SPOTLIGHT
The Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College (MDC) will host the first official FIFA exhibition in the U.S. as part of Miami’s role as a 2026 World Cup host city. FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently visited the campus to announce the exhibition, calling Miami “a global soccer capital.” The exhibition will showcase fútbol’s history, along with an internship program for MDC students at FIFA’s local office. Miami will host seven World Cup games, including the Bronze Final. Freedom Tower marks its centennial next year and is undergoing renovations.
The United States, Mexico and Canada are hosting the 2026 World Cup, which will feature teams from 48 nations. Meanwhile, Celebrity Cruise Line CEO and Miami native Lisa Lutoff-Perlo has been named CEO and president of the Miami Host Committee.
LAW
- Miami-based Kluger Kaplan has increased its H.T. Smith Legal Studies Scholarship from $10,000 to $15,000. The money goes to minority law school students from Florida universities to help cover tuition and a summer clerkship with the fi rm. The program, started in 2021, is named in honor of Smith, the founding director of the Trial Advocacy Program at Florida International University College of Law.
PHILANTHROPY
- Miami-based Helios Education Foundation is giving Achieve Miami $1 million over three years to help programs serving underserved schools in the county. The Achieve Scholars program provides college readiness workshops, mentoring and other support to Miami-Dade high school students, with 97% of participants being admitted into universities and nearly 80% earning scholarships.
- Billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott is donating $11 million in unrestricted grants to six Miami nonprofits through her Yield Giving Campaign. The charities — Branches, Bridge to Hope, Catalyst Miami, M.U.J.E.R., Florida Immigrant Coalition and Overtown Youth Center — provide services for people needing help with financial wellness, health care, naturalization, family violence and economic hard times.
EDUCATION
- FIU law graduates continue to enjoy better success passing the Florida Bar on their first try than any other program in the state. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners released data from February’s Bar exam, in which 82.6% of FIU grads passed on their first try. St. Thomas University College of Law grads passed 72% of the time. Stetson graduates passed 69% of the time, and the University of Florida saw only 12 of its 19 graduates (63%) pass the first time. Far more people take the Bar in July, but last year’s results were similar, with 91.1% of FIU grads passing on their initial try compared to 83.4% of FSU graduates, and 80.6% for Stetson and UF graduates.
FINTECH
- Renewable energy startup Exowatt says it will use $20 million in seed funding to deploy its modular, heat-driven renewable energy system to data centers throughout the country. The company claims its system, which includes a heat collector, a heat battery and a heat engine in a module about the size of a shipping container, can provide electricity 24 hours per day for as little as a penny per kilowatt hour, and without using rare earth materials. It sees AI-driven data centers as a growing market. Funding came from venture capital companies a16z, Atomic and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman.
RETAIL
- Miami’s Downtown Development Authority is spending up to $1.1 million for businesses moving to or expanding within the central business and arts and entertainment districts and Brickell Avenue. The investment builds on previous incentive efforts and includes up to $50,000 for startups, commercial office leases, and ground-floor retail businesses with less than $3 million in revenue. The authority is funded by a special property tax within the district boundaries.
IN MEMORIAM
“I look for honesty and loyalty in people, and that’s it. I made up my mind a long time ago when I was a general contractor that people will make mistakes and I, the boss, the owner, have to be able to afford their mistakes. They will make mistakes. I will make mistakes.”
— Tibor Hollo, 96, Florida East Coast Realty founder and Miami real estate pioneer who helped build the city’s skyline. Madeline