Dr. Aida Levitan
An unstoppable cultural force, Dr. Aida Levitan is trailblazing entrepreneur, cultural leader and philanthropist. Since 2013, she has served as a member of the Board and was immediate past Chair of USCB Financial Holdings. Between 2019 and 2022, Dr. Levitan was the only Cuban-American female to chair a commercial community bank board in the U.S. with Forbes Magazine naming her to the 50Over50 list in 2022. A nationally recognized Hispanic advertising and public relations pioneer, she founded The Levitan Group in 2006. As Vice Chairperson/President of Bromley Communications, she help
transform it into the number one U.S. Hispanic advertising agency (Advertising Age). In 1986, she co-founded Sanchez & Levitan, selling the agency to Publicis Groupe in 2003. Under her leadership as Co-Chairman/CEO, Publicis Sanchez & Levitan became one of the top 10 U.S. Hispanic advertising agencies. Dr. Levitan serves as Trustee Emerita of Pérez Art Museum Miami. A past President of the National Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, she served as Chair of FACE (Facts About Cuban Exiles) and of the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection Amigos Board. In 1995, she founded ArtesMiami, supporting and promoting South Florida’s artists and cultural organizations, and continues to serve as its President and principal donor. She was elected to the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations in 2015. President Obama and the U.S. Congress named her to the National Museum of the American Latino Commission, and she was elected Vice Chair of the Smithsonian Latino Center National Board. Dr. Levitan has served on the corporate board of The Art Institutes and, as Chairman, of the Aetna Latino Advisory Council. She has received numerous awards for her community service. A Cuban-American who came to Miami in 1961 as an unaccompanied child (as part of Operación Pedro Pan), Aida Levitan obtained her Ph.D. and M.A. with a specialty in Spanish Literature, from Emory University and a B.A. from the University of Miami. She is an avid art collector of Latin American and U.S. Hispanic art and a writer of travel articles. Her son, Alex Fumero, is a film producer in Los Angeles. She is married to architect Fernando Petit.