Carolyn DiPaoloPalm Beach County chapter is a game-changer for community-minded professionals.
A national program is recruiting and coaching community leaders in Palm Beach County.
The local chapter of the Washington-based New Leaders Council has minted more than 160 fellows in a program focused on community engagement and professional development.
The council has become a catalyst for ambitious professionals who fan across the county with their new connections and civic skills as they build careers in education, nonprofits and government.
Palm Beach council alumni include a state representative, city commissioners and leaders of high-profile organizations including NAMI PBC, Suits for Seniors and PEACE.
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the New Leaders Palm Beach chapter, one of dozens in the country.
“There’s really nothing like it,” local Habitat for Humanity Chief Advancement Officer Julia Murphy said. She launched the local chapter in 2015 when she worked with Compass LGBTQ+ Community Center in Lake Worth Beach.
Learning what it takes
The national organization trains about 1,000 fellows a year in the program it describes as place-based and focused on engaging underrepresented groups. Fellows get comfortable with public speaking, cold-calling to raise money and the metrics that measure a team’s progress.
The free training attracts rising leaders who tend to be younger, Murphy said. Organizers are looking for people committed to diversity and inclusion and who value community service.
“There are a lot of success stories,” she said. “You are building this network with other thought leaders.”
Fellows in the progressive nonprofit participate in a two-day weekend session each month for six months. They are matched with mentors and design a capstone project that addresses a social need they choose.
“NLC changed my life,” state Rep. Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds, D-West Palm Beach, said during a national panel discussion this year.
Edmonds, the founder and CEO of Suits for Seniors, joined the first local cohort in 2015.
He developed the nonprofit as his capstone project.
Suits for Seniors has provided $200,000 in scholarships and career training in 11 Palm Beach County schools. Students who complete the program get a tailored suit. In 2024, The Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches named Suits for Seniors its Nonprofit of the Year.
“With the help of my cohort I was able to really dream big,” Edmonds said.
Life after college
Local Council Co-Director Ashley Cacicedo-Surdovel, a volunteer, moved to Palm Beach County from New Jersey to enroll in Lynn University.
“When I transitioned out of college, it was like go-to-work, go-home,” she said. The council was a way to connect and grow.
Cacicedo-Surdovel completed the program in 2018 and joined the board. Today, she holds leadership roles with the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County and the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Leadership Palm Beach County Class of 2025.
“If I hadn’t found the New Leaders Council, I might have moved back home,” she said.
Donte Bates, co-founder of the nonprofit Love, Hope and Healing that recently convened a youth summit in West Palm Beach, completed the leadership program last year.
This month, his team launched a four-day retreat for high school students. The free program at Keiser University teaches skills to manage college life. It is Bates’ capstone project.
“I heard about the bonding, connections and overall leadership roles that you could gain from it,” Bates said about the council. “The people I met went above and beyond what I expected.”
Other achievers who completed the program: Boca Raton Council Member Andy Thomson, Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long, Boynton Beach City Commissioner Angela Cruz, West Palm Beach mayor’s Chief of Staff Tom Valeo, NAMI CEO Katherine Murphy and PEACE Lead Organizer Paige Shortsleeves.
Leaders who want to make a change
For chapter Co-Director Charity Lewis, the experience was a career bridge after she completed her master’s degree in public administration at Florida Atlantic. She joined in 2020 and quickly became a council leader.
“I wanted to do something in local government,” said Lewis, who is now the civic engagement supervisor for the city of West Palm Beach. “And I really wanted to connect with more people.”
The council recruits interested people in the summer and fall. Applications for one of the 11 to 15 spots are normally due in September/October. And the program launches the following January.
Caroline Nowak, who completed the program in 2023, is the local chapter’s volunteer leader of curriculum.
“We learned not only about civics and being engaged, but bringing in officials to talk about what that looks like,” said Nowak, a program officer with the Children’s Services Council. “Alumni come back and share lessons learned.”
Many of those alumni gathered this month at City Food Hall Grandview to toast their anniversary.
The 2025 graduates joined them.
They are: Berenique Carroll, JD Weatherspoon, Jazz Dickerson, Johanna Duerr, Lucy Joseph, Mariana Lopes, Melanie Chen, Queen Hinkle, Ryan Shepard, Sha’cora Walker and Yolanda Bates.
