Melissa Jordon, Esq., is a Partner at Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel, LLP and a proud double Cane of the University! Originally from Connecticut, Melissa transitioned to making Miami her home while she completed her studies at the University of Miami’s joint “3+3" Honor Program in Law. She has the distinction of being the University’s first female graduate of the program. While at the University, Melissa was committed to the Model United Nations Team and served as head delegate in her junior year. Melissa also participated in campus activities and associations including the Political Science Honor Society, for which she served as an officer in 2013 and president in 2014. Melissa graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in history and political science.
As a student at the University of Miami School of Law, Melissa served as a senator on the Student Bar Association government and as dean of the Senate in her final year. Melissa was actively engaged through the Law Ambassador Program, International Moot Court Board, Charles C. Papy, Jr., Moot Court Board, and the International and Comparative Law Review. As an Alumna, Melissa continuously serves as a committee member of the annual Law Alumni Association Homecoming Golf Tournament and currently serves as a director on the University of Miami Law Alumni Board of Directors. Upon graduation from the University of Miami School of Law with Latin honors in 2016, Melissa began her legal career at one of the oldest law firms in South Florida, Walton Lantaff Schroeder & Carson, LLP. Here, she handled a large volume of first and third party insurance disputes for various domestic carriers. In 2020, Melissa became the youngest attorney at the firm to be elevated to Partnership. Melissa continued her career in 2021 as Senior Counsel at Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, LLP., where she represented various London Market Insurers in a vast array of large loss multi-million dollar insurance coverage and litigation disputes in Florida and throughout the U.S. At Hamilton Miller & Birthsel, LLP, Melissa’s practice currently focuses on first party property insurance, bad faith defense litigation, and first and third party insurance coverage matters. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Melissa also had the recent honor and opportunity to complete a Secondment with Canopius, an insurance syndicate that is part of the Lloyd’s of London Insurance Market, Spring 2024.
When not zealously representing her clients, Melissa is committed to bettering her community. In addition to serving her Alma Matter, she spends much of her free time serving on both charitable and professional boards and organizations. Melissa has been committed to service on the Miami-Dade County Bar Association since 2017. She currently has the honor and privilege of serving as the Vice President of the Miami Dade Bar Association Board of Directors. In addition, Melissa has been a long time supporter of Chapman Partnership- a local charitable organization dedicated to empowering the homeless- she currently serves as the Council Chair for NextGen; the young professionals group benefiting the charitable mission of Chapman Partnership. In her free time, Melissa is an avid golfer, enjoys spending time with family, friends, swimming, and tasting her way through the many restaurants Miami has to offer. She enjoys playing recreational sports and a favorite pastime of hers is attending live sporting events. She is a die-hard ’Canes football fan and makes an effort to attend every home game.
Brianna is a litigator at Lomax Legal who handles civil and criminal matters at the firm. She began her career at Jones Day, a prestigious law firm that consistently ranks as one of the top 10 law firms in the world. As an associate in Jones Day’s Business and Tort Litigation practice, Brianna represented clients in a variety of complex commercial litigation and class action matters. She also maintained an extensive pro bono practice: advocating for civil rights plaintiffs, representing survivors of human trafficking, and engaging in policing reform initiatives as part of the firm's Constitutional Policing and Civil Justice Reform Initiative and Hate Crimes Task Force. Following her time at Jones Day, Brianna completed a federal clerkship with Judge Darrin P. Gayles of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Brianna earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2019. At NYU Law, she participated in numerous clinics focused on racial justice and criminal justice reform, such as the Criminal Defense and Reentry Clinic and the Civil Rights Clinic: Challenging Mass Incarceration. Through her clinical experiences, Brianna worked with esteemed legal organizations, such as the Brooklyn Defender Services, the Parole Preparation Project, and the American Civil Liberties Union. She also served as an executive board member of NYU Law’s Student Bar Association. As an undergraduate student at the University of Miami, Brianna dedicated herself to several student organizations, was elected to serve as the Student Government President, and was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor attained at the University. Prior to her new role in the University's Young Alumni Leadership Council, she was the President-Elect and Co-Chair of the Strategic Engagement Committee. Brianna is also an active member of the Miami community, serving as a member of Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.’s Young Professionals Committee, a committee chair for the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association, and was a fellow for Dade Legal Aid’s Class VI Leadership Academy.
Candice Johnson Pollowitz, B.S.P.H. ’16 1st VP, Membership Committee Special Projects Assistant, Neuro-development of Words! Programs Candice Louise Johnson Pollowitz is a Special Projects Assistant working with the NOW! Company to expand global literacy. Prior to her new role, she was the director of student activities and leadership development at Ringling College of Art + Design in Sarasota, FL. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, Candice continued her studies as a master’s student in education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, focusing on student affairs administration and higher education. During her time as a graduate student, she oversaw the Campus Activities Board and supervised the programming assistants in the Campus Activities and Programs office. Candice worked as an intern for residence and student life at SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn. Her professional career has been devoted to developing students of all backgrounds to achieve their potential and grow as individuals. Candice hopes to encourage students to celebrate and embrace opinions and individuals’ diversity instead of allowing it to divide.
Austin Payne is a Certified Public Accountant at Kaufman Rossin in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He provides tax compliance and consulting services to entrepreneurial businesses primarily in real estate, hospitality, and construction. After graduating from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Austin continued his studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and graduated with a Master of Science in Accountancy. Prior to joining Kaufman Rossin, Austin worked at Grant Thornton LLP and Ernst Young LLP. Austin is a proud third-generation alumnus of the University following his grandfather and parents. While completing his undergraduate degree, Austin was involved in the Homecoming Executive Committee, Interfraternity Council, Miami Athletics, and Iron Arrow. You can find him cheering on his 'Canes year-round. In his free time, Austin enjoys being active and hanging out family and friends. He continues to remain involved in his local community by advancing the mission of the University of Miami Young Alumni Leaders Council, volunteering at the Jack & Jill Center to support children of high-need parents, and assisting the Gold Star Sailing Foundation to provide unique opportunities and adventures to the surviving children of fallen military service members.
I am a proud graduate of the University of Miami with a dual degree in economics and communications. I was born and raised an hour from the U in Boca Raton and spent many years traveling throughout the country competing in women’s amateur golf and national junior golf tournaments. While at Miami, I was captain of the nationally-ranked women’s golf team for three years and was a three-time selection to the ACC Academic All-Conference Team. During my senior year, our ’Canes women’s golf team advanced to the NCAA finals tournament for the first time in over 20 years. Representing the University of Miami on the national stage was one of the highlights of my college experience. Being a student-athlete at the U taught me discipline, time management, and hard work, which are values that I carry with me to this day. These values allowed me to double major, maintain a high GPA, earn the Frazier D. White Communication Award, and gain acceptance and an academic scholarship to Loyola Law School, a top law school in Los Angeles. While at Loyola, I served as a judicial extern in federal court for the Honorable Judge Klausner in the Central District of California, was a member of the Entertainment Law Review, and served on the editorial board as the senior articles and symposia editor. During this time, I wrote an article on sports gambling legislation, "Going ‘All In’ after Murphy v. NCAA: An Approach for California to Legalize Sports Gambling,” that was published in the University of California Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal. I graduated in May 2020 and subsequently passed the California Bar Exam. I currently live in Newport Beach and am an associate attorney at DLA Piper LLP, representing companies in mergers and acquisitions as well as venture capital strategic investments. At DLA Piper, I am a member of the Media, Sport and Entertainment sector, where our team of attorneys focuses on new legal developments in sports betting, among other things. I have lived in Southern California for the past five years, splitting my time between Los Angeles and Newport Beach. I am grateful to have my two brothers, Ryan and Blair, nearby, as well as my parents, who split their time between Florida and California. I have so many fond memories of my time at the University of Miami, and although I have made my home in Southern California, I am always so heartened by the universal recognition of the U. I will forever be a proud ’Cane, and I look forward to serving students, alumni, and the entire University of Miami community as a member of the Young Alumni Leaders Council.
Willie is a research analyst for Channing Global Advisors, LLC. He works with an investment team whose focus is on investments in emerging markets, international developed, and global equity securities with over $300 million in total assets under management. He works directly with the Lead Portfolio Managers on fundamental company research and analysis of securities, as well as with the Global Equity Trader on trade execution, settlements, and reconciliation. He has significant exposure to analyzing global portfolio company holdings located in over 52 different countries. Willie attended the University of Miami where he earned his B.A in economics, while also being a member of the Men's Basketball Team from 2018-2021 as a point guard. Willie made the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Honors Court for 2 consecutive years, a plaudit that goes to undergraduate men’s basketball players in their junior or senior academic year who posted a GPA of at least 3.2 for the year. Herenton for the second time in a row, was among the group of exactly 15 ACC players on the list. As a reward for his hard work and dedication, Willie was awarded a full athletic scholarship during his time at the University of Miami. His short term goal upon graduation was to seek a position at a high level firm to leverage his strong analytical skills, leadership ability, and passion for public and private markets. He is familiar with team concepts being a student athlete for the University of Miami and has acquired skills to learn, collaborate with others, and mentor.
Ashley is a Freelance Event Producer in Miami, FL. She works closely with corporate clients to bring their event vision to life. This includes producing conferences, town halls, product launches, and more across the globe. After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami in 2017 she returned to work at UM in the Office of Commencement and Special Projects. During her time there she planned countless Commencement Ceremonies, revamped the Senior Send-Off program, and worked closely with student organizations on their programming efforts. While working in the Office of Commencement she earned her Master’s degree in Communication Studies. Ashley Pittaluga is a proud double ‘Cane and University of Miami legacy. She grew up going to the Orange Bowl and Hurricanes football has always been a big part of her life. As an undergraduate student, Ashley was very involved in several student organizations. She was part of the first Freshman Leadership Council, elected to serve as Vice President of Student Government, served as Chair of the Homecoming Executive Committee, and was tapped into Iron Arrow Honor Society.
Landon Coles is currently in his 1L year at Harvard Law School, where he is focused on social justice, public policy, and business law. Previously, he supported global corporate communications at The Estée Lauder Companies. With a concentration on corporate sustainability and the global value chain, Landon provided project management support at ESG-focused, global convenings; advanced DEI efforts across the Global Supply Chain and Research & Development priority areas; and activated around sustainable innovation narratives including responsible sourcing, green chemistry, sustainable packaging, biodiversity, and climate change.
In his time at the University of Miami, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with double minors in Business Law and Strategic Communications in May 2022. As a dynamic student leader, he served in a variety of prominent leadership roles across campus including as the 2021-2022 Student Government President and Student Trustee, United Black Students President, and worked in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. He was also a recipient of the Ronald A. Hammond Scholarship.
Members at Large
Alexander Esquivel, B.B.A. '16, M.ACC. '16
SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL RISK, ERNST AND YOUNG, LLP
