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2024 Diversity & Inclusion Awards Honoree: Melissa Fitzgerald

Meet Melissa Fitzgerald, General Manager of the FTL War Memorial

Melissa Fitzgerald joined the Florida Panthers in July 2022 as the General Manager of the FTL War Memorial complex. She spent the fifteen years prior with the San Jose Sharks, operating an arena and practice facility similarly situated to the War Memorial in a vibrant, socio-economically diverse, downtown urban market. Prior to her tenure with the Sharks, Melissa created and operated youth hockey programs in the San Francisco Bay area. She worked as a Hockey Director for the Zamboni family for over ten years at their three Bay Area rinks. During this time, she established one of the first NHL Diversity Task Force (now Hockey Is For Everyone) member clubs and helped to facilitate the first girls’ hockey program in Northern California. Melissa currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. Throughout her career, she has served in a variety of capacities within USA Hockey, including as a Director and Youth Chair for the California Amateur Hockey Association, President of the Northern California Youth Hockey Association, and Director of the Amateur Hockey Officials Corporation. Her education includes an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA.

Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.