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Jennifer Kruse, MSA
Executive Director
As Executive Director for the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG), Jennifer Kruse creates and oversees innovative programs and supports for problem gamblers, their loved ones, and related professionals, including the statewide 888-ADMIT-IT Problem Gambling HelpLine, nationally recognized for its exceptional 24-hour, confidential, and multilingual service. During her 20 years with the FCCG, Jennifer has authored and co-authored problem gambling research in scientific journals and other publications, has been featured and recognized as a problem gambling expert by local and national media outlets, and has provided essential problem gambling prevention education, in Florida and beyond, through various conference presentations and appearances on problem-gambling-specific podcasts.
She has served on the Board of Directors for the National Council on Problem Gambling as well as in various roles on national problem gambling committees. Jennifer spearheads the FCCG’s Responsible Gambling and Player Protection Program for industry and has trained thousands of gambling facility employees to meet statutory requirements. She has also provided training and education for population-specific service providers, including legal and judicial professionals, healthcare providers, governmental organizations and policymakers, community audiences, and others, on problem and disordered gambling. Jennifer received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Master’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Central Florida.
David Griffin, Esq.
President of the Board
David Griffin is a licensed attorney and has operated his own consulting firm since 2003. Prior to starting David Griffin Consulting, he held positions in athletic, public and private enterprises. In 1999 David was appointed Secretary of the Florida Lottery by Governor Jeb Bush and led the operation, management and revenue performance of the agency. During his tenure, the lottery achieved four consecutive years of record setting profits and the Lottery’s operating budget was reduced by 8.5 percent to $126.5 million while revenues increased by twenty percent, from $2 billion to $2.8 billion. David’s other positions include Assistant Executive Director of the Ohio Lottery Commission, Labor Relations Manager for Bailey Controls Company and MRI Marketing Manager for King’s Medical. David also played one season of professional basketball in France.
David’s past and current board affiliations include: Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, Transforming Ministries, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Big Bend, Take-Stock in Children, The Florida Technology Research and Scholarship Board, Florida Tax Watch, Florida A & M Board of Trustees, Volunteer USA Foundation.
David earned a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland Marshall College of Law in Ohio, a M.B.A. from Lake Erie College in Ohio and a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Development from Penn State University, where he attended on a full athletic scholarship and was co-captain of the men’s varsity basketball team.
John Fontana
Vice President of the Board
John Fontana, as the former president of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, oversaw the day-to-day operations of the world’s sixth-largest casino and a 12-story, 246-room hotel. Fontana also served as the first president of Seminole Hard Rock Support Services, established in 2017 to coordinate and consolidate
staff functions while streamlining operations.
John Fontana retired as president of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa in 2018 after 38 years of working with the Tribe. As general manager of the original Seminole Casino Tampa, the Florida State University graduate coupled his financial training and management acumen with a unique experience to help transform a few rough acres around an abandoned J.M. Fields store into the award-winning Hard Rock Tampa, one of the most profitable casino in the United States.
Fontana’s career in Indian gaming includes stints as a consultant on the opening teams for the initial facilities built for the Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, Calif., and Little Six Casino in Prior Lake, Minn. Fontana also serves on the board for the Florida Council for Compulsive Gambling.
Fontana is the son of Jean Fontana, who worked myriad jobs during her 40 years as a valued Seminole Tribal government employee, including assistant controller, risk manager and Human Resources Department director for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. John Fontana’s brother, Vincent, is a storage manager for the Seminole Tribe Accounting Department in Hollywood.
Paul Pellizzari
Board Member
Paul Pellizzari is Vice President—Global Social Responsibility, Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming. For over two decades he has led corporate strategies and operational programs that include environmental sustainability, anti-human trafficking, purpose-driven marketing, responsible gambling, and community impact.
Throughout his career, he has worked for multi-national and large corporations, and consultancies. He has collaborated with different orders of government, the United Nations, and with local, national and international not-for-profit organizations. He is the author of two books and many articles, and has been adjunct faculty at Queen’s University, in Kingston Ontario. His programs have received numerous global and North American awards, including twice being recognized for the world’s best responsible gambling program by the World Lottery Association.
John A. Colón
Board Member
John A. Colón is the Managing Partner of Sanderling Partners. He has spent over 30 years managing investments for his clients, and has been duly recognized by several prominent firms. Mr. Colón most recently served as a Senior Vice President-Investments at Wells Fargo Advisors in downtown Sarasota. Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors, Mr. Colón spent more than a decade at Morgan Stanley in New York. While there he attained the rank of First Vice President, and was tapped to open the Locust Valley, NY office of the firm which he managed for several years.
Outside of the office, Mr. Colón has been active in his community both locally and at the state level. He has served as a Gubernatorial appointee on the State Board of Education, and the Manatee County Schoolboard. Mr. Colón has also been a Commissioner of the Sarasota Housing Authority since 2005, and has served as its chairman 4 times over the years.
Rory Reid, Ph.D., LCSW, ICGC-II
Board Member
Dr. Rory Reid holds a master’s degree in social work and a doctorate in clinical psychology with a dual emphasis in Neuropsychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA and additional post-doctoral training in clinical research at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Reid is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Research Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA and an International Certified Gambling Counselor. He has published numerous research articles on problem gambling in scientific journals and has worked with hundreds of individuals, couples, and families negatively impacted by various addictions and other mental health issues. His work has been featured in press outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, as well as TV specials on ABC, CBS and Fox News. He serves on the editorial boards for several peer-reviewed journals and has trained and educated mental health professionals, industry specialists, government organizations, and community audiences around the world on problem gambling issues.
Jonathan Zachem, Esq.
Board Member
Jonathan “Jon” Zachem is a Tallahassee based lawyer with a Master’s in Business Administration. Prior to founding Zachem Law, P.A., Jon was appointed by former governor Rick Scott to lead Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). As Secretary of DBPR, Jon licensed and regulated over one million entities including those in alcohol beverage and tobacco, pari-mutuel wagering, real estate, hotels and restaurants, and construction. Jon was actively engaged with over 20 boards and commissions around the state and has provided expert testimony before the Florida Legislature. Prior to his service as Secretary of DBPR, Jon was chief legal counsel for the DBPR’s Pari-Mutuel Wagering division.
Jon began his legal career as an attorney with the Florida Department of Health prosecuting administrative actions against medical professionals in front of the Board of Medicine. Jon has experience successfully representing clients before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH).
Jon, a Florida native, holds a B.A. from the University of Florida, a J.D. from Barry University School of Law, and a M.B.A. from the University of South Florida. Jon and his wife, Betty, have three sons.
