Fred Pezeshkan is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kraft Construction Company, Inc. and has lived in Southwest Florida for 25 years. He is a graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in civil engineering. Kraft Construction serves the West Coast of Florida from Marco Island to the Panhandle, concentrating on institutional, medical, government and high rise construction.

Mr. Pezeshkan is very active in the community and has served on or chaired many civic and charitable boards. His greatest passion in life is his commitment to providing an education to people of all ages. For the past five years, Mr. Pezeshkan has co-chaired the Annual Celebration of Reading, which benefits the Bush Family Literacy Initiative. He is the past-Chair of the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Foundation Board and chairs the Community School of Naples Advisory Board. He was instrumental in the establishment of the FGCU Real Estate Development MBA program and under his leadership Kraft Construction has partnered with Shadowlawn Elementary School under the PASS program (Partnership to Advance School Success) and the Council for Educational Change. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Curry College, Milton, MA.

In 2005, Mr. Pezeshkan was awarded the LIFE Award (Leadership in Fostering Education) from Edison College and, in 2006; he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations. Both of these awards were given in recognition of Mr. Pezeshkan’s dedication and contribution to education.