Chamber Ambassadors
Dr. Erika Hamer - Chairman: graduated from the Chiropractic School at Life University in Marietta, GA, and since she is from Daytona Beach, she returned to Florida when finished. In addition to her chiropractic doctorate, she holds a Bachelor Degree in Biology and is licensed not only in Florida, but also in Georgia and South Carolina. When Dr. Hammer first returned to Florida, she worked in a thriving practice before opening her own practice, Ponte Vedra Wellness Center, last year. She recently passed her Board Examination for her Diplomat in Neurology from New York Chiropractic College, an elite honor held by only a few chiropractic physicians.
Daniel Gilham - Co-Chairman: Daniel Gilham was born in Beeville, TX and studied marketing and economics at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the American University in Washington, DC. He began his career with AOL in 1999. His last position with AOL was Marketing Manager where he was responsible for the design and implementation of business plans in national and international markets . Daniel moved to Ponte Vedra Beach from Washington, DC, in 2007. Most recently he has joined Merrill Lynch,. Daniel started a non-profit "Young Advocates for Cultural Awareness" in January of 2008 and currently serves as the organization's president. YACA was created to help young professionals become more educated on international cultures and their effects on business. He also serves as a board member for the Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra and the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville. He volunteers weekly with Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) helping financially troubled families find financial assistance. He is Co-Chairman of the Ponte Vedra Chamber Ambassadors and was Chairman of the 2008 Ponte Vedra Beach car show.
Bob Baer was born in Chicago, and grew up in Mt. Vernon, New York. He has a BA from Champlain College and a MS in Advertising and Marketing from The Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. Bob started in sales in 1940 selling The Saturday Evening Post - winning a hunting knife in a sales contest. After selling advertising space for trade publishers in New York, he started his publishers' representative firm in 1968. Bob currently is an advertising representative for H Magazine - published by The Florida Times-Union. He is also the United State advertising representative for publications in London and Singapore.
A.J. Baltozer Originally from nearby Gainesville, moved to Jacksonville to attend the University of North Florida. With a degree in finance, he began his career as a financial planner with Lincoln Financial Advisors and for over 5 ½ years was committed to estate planning and asset management for high net worth clients. Much of AJ’s time was spent investing in real estate where he discovered his zest for the industry. When the opportunity arose to change paths and follow his passion, he jumped on it and started his career as a licensed mortgage officer joining forces with a company that supports his efforts and values, Proficio Mortgage. He is also actively involved with the Young Advocates for Cultural Awareness (YACA) where he is a Board Member.
Karen Bassham was born in Mexico City, MO and moved to Florida when she was just a child. She received her Associates Degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida. She moved from Orlando to Jacksonville in 1994. Prior to starting Mai Oui Gourmet, Karen was the Office Manager for Northwest Financial and an Administrative Assistant for three churches. Since she grew up in the business with both her parents and grand parents owning restaurants, it was a natural for her to open her own catering business.
Tye Crews is a financial services professional with New York Life Insurance Company and NYLIFE Securities. Although born in Jacksonville, he grew up in Saint George, GA, which is a very small dot on the map in Charlton County, only an hour northwest of Jacksonville. Tye graduated with both a B.A. and an M.A. from Furman University in Greenville, SC. While at Furman, he was a four-year letterman in football. He met and married his wife, Cristiana, a pharmaceutical representative, while there and they have been married almost three years. Before joining New York Life, Tye taught elementary special education in Charlotte, NC, and here in Jacksonville. In order to have more flexibility, he joined New York Life two years ago. There he works primarily with business owners, and his focus is on business and estate planning. As a result of working with business owners, he also assists them in meeting their employee benefits needs.
Sonja Djahanshahi, a native of Jacksonville, attended Terry Parker High School and re-located to South Florida where she graduated cum laude from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale receiving “The Highest Achievement Award” in Fashion and Beauty Marketing. After completing a variety of exciting internships, she served for five years as Director of Public Relations for Bloomingdale’s Florida and eventually moved to the Washington D.C. stores. Later, Sonia launched a hair care line nationally and most recently, implemented an opening public relations marketing campaign for a successful chain of upscale modern spas throughout South Florida. Recently she returned to North Florida and is currently the Spa Sales Manager for the Sawgrass Marriott Resort and Spa. There Sonia oversees membership development as well as other marketing initiatives for the Spa and Resort.
Lindsey Godfrey has been a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach since 1988. Both of her parents, Kim Don Davis, own small businesses in Ponte Vedra and integrally involved in the community. Mom Kim currently serves on the Chamber board and is our past Treasurer. Lindsey is among our first second generation Chamber members. She attended Florida State University where she received a BS in nterior Design. She worked for The Design Studio, a high-end residential firm in Jacksonville Beach, for the past four years as an interior designer. She has recently joined the team at Ponte Vedra Beach Realty, Inc as the property manager. Lindsey looks forward to volunteering as an Ambassador and becoming active in the Chamber.
Chris Levchuk and her husband John Chris and her husband, John, moved to Ponte Vedra Beach in 2007, to be near her family. She holds a BS in Management and attended NYU's MBA program along with earning a Paralegal Certificate from Manhattanville College. Chris was born and raised in New York and left Westchester County after retiring as a marketing manager from the Verizon Corporation, (formerly the Nynex Corporation) in 1994. She became a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker in Columbia, SC, eventually owning her own company, Castle Hall Properties in Forest Acres. Chris sold her business and flew with Delta Airlines while based at LaGuardia Airport, eventually becoming an In flight Training Manager and Operations Supervisor with Independence Air at Dulles International. With the demise of Independence Air in 2006, she moved to San Diego with John, whose job had been relocated to Poway, CA. She went back to real estate, this time with Prudential California Realty, and worked out of their office in Mira Mesa. After moving here, Chris became a Pampered Chef Consultant and does cooking shows, fundraisers and markets all around the Jacksonville area. She is a Sustainer with the Junior League of Jacksonville and a Dame with Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. She and her husband live in Sawgrass' TPC along with pound puppies, BooBoo and Killy, lovebirds Kiki and Sami and on occasion, Matthew, their son, who is an assistant district attorney in Wilkes County, NC and Katharine, who recently graduated from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia with an International Relations degree.
Julie Washer was born in Detroit. MI, and graduated from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, with a degree in French Studies. After graduation, she moved to Paris and there she worked at the American College for three years. Julie returned to Massachusetts in 1982 and began her marketing career at Center for Advanced Engineering Study at MIT and she worked in the field for 10 years. Next she took a break and pursued her lifelong desire to become a chef. Julie attended L’Academie de Cuisine near Washington DC. After graduation, she relocated to New Mexico where she became a pastry chef for a 4-diamond hotel. After Julie relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach, she founded Metis Marketing Solutions in 2006. Her services include developing integrated marketing plans and customer contact strategies, and then designing and managing production of the print and web-based communication tools. Julie also leverages the power of the internet with ongoing, permission-based, customer contact. She has been involved with Ronald McDonald House and The Bear Foundation charities. She teaches conversational French in her spare time.
Are you interested in becoming an Ambassador? Ambassador Application (.pdf)
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