Sam has had a fairly eclectic career.  Trained as a geologist, (B.A. Boston University), he was planning to attend graduate school when he received an offer from the Smithsonian/Harvard Astrophysical Observatory to do field work at their world wide network of astrophysical observatories.  Sam served in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and then became Station Chief in Shiraz, Iran, and Olifantsfontein, South Africa.  He also oversaw the construction of an observatory in Ethiopia. During his time abroad, he established a successful program to recover meteorites and map meteorite craters in the Middle East and Southern Africa.  After seven years abroad, Sam and his family returned to the USA to manage all of the observatories in the U.S., South America, Africa and the Middle East.

His career change began when he became the CEO of Harnessed Energies, Inc., a small geophysical instrumentation company in Massachusetts.  From there he became a Senior Consultant at Arthur D. Little, Inc. an international consulting company where he specialized in the commercialization of new technology, and became a founding partner of Arthur D. Little Ventures, funded by ADL and Harvard.  After seven years at ADL, he became CEO of a client company, Kloss Video Corporation, founded by Henry Kloss, an audio/video pioneer who founded Acoustic Research, KLH, (he was the K), and Advent.  Henry had created the market for large screen color television, and came to ADL to help him commercialize his invention, a very bright projection cathode ray tube based upon Schmidt reflecting telescope optics. After Kloss Video, Sam became Vice President of Raytheon Ventures where he invested in and became a director of several companies, some of which became public. He also led the development of strategic plans, acquisitions and divestitures for Raytheon’s commercial divisions.Sam’s final position before retiring was as Vice President for Corporate Development at Dynatech, a Massachusetts based mid-sized conglomerate.

In retirement Sam was chairman of DPAC/Quatech, an electronics manufacturer based in California and Ohio. Before moving to Sanibel Island in 2000, Sam and his wife Brenda lived on a small farm in Central Massachusetts raising their three children, and caring for a menagerie of dogs, cats, horses, ponies, sheep, and an assortment of barnyard fowl.

Sam has had a lifelong passion for flying, scuba diving, ultramarathon cycling, upland bird hunting, and listening to early, classical, orchestral and chamber music, and the type of jazz exemplified by Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

Lisa is a trademark and copyright attorney, whose legal career endeavors meld perfectly with her life long passions for music, the arts, literature, and being a discerning, highly sophisticated brand conscious shopper.  She retired from more than a twenty-year career as a corporate attorney at Amway in Ada, Michigan.  Her career included extensive executive management experience over both developing and enforcing a global trademark portfolio and training and managing a large legal team.

Before relocating to Florida, Lisa enjoyed volunteering in the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area, including volunteering for the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, board member for the Baxter Community Center, and volunteer tax preparer for United Way.  She also conducts legal research and legislative analysis and tracking for the Southwest Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking and is passionate about making sure laws are sufficient to help trafficking victims and will thwart those that would enslave others.  Lisa is very proud and excited to be joining the Board of the Gulf Coast Symphony in 2020.  She is looking forward to promoting and supporting greater music educational opportunities for children.

Lisa earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan in Russian and East European Studies in Ann Arbor. MI, and J.D. from George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia.  She previously played oboe and English horn in orchestra and symphonic band, and clarinet in marching band.  Lisa also worked in Washington, D.C. law firms before, during and after law school, and especially enjoyed the diverse opportunities to see the performing arts during that time.

Currently, Lisa and her husband William split their time between their home in Cape Coral and a rustic summer cabin in the Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan.  They enjoy swimming, cooking, motorsports, bird watching, attending concerts and plays, nature walks, history and travel off the beaten path.

Tim is a retired IT and Human Capital Management (HCM) consultant and member of the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra (trumpet). Tim has a long history of musical performance starting early with piano and then transitioning to trumpet in junior high school and playing through high school and into university. Post graduation Tim decided that a trumpet was not an apartment friendly instrument and started playing the flute much to his neighbors’ relief. A hiatus of more than twenty years followed until Tim and his wife relocated from Calgary, Canada to Plano, Texas where a co-worker encouraged him to pick up his trumpet and join the Plano Community Band in 2001. Tim also served on the band’s Board of Directors for eight years holding positions of Treasurer, Vice President, and President. Just prior to retirement another relocation brought Tim and his wife to southwest Florida. Tim met an enthusiastic former music educator, and future dear friend, who introduced him to the Naples Orchestra and Chorus, the Bonita Springs Concert Band (with whom he still plays), and then the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra. He has served on the Boards of the Naples Orchestra and Chorus and the Bonita Springs Concert Band in multiple roles and is delighted to join the Board of the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra as an orchestra member and representative.

After graduating from the University of Calgary with a degree in Education, focused on biological sciences, Tim started his career as a pilot flying charter fixed-wing and helicopter in Canada as well as an instructor in helicopter training. He later joined his family’s business in the oil and gas sector in Calgary serving as the Chief Administrative Officer in charge of IT, HR, and Finance for multiple companies in Canada and the United States. Following additional IT Management training Tim was offered a position with Perot Systems in Dallas, Texas and jumped at the opportunity to relocate to a warmer climate. Tim started in a business process automation and application group and transitioned to the HR Team where he served as the Director of HR Operations and eventually Director of HR. A transition to the global M&A team followed where he was the HR lead on the acquisition pursuit of four companies and also served as the VP of HR for two acquisitions in India. After eleven years with Perot Systems Tim became an independent consultant serving clients in banking, healthcare, and the National Academies and was then recruited to a large IT consulting firm, Infosys, where he worked primarily as an HCM consultant with various multinational banks and financial organizations in New York, London, Frankfurt, and Singapore until his retirement in 2014.

Tim refers to his participation in various bands and orchestras as his retirement job and pursues it with the passion of a career. Always looking for new opportunities to further his music knowledge and performance, he studied under David Dash, formerly of the Naples Philharmonic, for four years. Tim also started playing the guitar in 2019 and now plays the occasional gig.

Bob Cunningham is a lifelong entrepreneur. His early career was managing and teaching Dale Carnegie Training in Virginia where he attained the position of Regional Manager. After investing in and leading several start-ups, Bob founded Persys Technology, Inc., a multi-million dollar company fueled by wanting to improve our nation’s healthcare system. Persys successfully developed integration software that enabled interoperability across disparate IT systems , paving the way for improved data sharing in the United States. Bob sold Persys in 2004.

Bob is a graduate of the University of Richmond, served on the Board of Directors for Sales and Marketing Executives International, Inc. and served as the International Chairman. Bob also served on the BOD and as Chairman of The Academy of Achievement, an organization that recognizes notable life time contributions to the free enterprise system.

Bob, and his wife Shirley, have been Snowbirds since 2014, and full time Florida residents since 2018. They enjoyed spending 6-7 months a year blue water boating for 10 years, logging 34,000 nautical miles in addition to 30 years sailing the Chesapeake Bay. While Bob’s passion remains being on the water, the Admiral said “enough”. He enjoys golfing, traveling, reading and most importantly, family . Bob and Shirley have two daughters and two granddaughters who are known to wake the neighborhood before sunrise in the pool when they come to visit.