Commissioner McDaniel
Collier County District 5
William L. McDaniel, Jr. was born in Franklin, Penn., on March 25, 1961, the eldest of three children. His mother, brother (a retired Marine Corps staff sergeant) and sister still live in the Franklin area. A 1979 graduate of Rocky Grove High School, William enrolled at Clarion State University, where he majored in accounting and computer programming with a minor in economics. To pay for college, William worked as a carpenter. A job building a stable (Naples Therapeutic Riding Center) brought him to Naples in 1981, and he has lived in the area ever since. After moving to Naples, William became a licensed real estate salesperson and, in 1985, he became a licensed Realtor. He founded the Realty Company in 1987, which he manages today, focusing on the sale, management, and development of real estate in Southwest Florida. In 1998, he founded Big Island Excavating, Inc., a mining company with an office located in District 5 in eastern Collier County. The company, which William manages today, has operated mines in four Southwest Florida counties (Collier, Lee, Hendry, and Charlotte). In 1999, William was a founding director of Marine National Bank. When the company was bought by Old Florida Bank in 2003, William was selected to represent the shareholders and to serve on the new board of Old Florida Bank, until its sale in 2007 to the Bank of Florida. William currently owns and operates Lazy Springs Recreational Park and employs more than 30 people. Among his civic activities, William is currently the chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee of Goodwill of Southwest Florida and has served on the Board of Directors of that organization since 1998. He is founder of and the current president of the Corkscrew Island Neighborhood Association. From 2007 until early 2009, he served as the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners-appointed East of 951 Horizon Study Committee. He also served for two years on the Board of County Commissioners-appointed Rural Lands Stewardship Overlay Review Committee. In 2013, he was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the Collier County Housing Authority and served on that Authority until his election as Collier County Commissioner on November 8, 2016. He was re-elected to the Board of County Commissioners on November 3, 2020. William has two children: Kelley Marie, a 25-year-old graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University, and William III, who is a 21-year-old carpenter/contractor. In their free time, the family enjoys outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, and boating.
Commissioner Ruane
Lee County Commissioner District 1
Kevin Ruane is in his second term on the Lee County Board of Commissioners. He was first elected in November 2020 and subsequently, re-elected unopposed in November 2024. He has served as Chairman of the Board in 2020 and 2025. After Hurricane Ian, Commissioner Ruane was appointed by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners as the Chair of the Lee County Long-term Recovery Task Force. He had visited Sanibel for 20 years before purchasing a home in 2004. Hurricane Charley quickly turned his attention to becoming a public servant. He signed on as a member of the Damage Assessment Team in Sanibel. Kevin was appointed to the Sanibel City Council to serve an interim position in February 2007. In May 2007, he was elected and re-elected in March 2009 and was appointed Mayor in March 2010. He was subsequently re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Kevin served as a voting delegate for the Florida League of Cities (FLC). In 2016, he was instrumental in forming the largest compact for water quality in the organization’s history with more than 165 mayors. In 2020, he was awarded the FLC, E. Harris Drew Municipal Official Lifetime Award. In 2014, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Kevin to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and re-appointed in 2019 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Kevin attended both undergraduate and graduate schools at Pace University with a concentration in accounting and taxation. He took over for his father at his family’s CPA firm and his corporate career included various senior executive positions with a subsidiary of a Fortune 100 company. Kevin is the owner of Castleton Capital specializing in small business lending for mortgages, business acquisition, equipment financing and franchise lending throughout the United States.
Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Gravina, Smith, Matte & Arnold Marketing and Public Relations
Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster is an award-winning political reporter turned public affairs professional, who currently serves as the public affairs director at Gravina, Smith, Matte & Arnold Marketing and Public Relations. Prior to joining GSMA, she served as the director of government relations at the Greater Naples Chamber. There, she helped advance the chamber’s governmental and legislative priorities at the city, county and state levels. She also managed the successful One Collier campaign, which, in 2018, supported the passage of a one-cent infrastructure sales surtax in Collier County.
Jenna graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a degree in journalism. After college, she spent more than a decade covering local and state government and politics, for the Naples Daily News and then Florida Politics.
Jenna currently serves as the board secretary and a founding board member of the Collier County Community Land Trust and is a member of the Women’s Foundation of Collier County Board of Directors. In 2020, she was named a 40 Under 40 honoree by Gulfshore Business.
Imran Siddiqui
Florida Digital Infrastructure and Security Alliance
Imran Siddiqui, JD, is the Executive Director of the Florida Digital Infrastructure and Security Alliance (FDISA), a statewide coalition of leaders across technology, energy, water, and infrastructure working to ensure Florida remains a premier destination for digital infrastructure investment and innovation. Most recently, Siddiqui served as Chief Executive Officer of South Florida Tech Hub, the region’s leading technology membership organization, where he worked at the intersection of industry, government, and academia to advance Florida’s innovation economy and strengthen the state’s technology ecosystem. He continues to support the organization as a Special Advisor, providing strategic counsel and helping advance key initiatives that strengthen South Florida’s innovation and technology community. His career spans technology, healthcare, economic development, and the nonprofit sector, with extensive experience building partnerships, convening stakeholders, and leading initiatives that address complex public policy and infrastructure challenges. He is widely recognized for his ability to bring together diverse voices to drive collaboration and long-term strategic solutions. Through FDISA, Siddiqui is focused on fostering informed dialogue around digital infrastructure, energy, water resources, workforce development, and the policies necessary to support Florida’s continued economic growth, resilience, and competitiveness in the digital age. Siddiqui earned his Juris Doctor from Western New England University School of Law as a Public Interest Scholar and is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University. A lifelong Floridian, he is also a husband, father, and active civic and business leader.
Sherry Ambrose
Florida Power & Light
Sherry joined FPL in July 2018 and oversees competitive economic development projects and lead generation efforts. Sherry brings to the team over a decade of economic development experience in Florida, Texas, and Washington at the local, regional and state levels. She’s held marketing and business development leadership roles for Enterprise Florida and the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce. She is a director on the statewide board of directors for Prospera, an appointed member of the Florida Atlantic Research and Development Authority, and a former director for the Florida Economic Development Council. Sherry holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Rollins College and a Master of Public Administration from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. A South Florida native, Sherry resides in Tequesta with her husband and two children.
Heidi Cramer
Florida Small Business Development Center at FGCU
Heidi Cramer is a technology and go-to-market executive with more than 38 years of experience building, scaling, and leading revenue organizations - from Global 100 corporations, including SoftBank and T-Mobile, to private-equity-backed companies and start-ups. Across those roles, she designed sales structures and channel programs and launched new products and geographic markets generating more than $2 billion in annualized revenue, while directing teams of up to 2,400 people and managing budgets approaching $1 billion. Heidi's hallmark is turning technology, culture, and commercial strategy into results. As a chief revenue officer, she rebuilt underperforming sales organizations into winning ones - cutting revenue-generation costs in half while growing strategic product revenue more than 400% in ten months - and over her career has turned around twelve markets from last in the organization to first, averaging 90 days per turnaround. Her technical and commercial career includes a series of firsts: leading the first global IP-based network installations for Jones Lang LaSalle and Northern Trust; building the first digital provisioning systems, and the teams that ran them, for every RBOC and long-distance carrier in 1996; heading IoT development beginning in 2012, including global tracking and accountability programs, the first IoT-enabled overseas shipping, and early manufacturing camera designs for robotics; and opening the global systems integrator market for a private-equity-backed enterprise software company, winning contracts and solution integrations with HCLTech, Wipro, IBM, and Tata Consultancy Services. Across each achievement, she matched the right people, technology, channels, and market around a clearly defined culture and measurable business outcome. Today, Heidi is a Business Consultant with the Florida SBDC at Florida Gulf Coast University's Lutgert College of Business, where she advises small and mid-sized businesses across Southwest Florida on strategy, growth, and organizational structure. Through SBDC and privately, she speaks to global audiences and advises leadership teams on practical AI adoption, workflow automation, go-to-market strategy, leadership, and organizational change. Her work connects emerging technology to measurable business outcomes, helping organizations move from experimentation to disciplined implementation. Heidi holds an MBA in Information Systems and Operations Management from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, a Business Analytics certificate from Harvard, and is a doctoral candidate at FGCU. She speaks and facilitates for organizations including the Florida Bar, the Florida Library Association, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the Community Associations Institute (CAI), and the Greater Naples Chamber. Her industry recognition includes Channel Woman of the Year and nine President's Club honors. She is based in Naples, Florida.
Tiffany Espositio
SWFL Inc.
Tiffany Esposito serves as the State Representative for Florida House District 77, bringing a practical, results-driven approach to public service. In the Florida House, she advances policies that strengthen Florida’s economy, expand workforce opportunities, protect natural resources, and support communities across the state. Tiffany also serves as President and CEO of SWFL Inc., where she leads a regional business organization representing more than 6,000 businesses. This experience gives her a firsthand understanding of the challenges facing Florida’s employers, workers, and growing communities. Known as a tenacious and effective leader, Tiffany is committed to bringing people together, developing future leaders, and helping ensure Florida remains a place where families and businesses can thrive.
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