Written by Miami Today on June 10, 2026
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The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce fixed a spotlight on education needs and two community icons as it installed local American Airlines hub chief Juan Carlos Liscano as chairman in its annual membership meeting Friday.
The goals conference, a chamber staple for four decades, continued its overriding sports theme as Miami prepared for a FIFA World Cup match here this week, the first of seven matches on the local schedule. Last year the theme was basketball as Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega, a former college basketball star, was installed as chamber chair.
President Alfred Sanchez pledged that the chamber would continue to focus on four major targets that were initiated last year: transportation, workforce housing, workforce development, and sustainability.
The conference touched on the international nature of Miami-Dade County, with pledges of chamber membership missions to go to each of Panama, Peru and Brazil – nations to which county residents have recently been named U.S. ambassadors by President Donald Trump.
As Mr. Liscano, American Airlines’ vice president of Miami hub operations, was installed, he told of his path to his professional role that started in 1994 with what he thought would be a temporary job at Miami International Airport with American Airlines as he planned for a career in a totally different field. But he never left aviation because “I got jet fuel in my veins.”
Mr. Liscano, a native of Colombia, told the luncheon meeting at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami that “I fully believe in Miami. Full stop. I live it and I breathe it.”
Looking at Ms. Pumariega, Mr. Liscano said, “Madeline, you didn’t just guide this chamber – you elevated it…. I fully believe as you do that Miami’s best days are ahead of us.”
While American is based in Fort Worth and Miami is one of its hubs, Mr. Liscano emphasized, “Miami is the center of the universe.”
Nonetheless, he underscored concerns, saying “Housing costs are outpacing wages, and our development is at risk.” He reiterated that the chamber has placed its focus on housing affordability and suggested that the problem can be solved. “Miami is resilient,” he said.
The chamber each year presents two awards at its conference.
The M. Athalie Range Pioneer of Progress Award was presented to Alina Hudak, who is president and CEO of the Miami Host Committee for the World Cup matches and was honored for her earlier 42 years in local government that included serving as Miami-Dade County’s only female county manager – a position that has since been folded into the mayor’s position – and as Miami Beach city manager.
George Bermudez, senior vice president at Bank of America who is destined to become next year’s chamber chairman, presented the award to Ms. Hudak, noting that the first World Cup match here at that point was just six days away and it was just 27 days until the Portugal-Colombia match here, which he termed the most popular match in the world.
Ms. Hudak said she had been asked the night before which team she was rooting for in the tournament. Her diplomatic answer: “The only team I’m rooting for is Team Miami.”
The Henry M. Flagler Community Builder Award was presented to Ron Magill, who just retired as ZooMiami goodwill ambassador and is now working with the Miami Foundation.
Mr. Magill referred to his start 46 years ago as a zookeeper at the former Crandon Park Zoo on Key Biscayne, where his tools were a wheelbarrow, a rake and a shovel. Referring to his honor, he said humbly that “I have been living a scam for 46 years” because the zoo’s work was done by others and “I am simply a storyteller.”
In that vein, he referred to Ms. Hudak, who had just received her honor. “Being a great leader is not being the smartest person in the room. It’s making all of the other people in the room better,” he said, and he was honored just to be in the room with Ms. Hudak, who had been in charge of all county operations for part of the time he worked at the county’s zoo.
A panel looked at the future of education in workforce development. Mr. Liscano pointed to efforts to find and hire a county school superintendent as the contract of incumbent Jose L. Dotres expires, saying “This is probably the most critical hire decision we have done in quite a while.”
“We have the opportunity to leapfrog and lead the nation in education growth,” said Partnership for Miami President Raul Moas.
Said Miami Dade College President Pumariega of education in the community, “we’re 20th century institutions competing in a 21st century economy.”
Ms. Pumariega cited quandaries of education and educators: “How do you measure knowledge? How do you know that you know?… How do you reevaluate your ability to problem-solve?”
Regarding whether computer-based teaching will displace teachers in classrooms, America First Policy Institute Chair of Education Opportunity Erika Donalds said, “The more valuable skill is going to be face to face,” while the greatest needs are to develop logic and rhetoric.