Launa Carbonell
Executive Director
Key staff
Launa Carbonell
Launa Carbonell joins the organization with extensive experience in regional government and management, most recently as Acting Transit Manager, Marketing, Communications and Customer Relations for Broward County Government. In this role, she oversaw marketing, communications, and customer relations for a team of more than 50, building a team focused approach to the department. That focus on teamwork expanded to her role in the community, where she built relationships and collaborated with the South Florida business community and transportation sector, working alongside Port Everglades, Port Everglades Association, and other maritime industry partners.
Carbonell is a graduate of Barry University, where she earned both her MBA and bachelor's degree in business administration. She also is a graduate of Global Oved Dei Seminary & University as a C-Suite Executive Chaplain and holds a Project Management Certification Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt among many other certifications.
Father Sanford Sears
The Reverend Sanford “Sandy” Sears was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church 2001 and comes to Seafarers’ House from Holy Guardian Angels Church in Lantana, Fla., where he served as vicar. Prior to that, he served as a hospice chaplain for six years.
Father Sandy, as he has come to be known, joined Seafarers’ House in late 2017 and brings with him, not only his pastoral service, but also his knowledge of the maritime industry. He is a retired United States Coast Guard Officer, having served from 1991 to 2001.
Father Sears leads a group of volunteer chaplains from various faiths who also support Seafarers’ House mission by providing counseling, assistance and spiritual resources. You can often find him visiting ships that arrive at Port Everglades and providing spiritual counseling to those in need onboard ships and at the Casa. He leads the organization’s Mariner Friendly Congregation program and oversees the all-volunteer annual Shoebox Christmas program.
“While the role of a seafarer often is romanticized, it can be a difficult and lonely existence,” says Father Sandy. “Being part of an organization that makes such a positive impact on the lives of these hardworking mariners is a role I am very honored to have.”
Prior to becoming a priest, Father Sandy served in the United States Army. He later earned a BA in History and English Literature from Charter Oak University in Farmington, Conn. and an MA in history education and department head leadership from the University of Maine.