Top Technology Executives Recognized at the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards

Leading CIOs honored for leadership, innovation, and business impact.

/EIN News/ -- MIAMI, June 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards recognized the exceptional leadership and innovation of top technology executives from World Fuel Services, Kellanova, Belcorp, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Dolphins, TIME & Keyes. The prestigious ORBIE Awards - hosted by SouthFloridaCIO, a chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network - honor CIOs who drive business transformation and make a lasting impact on the industry.

Winners were recognized across seven categories: Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate, Corporate, Leadership. The ceremony, which took place at the The Diplomat Resort, brought together top executives and industry leaders to celebrate excellence in technology leadership.

“Great CIOs understand how connections drive transformation,” said Margaret Brisbane, SouthFloridaCIO Chair. “The ORBIE^® Awards recognize CIOs who leverage relationships to drive innovation, solve complex challenges, and shape the future of South Florida.”

Meet the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Award Winners: 

Jeff Smith, COO (ret), World Fuel Services, received the Leadership ORBIE.

Eric Firer, CIO, North America, Kellanova, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations.

Venkat Gopalan, Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer, Belcorp, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue and multi-national operations.

Tom Gillette, SVP & CIO, Mount Sinai Medical Center, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue.

Sameer Istafa, VP & CTO, Miami Dolphins, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $500 million annual revenue.

Sharon Milz, CIO, TIME, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $200 million annual revenue.

Wendi Iglesias, CIO, Keyes, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $200 million annual revenue.

About the ORBIE:

The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of executives. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria: 

• Leadership and management effectiveness 
• Business value created by technology innovation
• Engagement in industry and community endeavors
  

South Florida ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:  

The keynote address for the South Florida ORBIE Awards was delivered by Jeff Smith, COO (ret) at World Fuel Services, who was interviewed by Tricia Ferreira, SVP, Technology Product Management at World Kinect. Nearly 350 guests attended, representing leading South Florida organizations and their technology partners.

The following sponsors made the 2025 South Florida ORBIE Awards possible:

• Underwriters: Concord, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Kanini & ProSourceIT
• Gold Sponsors: Comcast Business, Future Tech Enterprise, Glean, The Ksquare Group, Nerdio & Tata Consultancy Services
• Silver Sponsors: Accenture, Crown Castle, Palo Alto Networks, Slalom Consulting, Tanium & Zscaler
• Bronze Sponsors: Alchemy Technology Group, Between Pixels, ContractPodAI, iPower, Pure Storage & Sigmoid Analytics
• Media Partner: South Florida Business Journal
• National Partner: YearUp United

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.

About SouthFloridaCIO:

SouthFloridaCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information officers (CIOs) in South Florida. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, SouthFloridaCIO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.

SouthFloridaCIO is led by a CIO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members.

About Inspire Leadership Network:

Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With nearly 2,000 members across more than 40 local chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.

Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/36bfb87f-9e25-4667-bce0-7eb902493bdd