Dana Clay
President
As principal and president
of Everett Clay Associates, Ms. Clay has been an innovator in designing and implementing successful communications
programs. She gives her clients insight and vision as they seek solutions to complex communications problems.
Heading the oldest public relations company in Florida with more than 30 years in the family business, she has
learned the values of quality, consistency, tradition and public service. She has worked on scores of financial
and high-end related projects and implemented award-winning work for British Airways in the southeastern United
States and the Caribbean for 12 years.
The recipient of numerous industry awards including the Addy, Emmy, Big Mike, Golden Image, Gold Quill and Clarion, she has been sought after by major business organizations and individuals for communications advice. Clay is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America. She attended Queens College, Charlotte, N.C. and received a Bachelor of science degree in journalism from the University of Alabama, where she served as editor of the daily newspaper.
Melisa Mendez Chantres
Vice President, Interactive and Emerging Media
Mrs. Chantres oversees strategic media operations for the firm's tourism, professional services, and legal clients.
She is responsible for securing media for TotalBank, a locally-owned community bank and Hispanic media relations
for the Jamaica Tourist Board. Previously, she managed public relations for the Aruba Tourism Authority for
four years developing regional bilingual communications strategies for the U.S. and Canadian markets. She works
closely with both national and regional television and print media including, The Weather Channel, Univision,
The New York Times, Travel & Leisure and many others. She also works closely on the firm's legal accounts
securing media placements, most recently for Hunton & Williams, the world's leading law firm and its attorneys.
She received her B.A.S. in public relations and theatre management with a minor in marketing from the University
of Miami (UM) in 2000. Mrs. Chantres, who is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, received her master's degree
in music business and entertainment industries at UM.
Edmond J. Gong, ESQ.
Edmond J. Gong heads
Public Policy Consultants. He is a former public official who served 10 years in the Florida Legislature, first
as a member of the House of Representatives for four years and then as a member of the Florida Senate for six
years. A native Miamian with a degree in Government from Harvard University, Gong started his adult career as
a journalist for the Hong Kong Standard and then as a staff writer for The Miami Herald. He has also done freelance
writing for Time and Life magazines.
After working as a journalist for four years, he received his law degree from the University of Miami School
of Law, and worked in an international law firm for a year. Gong was then appointed as an Assistant United States
Attorney for the Southern District of Florida by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. As a member of the Florida
Bar, he has practiced law for over 40 years.
Business Manager
Ms. Gong has been business
manager at Everett Clay Associates since 1989 and is responsible for the personnel and fiscal issues of the
firm. She started as an editor, working on copy for press releases and client projects such as brochures.
As an editor, she also wrote articles on behalf of clients that were published in local business journals. She graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and art history.
Senior Account Executive
Ms. Suarez manages client development and market research, as well as targets media contacts and pitches key media for firm clients. She boasts a strong communications background, with six years of daily, weekly and monthly reporting experience. She began her career at The Miami Herald reporting on inner-city community issues, later joining Miami Today covering the City of Miami amid the simmering city commission’s frequent controversial business and political decisions from the sale of the Miami Arena to fishing a new ballpark for the Florida Marlins. In 2005, she made a move to glossy as the lead writer at South Florida CEO magazine interviewing senior executives of major South Florida and Latin American corporations. Suarez, who is fluent in English and Spanish, has a bachelor of science in communication from Florida International University.
