Christine Florez
Loudonville, NY
518-488-9784
chrisgflorez@gmail.com
Collaborative, resourceful, creative professional with management expertise and strong customer service orientation to support for-profit, volunteer-based, or nonprofit organizations. Successful in achieving goals such as raising awareness about issues, organizations, or campaigns; capacity building for nonprofits and political campaigns; attaining improved financial results; developing social media and earned media strategies; and team development via strategic hires, training, coaching, and setting expectations for success.
Skills
| Public Affairs & Media Relations
Community Outreach & Advocacy
Management & Team Development |
Social Media
Non-Profit Board Relations
Volunteer Recruitment & Management |
Public Speaking & Presentations
Complex Research & Analysis
Political Campaign Organization & Structure |
Work Experience
Philip Levine for Governor ▪ Various Responsibilities ▪ 2018 ▪ Campaign Headquarters, Wynwood, Miami
- Statewide Outreach: Created statewide contact lists of key organizations and community leaders. Conducted outreach to these allied organizations, Democratic party offices and other constituent/coalition-based organizations to deepen relationships, seek campaign endorsements, to support GOTV campaign activities, recruit volunteers, and research local and statewide policy issues.
- Constituent and Media Inquiries: Distributed volunteer and community-based inquiries to offices statewide; responded to phone/email questions and comments about Philip Levine’s positions; and forwarded media inquiries to communications team.
- Update Campaign Database (VAN): Tracked volunteer activities, voter responses and supporter inquiries.
- Social Media: Amplified campaign messaging via personal FB/Twitter accounts sharing campaign news, volunteer recruitment events, campaign policies, candidate endorsements, outreach events with Philip Levine or campaign surrogates, and other campaign activities.
- Front Office Support: Greeted guests, media representatives, and elected officials; received deliveries and mail; signed in volunteers; and coordinated HQ GOTV field staff efforts with volunteers, assigning door-knocking walk packets, and overseeing HQ phone banking activities.
- HQ Volunteers and Interns: Coordinated campaign headquarter volunteer and interns to attend events, conduct outreach research, and other campaign activities.
St. Patrick Catholic Church ▪ Office Receptionist ▪ 2018 ▪ Miami Beach, Florida
Part-Time weekend receptionist. Answered phones and distributed mail. Responsible for responding to requests about weddings, baptisms, Roman Catholic initiation for adults and children, community events and administration of Catholic sacraments. Coordinated parish priests’ calendar.
The Children’s Movement of Florida ▪ Statewide Outreach Coordinator ▪ 2015-2016 ▪ Miami, Florida
Advocacy nonprofit focused on raising support for early-child education and funding of Pre-K programs in Florida
- Statewide Volunteer Network: Executed on organizational outreach and capacity building strategy to increase volunteer support.
- Volunteer and Supporter Onboarding: Initiated formal intake and onboarding plan for potential volunteers, donors, and allies/partners.
- Allied Organization and Volunteer Outreach: Organized phone banks, community leader/stakeholder outreach events, and represented CMF at speaking engagements in Miami and other Florida communities.
Charlie Crist for Governor ▪ Miami Beach Field Organizer ▪ 2014 ▪ Miami Beach, Florida
- Community Resource Development: Sourced and opened the official campaign office for Miami Beach; established contact with community leaders and organizations; and identified locations for campaign events.
- Volunteer Management: Recruited and trained an all-volunteer 20-member team.
- Voter Outreach: Miami Beach volunteers made 20,000 voter contacts via phone calls, event outreach or neighborhood canvassing, identifying nearly 6,000 Miami Beach Crist supporters.
- Voter Outreach Events: Initiated, organized, or managed 57 events (phone banks, door canvassing and voter registrations).
- Campaign Events for Candidate Surrogates: Event coordination and support for various onsite (Miami Beach) or offsite (Dade County) events with Governor Crist and his Lieutenant Governor candidate running mate, State Senator Annette Taddeo as well as campaign surrogates President Bill Clinton, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
Part-time positions held while providing care for a family member
2008 – 2013 ▪ Miami and Miami Beach
- Starbucks, Miami Beach, Barista ▪ 2012 – 2013
- Saks Fifth Avenue, Bal Harbour, Designer Clothing Sales ▪ 2010 – 2011
- Ritz Carlton, Key Biscayne, Retail Customer Service ▪2010
- Whole Foods, Miami Beach, Bakery Team Member ▪ 2008 – 2010
Community Leadership Unpaid VOLUNTEER Experience ▪ 2010 – 2019
Kamala Harris, For the People ▪ Joyful Warrior, Volunteer Captain (Volunteer Role) ▪ July 2019 – December 2019 ▪ Capital District, NY
- Outreach: Identified key leaders for political coordination and volunteer and community support. Researched issues facing the Capital District to communicate areas of integration with campaign policies and developing allies with organizations addressing these issues.
- Volunteer Coordination: Identified supporters and created events and other activities to support Kamala Harris in early primary states. Updated Campaign Database (VAN) to track volunteer activities, voter responses and supporter inquiries.
- Social Media: Amplified campaign messaging via personal FB/Twitter accounts about campaign news and efforts regarding volunteer recruitment, policies, endorsements, events, and other campaign activities.
Miami Beach United (MBU) ▪ Vice President, Neighborhood & Community Outreach, Board of Directors ▪ 2012 – 2018
MBU is a volunteer-led nonprofit advocating to improve residents’ quality of life; educating residents on issues such as sea level rise, real estate development, ballot questions, traffic congestion; and ensuring government transparency.
- Community Advocacy: Participated in board discussions and led board education to understand community issues, to advocate for appropriate responses, and to vote on resolutions and board member actions.
- Member and Community Survey: Created and administered a survey to understand MBU membership and community sentiment on important community issues. Helped guide the MBU board to establish priorities and strategy to address these community concerns.
- Membership and Community Outreach: Initiated newsletter and social media outreach.
- Social Media: Increased permission-based email list from zero to over 3,000 names and Facebook likes from zero to nearly 500 likes.
Miami Beach Community Development Corporation ▪ Board of Directors ▪ Vice Chair ▪ 2014 – 2017 ▪ Miami Beach 
MBCDC is a non-profit providing safe and affordable housing for disabled or low-income people or families. It seeks to enhance the quality of life in Miami Beach neighborhoods and expand opportunities for residents via a comprehensive community development program that includes affordable housing, historic preservation, and economic development.
I was invited to join the board after MBCDC was investigated for improprieties by previous managers as part of MBCDC’s effort to reestablish trusted and secure relationships with local government, grantors and other funders, and federal authorities.
- Public Affairs/Government Relations: Initiated public affairs and government outreach to elected officials and government staff to establish relationships, request assistance and advocate for favorable grant/loan terms.
- Allied Organizations Network: Initiated outreach to discuss points of contact and shared mission efforts with allied organizations in and outside the field of affordable housing.
- Organization Awareness: Increased awareness of MBCDC and raised organizational profile as a trusted service provider and community member. Implemented a social media strategy focusing on Facebook. Led MBCDC’s participation in Give Miami Day resulting in increased Facebook interactions including adding over 2K unique users, 5K organic page impressions, and nearly 34K paid impressions.
- Board Recruitment: Using my extensive network of contacts, I recruited new board members from the fields of construction, housing, and business to round out board expertise, opportunities for community engagement, and adding to MBCDC’s reputation and stability.
- Fundraising: Initiated and oversaw inaugural Give Miami Day 2016 fundraising campaign.
HILLARY FOR AMERICA VOLUNTEER ▪ Volunteer Lead, South Florida, and Finance (Volunteer, Non-staff Role) ▪ 2017
Outreach to statewide Democratic leadership to coordinate volunteer strategies for events, GOTV or voter outreach
- Fundraising: Donor calls and other outreach to potential donors in support of fundraising events.
- Volunteer Outreach: Coordinated outreach to volunteer Democratic leaders statewide to inform of events, voter outreach campaigns, and volunteer recruitment efforts.
- Campaign Events: On my own time, attended HRC campaign rallies and voter outreach events across South and West Florida.
Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee & Miami-Dade Democratic Party Steering Committee ▪ Miami ▪ President and Director, Steering Committee ▪ 2015 – 2018
Miami Beach Democratic Club ▪ Miami Beach ▪ President ▪ 2015 – 2017
Reading Pals, Reading Mentor ▪ iPrep School, Miami-Dade Public School System ▪ 2015-2016
Reading Pals is a formal volunteer program allied with the United Way of Miami with the mission of nurturing literacy and encouraging an interest in reading. I met with two Pre-K students on a weekly basis.
West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association (WAvNA) ▪ Miami Beach ▪ President/Co-Founder ▪ 2012 – 2014
Resurrected dormant neighborhood association to address community issues such as zoning, pedestrian/bicyclist safety, street beautification and climate change impacts
- Climate Change Advocate: Raised neighborhood and Commissioners’ awareness of sea level rise. Worked with other climate change advocates to petition city and county government for recognition of the issue and supported efforts to educate residents and implement programs.
- Community Booster: Raised neighborhood profile via community activities and social media outreach to reflect its proximity to quality public schools, to community amenities, and to cultural institutions and events. Publicized its safety, openness to diversity, its affordable housing, and its pedestrian-friendly aspects.
- Community Advocacy for Legislative and Zoning Change: Successfully advocated for zoning changes in the West Avenue Corridor to enhance street safety; to secure its stock of permanent, middle-class (mostly condominiums) housing stock; to maintain its stable, resident-focused character; and to encourage developers to gain resident consensus for projects. Worked with West Avenue Corridor residents, elected officials, planning and capital improvement staff, land use attorneys and other neighborhood groups and community advocates.
- VoteLocal Community App and WAvNA Website: Created and maintained WAvNA Website as well created and deployed VoteLocal App. The App introduced candidates for local elected office to voters as well as raised awareness of issues facing the neighborhood. The App was profiled in the Miami Herald (see below for link).
- WAvNA Community Meetings and Candidate Forums: Led monthly WAvNA meetings including creating agendas, inviting guests, and creating surveys. Scheduled and managed community interest events on specific issues as well as forums and meet-and-greets for candidates seeking local office to engage with residents.
- Spokesperson: Represented community interests speaking at Miami Beach Commission meetings, engaging with the print media, and other neighborhood community groups. Media outreach resulted in articles in the Miami Herald, see links below.
SAVE ▪ Ad Hoc Committee to Review Endorsement of Candidates for Elected Office ▪ 2015, 2017 & 2018
SAVE is a human rights non-profit advocating for LGBTQ+ of Florida. As a straight ally to the LGBTQ+ community, I strongly supported SAVE’s mission. Endorsement Committees were formed during election cycles to interview candidates seeking endorsement from SAVE; committees voted on potential endorsements and then forwarded recommendations to SAVE’s Executive Committee.
City of Miami Beach Website Review Committee ▪ 2012
#VoteYes304 Miami Beach Ballot Question ▪ 2012
Led social media campaign and created a Website in support of successful ballot initiative intended to strengthen historic preservation on Miami Beach ▪ 2012.
Condominium Board of Directors ▪ Miami Beach, President ▪2010 – 2011
Experience Prior to 2008
Bain & Company ▪ Manager, Global PR Intelligence ▪ 2006 – 2007 ▪ New York, New York
Developed strategy for intelligence gathering and dissemination in support of the firm’s global PR goals. Efforts focused on competitive, industry, and company media relations intelligence as well as measuring impact of communications program objectives via in-house Public Relations Exchange database system.
Accenture ▪ Manager, Media Analyst and Secondary Research ▪ Analysis 2000 – 2006 ▪ New York, New York
Drove research efforts in support of corporate strategic communications programs, industry analyst relations, investor relations and C-Suite executive outreach to internal and external stakeholders.
Arc eConsultancy ▪ Director of Research ▪ 2000 ▪ New York, New York
McKinsey ▪ Information Specialist ▪ 2000 ▪ New York, New York
Burson-Marsteller ▪ Manager, New York Knowledge Center ▪ 1995 – 2000 ▪ New York City
Ketchum Public Relations ▪ Information Specialist ▪ 1993 – 2000 ▪ New York, New York
A&S/Jordan Marsh ▪ Assistant, Cosmetics Buying Department ▪ 1992 – 1993 ▪ Brooklyn, New York
Casa Lopez ▪ Retail Assistant ▪ 1990 – 1992 ▪ New York, New York
Travel Overseas ▪1987 – 1989 ▪ United Kingdom & Ireland, France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt Extraordinary opportunity and learning experience of extended travel immersed in foreign cultures and learning about art, history and languages that was supported by savings and supplementary employment. Work overseas included Teaching English as a Second Language, working in restaurants and hotels or providing housekeeping for families. I taught myself the basics of a few languages – French, Greek and Hebrew. In addition, I lived on a Kibbutz, volunteering to provide nursery and pre-K supervision of children on the Kibbutz.
GTG (Grant Tinker Gannett) ▪ Financial Analyst ▪ 1987 ▪ New York, New York
NBC ▪ Various Positions ▪ 1981 – 1986 ▪ New York, New York
- Unit Manager, Weekend Nightly News, Nightly News and Meet the Press
- Unit Administrator, Today Show
- Analyst, Finance Division, Network News
- Ground Coordinator for live helicopter traffic reports, WNBC-Radio
- Intern, Community Relations, WNBC-Radio
Education
Pratt institute, School of Information & Library Science ▪ 2000 ▪ Master of Library Science
New York University, Stern School of Business ▪ 1982 ▪ Bachelor of Science
Community-Related Media Outreach
It Takes a Village to Build a Sea Level Rise App Or, “I Am Not a Scientist, But I, Too, Can Understand Climate Change,” November 27, 2014 EmergeMiami.com
South Florida’s Rising Seas, Award-winning documentary, by FIU’s Juliet Pinto and Kate MacMillin.
“It can be a sunny day, and we can have a week, two weeks of a lot of water,” Miami Beach resident Christine Florez says in one of the film’s most memorable passages. I told them about my parking lot. They thought it might be related to climate change.”
Seas Rise, Florida GOP Leaders Balk at Climate Change, Associated Press, June 7, 2014 http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Seas-Rise-Florida-GOP-Leaders-Balk-at-Climate-Change-262236211.html
Meanwhile, Miami Beach is bracing for another season of punishing tides
“We’re suffering while everyone is arguing man-made or natural,” said Christine Florez, president of the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association. “We should be working together to find solutions, so people don’t feel like they’ve been left on a log drifting out to sea.”
Flood-prone South Florida Considers Proactive Investment Against Rising Seas, PBS Newshour, March 19, 2014 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/south-florida-rising-sea-levels
Christine Florez, as community activist, is interviewed about the impact of sea level rise
Drivers Confused About Meaning of Yellow Signs, Miami Herald, February 11, 2014 http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/11/3928410/drivers-confused-about-meaning.html
“The same signs can be found scattered around the city — the majority are in South Beach, such as south of Fifth Street on Alton Road. But as more drivers suddenly encounter them along West Avenue, some say the result has been confusion and chaos.
“It’s an education process,” said West Avenue Neighborhood Association President Christine Florez. “They are a definite improvement, and they do make it easier for people to cross … but overall I would say there is still a long way to go.
South Florida Rising Seas (Documentary), WBPT 20, January 15, 2014 http://video.wpbt2.org/video/2365148517/
Christine Florez appears in a segment as a community advocate to discuss the impact of sea level rise
Southbound Alton Road to be closed for a year in Miami Beach, November 12, 2013 Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/article1957382.html#storylink=cpy
Residents along West Avenue are concerned that the traffic detour will hurt the neighborhood’s pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly feel.
“It’s something really great, like a part of our personality,” said Christine Florez, president and founder of the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association. She said that residents would like to see traffic calming measures along West Avenue. “I got a call from somebody like, ‘The cars are just shooting down, through West Avenue. They are not used to traveling in our neighborhood,” Florez said.
Alton Road Construction Project A Cause For Concern For West Ave Residents, November 12, 2013 CBS http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/11/12/alton-road-construction-project-a-cause-for-concern-for-west-ave-residents/
Residents along the West Avenue corridor, the paper reports, are worried about the effects of the road’s detour through their neighborhood—pedestrian-friendly with many bikers who seek an alternate route to the usually very congested Alton Road.
“It’s something really great, like a part of our personality,” Christine Florez, president and founder of the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association told the Miami Herald.
Civic Involvement? In Miami Beach, There’s an App for That, Miami Herald, August 7, 2013 VoteLocalAppMiamiHeraldArticle(PDF File)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/07/3548820/civic-involvement-in-miami-beach.html
“Available for free download on the WAvNA website, as well as on Google Play, the app is currently awaiting approval from Apple’s App Store. Although WAvNA Vote Local is still a work in progress, Christine Florez, president and co-founder of WAvNA, went ahead with its release in order to have WAvNA residents engage with it and provide feedback.
“The focus of the app was to organize, engage and inform,” Florez said. “To be part of the electorate and to participate in our democracy.”