WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.- The Norton Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees has elected two new members, Francine Walker and James “Chip” DiPaula.
Francine Walker is a nonprofit board director and marketing and events professional who has worked across the luxury fashion, beauty, jewelry, and corporate sectors.
Walker provides strategic and creative event and marketing consulting, design, and management services to a diverse clientele, including charitable organizations, corporations, fine jewelry purveyors, art galleries, and hotels.
Walker’s professional experience includes serving as the Area Marketing Manager for Saks Fifth Avenue, where she developed and executed strategic marketing plans across multiple locations.
For a decade, she ran FA Walker Designs/Decor and You, conceptualizing and executing interior design plans, managing operations, and cultivating a client base through networking and targeted marketing. Her expertise also extends to sourcing African art and artifacts for collectors, galleries, and interior designers.
She serves as vice chair and development chair of the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Foundation Board of Directors, fundraising chair and foundation chair for Jack and Jill of America Palm Beach Chapter, and positions in the Junior League of The Palm Beaches and Chicago. She has received awards that include Jack and Jill of America Palm Beach Chapter Mother of the Year, Manager of the Year Award at Saks Palm Beach, and Sales in Excellence and Top Designer Award at Decor and You.
DiPaula co-founded and was a director of Flywheel Digital, a pioneering digital advertising, eCommerce, and technology firm that optimizes sales for the world's largest brands.
He serves on the boards of directors of Flywheel, now a division of Omnicom; WaveDancer, a Nasdaq listed technology services company; the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, where he chairs the Philanthropy Committee; The Cox Science Center and Aquarium, where he chairs the Marketing Committee; and the Promise Fund of Florida. He is a founding board member of Journey to Lead, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the diversity and trajectory of women in leadership and served as chairman of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), with 25K+ employees and $4B+ annual revenues.
DiPaula has led groundbreaking political campaigns and complex public sector organizations, including one of the nation's first successful marriage equality campaigns in Maryland in 2012.
He was chief of staff to the governor of Maryland. In 2003, he was appointed the youngest secretary of the Department of Budget & Management in Maryland history. As secretary, he launched a strategic budgeting initiative that resolved $4 billion in budget deficits through performance-based analysis. He served as trustee on the Maryland State Retirement and Pension Board, helping the Investment and Administrative Committees manage a $34 billion endowment fund on behalf of more than 300,000 members.
“Chip and Francine have come aboard as we continue our mission to develop the Museum and make it accessible to all,” said Bruce Gendelman, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We all will benefit from their passion for the Norton, their expertise, and their creative input.”
The Board of Trustees is the Museum’s governing body, comprised of volunteers who serve four-year terms and collectively have responsibility for the management, direction, and determination of policy of the Museum.
