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A Connection That Makes Good Business Sense Keynote Speakers
| Dino Farfante, President Insight Enterprises, Inc. |
Dino Farfante is currently the President of Insight Direct Worldwide, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Insight Enterprises, Inc., a Tempe, Arizona-based, Fortune 1000 company. In this role, Mr. Farfante directs the creation and implementation of the company’s worldwide strategy. Mr. Farfante joined Insight North America in 1996 and was named to his current role in October 2003. From November 2002 to October 2003 he served as the President of Insight North America, Inc. and has also served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Chief Operating Officer. Immediately prior to joining Insight, Mr. Farfante spent 10 years at Merisel, a hardware and software technology distributor based in El Segundo, California, where he held progressively-responsible sales and support positions including serving as the Vice President of Sales and Operations. A
1986 graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Computer
Engineering, Mr. Farfante is a member of the Board of
Directors of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and an active member
of his community. |
Tom
Fraker, |
Tom Fraker, executive director of the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA), has built a broad base of business experience in growing private organizations as well as developing nonprofit entities. Prior to his ASBA position, Tom served as Phoenix’s city director of an international missionary organization, ISI Inc. Before that position, he was the executive director of Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic organization, similar to a venture capital fund, whose mission is to help nonprofit organizations move toward self-sustainability through investments in capital and human resources. In the late 1990’s, Tom served as president of Private Mortgage Investment Services, where he was actively involved in developing new products, long-term planning, and securing venture capital and financing. Tom has owned several small businesses ranging from service companies to light manufacturing. Tom's professional background also includes working in senior management positions with real estate and financial service companies in Phoenix, such as Suncor Partners, Southwest Financial Services, and Warwick Capital. As a volunteer, Tom's entrepreneurial spirit and passion for giving led to the creation of several nonprofit organizations in Phoenix. He learned through research that there is a desperate housing need for the severely mentally ill and homeless populations. He successfully secured a HUD grant to purchase a motel and established the fully-integrated Lamplighter SMI Homeless Shelter. Tom also obtained seed grants to help launch Christmas in April *Phoenix (CAP) and served as that organization’s first president. Since its beginning in 1992, CAP has repaired 478 Homes and 27 Community Projects valued at $4.3 million with the help of 35,250 volunteers. His CAP involvement brought to Tom’s attention the need for affordable home improvement supplies. He founded Stardust Building Supplies (SBS), a nonprofit organization that sells recycled, reusable building materials at substantial discounts to people and groups in need. SBS has two large warehouses in Phoenix and Mesa, totaling 57,000 sq. ft. Thus far, the enterprise has recycled 3,000 tons of reusable building materials and has donated $900,000 worth of materials to nonprofit organizations. Tom received his Bachelor of Arts from Albion College and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Before moving to Arizona in 1983, he spent fifteen years working as vice president for Wall Street investment banking firms The Goldman, Sachs Group Inc. and Smith Barney in New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Tom and his wife, Rebecca, now live in Scottsdale and have a family of six children. |
| Michal
Goforth,
Executive Director HealthCare Group of Arizona |
Michal
Goforth has more than two decades of experience in the administration
of health care benefits in both the public and private sectors.
Her expertise in this area includes strategic planning, network
development, benefit design and quality improvement program development.
She has provided these services for major health care organizations
including BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona and the Samaritan Hospital
System as well as Indian tribes throughout Arizona, California
and Nevada.
Ms. Goforth joined AHCCCS in 1999 as a Quality Initiative Administrator. In 2003, she took on the role of Community Resource Director for Healthcare Group of Arizona, the agency’s health plan for uninsured small businesses. She was promoted to Director of Healthcare Group in 2003 and has led a major initiative to expand the program from 10,000 to 100,000 members during the next three to five years. |
| Congressman J.D. Hayworth, 5th District of Arizona |
Congressman
J.D. Hayworth represents Arizona's 5th Congressional District
in Washington, D.C. He is serving his fifth two-year term
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
J.D. serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the first Representative from Arizona to be appointed to this important post. The Ways and Means Committee is responsible for all tax-related legislation, as well as issues involving trade, Social Security and Medicare. J.D. also serves on the Resources Committee. He is an Assistant Whip in the leadership organization. He was elected chairman of the House Conservative Opportunity Society for the 107th Congress. J.D. spearheaded the effort to save San Carlos Lake from drying up, thereby preventing a devastating situation for recreationists, anglers, endangered species, and farmers. During his first term in the House, J.D. sponsored legislation that preserves Saddleback Mountain near Scottsdale, as well as a bill that expands the Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff. J.D.'s legislation to aid the Alpine Elementary School District in obtaining federally-controlled land for additional school facilities has also been signed into law. J.D. founded and chairs the Constitutional Caucus and sponsored the "Congressional Responsibility Act," which improves accountability in the legislative process. J.D. also chaired a bi-partisan task force that investigated the possible misuse of over $2.4 billion in Indian Trust Fund accounts. In his first term, National Review magazine listed J.D. as one of the top ten conservative newcomers to Congress. Prior to his election to Congress, J.D. was a public relations consultant, an insurance agent, and a radio news commentator. His media career included both radio and television, most notably seven years as a sports anchor on channel 10 in Phoenix. A member of several local Republican organizations, J.D. is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International. He is a member of the North Ridge Community Church, serves as a volunteer reader for various community groups, and is a speaker for D.A.R.E. He is also active in scouting, having earned the Eagle Scout Award. J.D. goes home almost every weekend to his Arizona district, meeting with constituents and spending time with his family. He earned a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from North Carolina State University in speech communications and political science in 1980. J.D. and his wife Mary have three children and reside in Scottsdale, Arizona. |
| Darcy
R. Renfro, Assistant Deputy Director Arizona Department of Commerce |
Darcy Renfro serves as the Assistant Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce in the area of Workforce Development. Her role is to draw the link between economic development, education and employment and to strengthen business-driven workforce development statewide. Prior to joining Commerce in 2003 she practiced law in the areas of governmental relations, utility regulation and general litigation with the Phoenix office of Fennemore Craig. Before joining the firm, Ms. Renfro worked on staff for Senators Dennis DeConcini (AZ) and Howard Metzenbaum (OH) in the U.S. Senate. She helped start a political consulting firm in Tucson and represented candidates for positions on the U.S. Senate, Tucson City Council, the Pima County Board of Supervisors, and the Arizona State Legislature as well as private sector and community organizations to pass major initiatives and referendums. PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
EDUCATION AND HONORS
|
| Donald
A. Smith, Jr., CEO and President Arizona Compensation Fund |
Mr. Smith became
President & CEO of Arizona State Compensation Fund in June
2000, following 26 years of private and public sector management
and insurance experience. In 1974, Mr. Smith obtained his B.A.
degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
He obtained his Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter
(CPCU) designation in September 1994, and his Juris Doctor (J.D.)
degree in May 2000, after attending Widener School of Law in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. In May 2001, Mr. Smith was admitted to the Arizona
Bar.
Over a span of twenty years, Mr. Smith developed a career with Continental Corporation, an insurance company based in New York, ultimately becoming Vice President and Director of the company’s Mid-Atlantic Region. In 1995, he joined the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry. Mr. Smith was appointed Deputy Secretary for Compensation and Insurance by the Governor of Pennsylvania and was responsible for combined oversight of the Bureau of Disability Determination, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the State Workers’ Insurance Fund (SWIF). An advocate of community service, Mr. Smith has served on the Board of Directors of Family Services of York, Pennsylvania and also with the York Chamber of Commerce. He now serves as Chairman of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is also a member of the CPCU Society, presently Chair of the Phoenix Chapter. Mr. Smith resides with his wife in Carefree,
Arizona. |
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