Tampa Bay Host Committee Inc.
  101 E Kennedy Blvd Ste 3300 Tampa, FL  33602.  
         ...incorporated March 26, 2010; filed statement of organization with the FEC on May 19.

(page updated November 22, 2011)

"...approximately $49 million in private donations needed to host the Convention."

Chairman of the Board  Al Austin

(announced May 21, 2010)  CEO of A.S. Austin Company, a real estate development corporation; Austin was a pioneer developer of the Westshore Business District of Tampa.  He has been a delegate or alternate to every Republican National Convention and has served in leadership roles in every presidential campaign in Florida since 1972. 

President and CEO  Ken Jones

(announced May 21, 2010...oversees day to day operations)  Senior Vice President, Managing Director and General Counsel of Communications Equity Associates.  Chief Legal Counsel and Senior Staff member for then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and the Senate Rules & Administration Committee.  In 2005 Jones also served as General Counsel to the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee.  Attorney at Patton Boggs in Washington, DC.  Chief Counsel to the 54th Presidential Inaugural Committee, 2001.  Counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Palm Beach following the 2000 campaign.  Deputy Counsel at the RNC.  J.D. from University of Florida; undergraduate degree in communications and criminology from Florida State University. >

Vice Chair  Don DeFosset

(announced May 21, 2010)  Chairman and CEO of DJD Group, an investment firm headquarted in Tampa (inc. 2009); Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The University of Tampa.  DeFosset previously served as Chairman (2002-05), President and CEO (2000-05) of Walter Industries, Inc.  Executive positions at Dura Automotive Systems, Inc.; Navistar International Corporation; AlliedSignal, Inc.; Mack Trucks, Inc..  Started out at Rockwell International, where he worked for 18 years.  M.B.A. from Harvard University, 1974; B.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue University.  Grew up in St. Louis, MO. >

Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary  Dick Beard (Richard A. Beard III)

(announced May 21, 2010)  36 years experience in real estate development.  President of R.A. Beard Company, a real estate investment company, since 1995.  A partner of Paragon Group, which developed major projects in downtown Tampa in the 1980s.  Beard moved from Dallas in 1972.  He was founding chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of South Florida.  Bachelor's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, 1967.

Chief Operating Officer  Matt Becker

(Sept. 2011)  Committee management officer at the Small Business Administration under President George W. Bush.  Managed the Michigan GOP’s Victory 2000 campaign.  B.A. in political theory and constitutional democracy from Michigan State University, 1995.  From Grand Rapids, MI.


Special Events & Volunteer Director  Amanda Whitelaw

(June 2011)  Director of volunteer services for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee starting Sept. 2009. Volunteer services coordinator for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee, and event staff supervisor for the Tampa Sports Authority at Raymond James Stadium, 2008-09.  Graduate of the Florida State University, College of Business, 2007.


Communications Director  Aileen Rodriguez

Founder/principal at AR Public Affairs & Strategic Solutions in Tampa.  Gulf Coast regional director for U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.  Community liaison for the H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center and Research Institute.  B.A. in organizational and interpersonal communications from the University of South Florida.  Born in San Juan Puerto Rico.



former
Deputy Director  Krista Soroka

(July 2010-June 2011)  Senior vice president of events and marketing at EventMakers Corp, April 2009-June 2010.  Director of events and hospitality for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee, 2007-09.  Film commissioner for the Tampa Bay Film Commission, 2004-07.  President of Wonder Events, 2001-04.  Director of events and public relations for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Task Force, 2000-01.  Director of public relations at the Governor's Office of Physical Fitness and Sports, 1997-99.  Degree in sports management from the University of Michigan.