesias, CIO, Keyes, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $200 million annual revenue. About the ORBIE: The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of executives. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria: Leadership and management effectiveness Business value created by technology innovation Engagement in industry and community endeavors South Florida ORBIE Keynote & Attendance: The keynote address for the South Florida ORBIE Awards was delivered by Jeff Smith, COO (ret) at World Fuel Services, who was interviewed by Tricia Ferreira, SVP, Technology Product Management at World Kinect. Nearly 350 guests attended, representing leading South Florida organizations and their technology partners. The following sponsors made the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards possible: Underwriters: Concord, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Kanini & ProSourceIT Gold Sponsors: Comcast Business, Future Tech Enterprise, Glean, The Ksquare Group, Nerdio & Tata Consultancy Services Silver Sponsors: Accenture, Crown Castle, Palo Alto Networks, Slalom Consulting, Tanium & Zscaler Bronze Sponsors: Alchemy Technology Group, Between Pixels, ContractPodAI, iPower, Pure Storage & Sigmoid Analytics Media Partner: South Florida Business Journal National Partner: YearUp United To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here. About SouthFloridaCIO: SouthFloridaCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in South Florida. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, SouthFloridaCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions. SouthFloridaCIO is led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members. About Inspire Leadership Network: Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With nearly 2,000 members across more than 40 local chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today's most challenging executive roles. Media ContactNicole A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Journals
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
South Florida ORBIE Leadership Award recipient: For World Fuel's Jeff Smith, innovation and a people-first culture are key to making an impact
Jeff Smith, who retired as chief operating officer of World Fuel Services at the end of 2023, has been named the recipient of the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Leadership Award. The honor recognizes a global career built on pioneering digital transformation and cultivating high-performing teams. Smith's leadership philosophy centers on a simple, yet powerful, idea: Talent and culture are the true differentiators of great companies. As COO of World Fuel Services, he turned that belief into action, cultivating efficiency and dexterity in how the company responded to challenges using LEAN principles and people-first decision-making. That operational precision was forged over more than 35 years of experience across continents and industries — from semiconductors to finance. Smith's career highlights, which he'll share during a keynote address at the South Florida ORBIE Awards celebration June 13 at The Diplomat Beach Resort, are a case study in iteration. At IBM, he led a global IT organization of 20,000 and spearheaded the company-wide Agile transformation. At Allied Signal/Honeywell, he launched a global SAP rollout across 17 countries, cutting projected timelines by more than half through an international team rooted in diversity of thought and unified by a shared goal. At Suncorp, following the economic downturn that started in 2008, he architected a transformation of the company's digital insurance self-service platform. His teams built it using the cloud, making the financial services provider one of the first to use cloud technology. In every challenge, Smith consistently applied what he learned early in his career at LSI Logic: that shared sacrifice, collective learning and scalable simplicity often outperform hierarchical command-and-control. 'My view is you should always give preference to the people doing the work over people leading the work,' he says. 'We're paid a premium to lead, so we should be homing in on creating a productive environment for them.' Smith breaks it down further: 'What does great mean? Is that small teams that are building great software? Does that mean great customer service? Does it mean that we can take a problem and break it up? I've spent my career kind of chasing that — the more you can make it clean and simple, the easier it is to scale.' His formula for high-performing teams prioritizes building diverse teams who are engaged by meaningful work. The work must be distributed at a sustainable pace, and finally, results must be continually measured and tracked. At IBM, he implemented a quarterly leadership review system that evaluated every leader on six tangible dimensions — team formation, work distribution, measurement, talent development, learning from others and influence. He also published Net Promoter Scores for leaders, asking direct reports whether they would recommend their manager or their squad to a peer. The transparency raised expectations and elevated performance across the organization. Smith's influence is still felt globally. He currently serves on the boards of ANZ Bank, PEXA and Sonrai Security. A native of Ohio and graduate of Miami University and San Jose State University, he's lived and led in the U.S., Australia and around the world. And while his accomplishments are many, what sets Smith apart is his ability to scale not just systems, but people. His advice to business leaders aspiring to be true community partners is to believe in the potential of people. He recalls a transformative insight from Steve Jobs, who once shared how Pixar hired musicians and artists to become software engineers because they had the grit and logic to succeed. 'We applied that in South Florida, too,' Smith says, 'creating career paths for people with nontraditional backgrounds. Don't look at it as a cost or as a contribution, that you're there to help people with money. You're there to help them find a great career and have a happy life. If you build the right environment, anyone can thrive.' Asked what makes a great leader, Smith advises not to get caught up in the noise of the company landscape. 'You want to create clarity of purpose, put together a good, productive environment, and inspire people to do great things. It's pretty simple.' From building software that transformed a global semiconductor industry, to reshaping IT at IBM, to coaching next-generation talent in Miami, Smith's legacy is one of clarity, compassion and continuous reinvention. The 2025 South Florida ORBIE Leadership Award celebrates not just a career, but a mindset — one that will continue to shape teams, cultures and companies for years to come.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
UK airport travel 'chaos' warning as staff threaten to ground 70% of EasyJet flights
Thousands of air travellers could encounter travel disruptions for a month as airline employees are threatening to go on strike, possibly cancelling over 70% of flights. Holidaymakers who intend to fly the following month might face massive travel disruptions as staff threaten to take action over a pay dispute, according to UNITE. Refueling staff from World Fuel Services, a major provider in Gatwick, are preparing for a strike beginning early next month. Read more: I did one motorway journey and lost count of 'selfish' drivers breaking this rule Members of UNITE have stated that the action would be "disastrous" for travellers, with at least 70% of EasyJet's flights in the UK's second-largest airport likely to be disrupted. One of the enraged staff members, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sun they did not want to strike but feel they have no choice. Said: "[A strike] would be disastrous. It would affect 70 per cent of [easyJet flights]." "None of us want to do it. None of us. But the company, this American company, they're just being awkward and stubborn and changing the rules as they go along." EasyJet operates over half of all departures from Gatwick Airport, with UNITE members responsible for refuelling over 250 aircraft per day. According to the employee, management proposed a 4.25% raise over a year and a 7.25% increase over two years, but union members turned down the offer. Strikers have countered with a demand for a 6% wage hike in the first year and to reduce their weekly working hours from 45 hours to 39. WFS is recruiting temporary workers who are being hastily trained in an attempt to "cover up" the industrial actions." "They've done this by bringing in the temp [workers]. They have hired seven temporary workers," they added." They took them on recently because they thought we were going to strike over Easter and training-wise, they were rushed through. "want"They think they can get by with the temporary workers and those who aren't on strike but it will be a mess. "In busy seasons, you're looking at about 220 to maybe 275 planes [to refuel] a day." UNITE stated that the refueller's strike was expected to coincide with industrial action by employees of another company, Red Handling, where over 100 baggage handlers, check-in staff, and flight dispatchers were scheduled to stage another walkout. "We are not being greedy - currently, we can't book any holidays," the employee continued. "They are refusing us to book any because they're worried about us going on strike, so they cancelled all holidays." Out of the 48 employees at the company, only about five are thought to not take part in the action. The WFS worker added: "Not all the workers are part of this." General secretary Sharon Graham said: "Workers at both companies have had enough of poor pay offers and appalling treatment from their employers and it is little surprise they are taking strike action." The Sun has contacted Gatwick Airport and World Fuel Services for a response.
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Holiday chaos fears as Gatwick Airport set for strikes
A major UK airport could be set for strikes next month leaving thousands of holidaymakers facing "disastrous" disruption. Travellers hoping to catch a summer break are likely to be caught up in chaos as airport staff at Gatwick are planning to strike over a dispute, according to Unite. The UK's second busiest airport could see at least 70 per cent of EasyJet flights from taking off next month after plane refuellers from World Fuel Services are planning a walk-out from the start of next month. Unite union members refuel over 250 planes each day, with EasyJet accounting for more than half of all departures from Gatwick Airport. One worker, who did not want to be named, admitted they don't "want" to go on strike but have been left with no other option. They told The Sun: "(A strike) would be disastrous. It would affect 70 per cent of EasyJet flights. Le Creuset iconic rainbow mugs below £8 in deal cheaper than Amazon Prime Day "None of us want to do it. None of us. But the company, this American company, they're just being awkward and stubborn and changing the rules as they go along." Bosses offered workers a 4.25 per cent pay increase over a year and a 7.25 per cent pay rise over two but this has been rejected, according to the unhappy worker. The employee claimed management are hiring temporary workers in a bid to "cover up" any potential strikes. "They've done this by bringing in the temp [workers]. They have hired seven temporary workers," they added. 'They took them on recently because they thought we were going to strike over Easter and training-wise, they were rushed through.' 'They think they can get by with the temporary workers and those who aren't on strike but it will be a mess. 'In busy seasons, you're looking at about 220 to maybe 275 planes [to refuel] a day.' Unite said the strikes could coincide with over 100 employees of baggage handlers, check-in staff, and flight dispatchers at Red Handling, are set to walkout. "We are not being greedy - currently, we can't book any holidays," the employee continued. "They are refusing us to book any because they're worried about us going on strike, so they cancelled all holidays. The company is being ass h*les to us.' The worker admitted not all staff are due to go on strike and that five out of the 48 employees are unlikely to join them. General secretary Sharon Graham said: "Workers at both companies have had enough of poor pay offers and appalling treatment from their employers and it is little surprise they are taking strike action." Gatwick Airport has been approached for comment.
The Sun
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Holiday warning as major UK airport facing strikes during mid-term which may hit '70 per cent of one airline's flights'
THOUSANDS of travellers face a month of chaos as airline workers threaten to strike - grounding over 70 per cent of flights. Holidaymakers planning to fly next month are likely to see huge disruptions as staff threaten to choke travel over a pay dispute, according to UNITE. 2 2 Plane refuellers from World Fuel Services, a major provider at Gatwick, are planning a walk-out from the start of next month. The UNITE union members claimed their action would be 'disastrous' for travellers, predicting they will stop at least 70 per cent of EasyJet in the UK's second largest airport. One raging refueller, who wishes to stay anonymous, explained that they don't "want" to be striking but are left with no other option. They told the Sun: "[A strike] would be disastrous. It would affect 70% of [easyJet flights]. "None of us want to do it. None of us. But the company, this American company, they're just being awkward and stubborn and changing the rules as they go along." EasyJet accounts for over half of all departures from Gatwick Airport and UNITE union members are responsible for refuelling over 250 planes each day. Management offered a 4.25 per cent pay increase over a year and a 7.25 per cent rise over two but union members refused, according to the employee. Strikers countered by asking for a 6 per cent pay rise in the first year and to bring their weekly work hours from 45 hours to 39. The furious employee also claimed their employer is playing down the strikes. They warned that WFS is hiring temporary workers temporary who, are being rushed through training, in an attempt to "cover up" the industrial actions. 'They've done this by bringing in the temp [workers]. They have hired seven temporary workers," they added. 'They took them on recently because they thought we were going to strike over Easter and training-wise, they were rushed through.' 'They think they can get by with the temporary workers and those who aren't on strike but it will be a mess. 'In busy seasons, you're looking at about 220 to maybe 275 planes [to refuel] a day.' UNITE stated that the refuellers' strike was expected to coincide with industrial action by employees of another company, Red Handling, where over 100 baggage handlers, check-in staff, and flight dispatchers were scheduled to stage another walkout. 'We are not being greedy - currently, we can't book any holidays," the employee continued. "They are refusing us to book any because they're worried about us going on strike, so they cancelled all holidays.' 'The company is being ass h*les to us.' Out of the 48 employees at the company, only about five are thought to not take part in the action. The WFS worker added: 'Not all the workers are part of this. "They won't all be going on strike. There are five who are unlikely to join. The Sun has reached out to Gatwick Airport and World Fuel Services for a comment.
