Do you know someone under 40 who works OR lives in Osceola County who you consider an up-and-coming leader in our community? The Young Professionals of Osceola County want to give you the opportunity to nominate an individual for their Tomorrow’s Leaders Today Award! This Award recognizes individuals 40 and under that live or work in Osceola County and who go above and beyond in their acts of service, both professionally and for the community.
The Young Professionals launched the Tomorrow’s Leaders Today Awards in 2018. That year, eight remarkable under-40s were honored. Nominations* for the 2024 awards are open through July 15. Nominees will submit a detailed application and winners will be honored at a cocktail reception in the fall. Check out the list of past winners and some photos of past awards events below.
Nominate outstanding candidates here!
*Please note, nominating the same candidate multiple times does not increase their chances of winning. One nomination is sufficient for a candidate to receive an application. Winners are judged on the basis of the application they complete.
Past Winners of the Tomorrow’s Leaders Today Award
2018
Erika Booth, Osceola County School Board
Brianne Stefek, Osceola Arts
Keith Trace
Mary Downey, The Hope Partnership
Jennifer Bondy, Overstreet Law
Austin Blake, City of Kissimmee
2019
Kelly Ann Trace, Reach & Headquarters Co-Working
Candice Shields, The Osceola Library System
Krystle Bayliss, The Osceola County School District
TJ Close, Kissimmee Police Department
Ebony Cobb, Public Defender’s Office
Will Cooper, The Hope Partnership
Ian Downing, Kissimmee Police Department
Andrew Harrell, Harrell Insurance
Robert Holborn, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office
2020
Terry Castillo, Osceola County School Board
Rachel McIntee, Osceola County Property Appraiser
Kristine Zwick, Reach
Jose Campa, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office
Christina Ruiz, Tupperware Brands
Michelle Sanchez, Valencia College
Alan Sherbourne, Orange County Public Schools
2021
LaVell Monger, RTW Photography
Kendyl Bass, Osceola County School District
Henry Thacker, Balfour Beatty
Kari Ewalt, Osceola County Supervisor of Elections’ Office
Natasha Billyer
2022
David Maddock, Osceola County School District
Charminta Brown, Valencia College
Kira Takanen, A Helping Hand Community Counseling
Carla Rivera-Marrero, State Representative Kristen Arrington
Jozef Bladek, The City of Kissimmee
Mike Nichola, Osceola County
Lauryn Day, Assistant State Attorney
Michael Ballone, Denn John Middle School Principal
2023
Nicole Abodo, Deloitte/Ufuoma, Incorporated
Benjamin Burnett, City of Kissimmee
Shirley Dor, Dorsainvil Creative
Abigail Ellis, Steps Foundation
Ulysses Escobar, Elev8 Mortgage
Yanin Hansen, El Osceola Star Newspaper
Alyssa Noel, Hello Website Design/Vision Osceola
Edgardo Salgado, Chase
In April, Chamber President John Newstreet and staff took an excursion under the sea with SeaWorld to learn about their efforts to rescue and rehabilitate sealife at their Orlando park. On a tour of some of SeaWorld Rescue’s on-site facilities, we met manatees, sea turtles, dolphins, and unique species of coral that are being given second chances at life in the wild thanks to SeaWorld’s team of experts.
SeaWorld Orlando has two manatees, Nina and Sarah, that call the park home full time, but at any given moment SeaWorld is also home to many, many more temporary manatee residents – from those receiving round-the-clock care at the manatee ICU, to those about to return to their homes, to the tiniest of sea cows in Florida’s only manatee neonatal unit. In 2023 alone, SeaWorld Orlando rescued 58 manatees and released 32 into the wild. So far for 2024 they have rescued 31. SeaWorld Orlando works with five other facilities around the country to make sure injured manatees get the care they need, and the Orlando park alone has tended to manatees from as far north as Virginia and as far west as Texas. Once they have reached a healthy status, every effort is made to return these manatees to the waters they originally called home.
Rehabilitating a manatee costs at minimum $250,000, and as much as over $2 million, per animal. For this reason, SeaWorld is heavily reliant on state and federal funding for their rescue efforts. Your park patronage also helps to offset some of these costs, which is an exciting bonus to a fun day at one of Florida’s top theme parks!
SeaWorld Orlando’s rescue work also extends to sea turtles. Sometimes these creatures wander a little too far north into climates to which they are not suited. SeaWorld’s rescue teams retrieve them to return to Florida waters. Just days before the Chamber visit, SeaWorld Rescue had released 30 turtles at Cocoa Beach. Some current residents at the park are destined to be relocated to New Smyrna.
In addition to the dolphins that park patrons can come in contact with at SeaWorld Orlando’s Dolphin Encounter, thanks to SeaWorld Rescue, the park also provides refuge to dolphins in trouble. When a two-month old baby dolphin was found injured and stranded in Clearwater, SeaWorld stepped in and brought it to Orlando where he is still rehabilitating. Between his injuries and loss of the influence of his mother, this little guy needed to both improve his health and learn “how to be a dolphin” with help from SeaWorld’s trainers and older dolphin friends. For a small dolphin the SeaWorld team worried might not make it, he is doing remarkably well.
Thanks to support from Florida’s representatives like Congressman Darren Soto and Senator Marco Rubio, the Coral Reef Restoration Act was passed. SeaWorld and the Florida Coral Rescue Center are working to grow hundreds of species of coral, including Caribbean species that die off and do not replenish due to a deadly disease that has devastated coral populations since it was discovered in 2015. These facilities give the coral a healthy place to grow and also give researchers an opportunity to study the disease, Stony Coral Tissue Loss, which disintegrates the coral’s skin. A few years ago 8 coral of one specific species was brought to SeaWorld Orlando. These might have been the last of that species, but today they have grown the population to 54. SeaWorld Orlando is home to 20% of the 3,000 know coral species that are under human care.
SeaWorld is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, as their original park in San Diego, California opened in March of 1964. The Orlando park followed in 1973, as well as two other parks in Aurora, Ohio and San Antonio, Texas that opened in 1970 and 1988, respectively. Since 1964, SeaWorld can boast that they have rescued 40,000 animals. The Chamber team was thoroughly impressed with the daily work done right in our backyard at SeaWorld Orlando to help generate this impressive level of impact and to keep the populations of Florida’s most unique species thriving. Here’s to 60 more years and counting!
This week (April 28 - May 4, 2024) is National Small Business Week in Florida! Small Business Week in Florida recognizes the vital contributions of entrepreneurs and small business owners in our state. In 2024 alone, 163,992 new businesses have formed in Florida, more than any other state in the nation. Of Florida’s 529,072 private sector businesses, 99.7 percent employ less than 500 employees, which represents 56.9 percent of the state’s total private sector employment.
Our friends at The Florida Chamber have sent over some current and past funds available for Florida’s small businesses, which include:
