New chair at St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
December 11, 2020 - Melissa Seixas is ending a three-year term as chair of the board of directors of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. Seixas, vice president, Florida government and community relations at Duke Energy Corp., chaired her final Downtown Partnership meeting Thursday. She will be succeeded by Derek Houston, partner and cofounder at Houston Taylor Law in St. Petersburg. Seixas was the first female chair of the Downtown Partnership. During her chairmanship, the Downtown Partnership hired Jason Mathis as CEO in 2018. The organization also grew its membership and its board. "With your vision and hard work we think we've been able to position ourselves very well for the immediate future, to be able to give the thoughtful input our downtown needed That was all part of your vision and plan, the first step being getting Jason here, which has been a great fit," Houston said.