Meet Tallahassee's 25 Women to Know, 5 Young Women to Watch in our rolling profiles

Martha Gruender, Tallahassee Democrat

Updated Thu, April 25, 2024 at 5:51 PM UTC

2 min read

The 25 Women You Need to Know and 5 Young Women to Watch class of 2024. Pictured here are Winifred L. Acosta, Monique Akanbi, Carrie Boyd, Hetal Desai, Morgan Evers, Carla Juarez Farley, Joanne Gallagher, Kimberly D. Hankerson, Ashley Leland, Karen Miller, Chelsea Johnson Muir, Teresa Palmer Nix, Mary Stafford, Dr. Selika Stackhouse Sampson, Shannon C. Smith, Dr. Calandra Stringer, Josefina "Josie" Tamayo, Brandi J. Thomas, Gwendolyn Thomas, Dot Trotman-Ealy, Reenee Williams-Walter, Brenda Williams, Haniah Rose Edwards, Aria Fisher, Kavyashree Kadhirvelu and Jordyn Synii Sams. A few honorees were unable to make the group photo: They are Dr. Temple Robinson, Delshuana Jackson, Anita Bushnyakova and Riley Long.

The 2024 class of the Tallahassee Democrat's 25 Women You Need to Know and 5 Young Women to Watch awards includes a diverse group of talented individuals recognized for their community contributions and achievements.
The 25 Women program, now in its 18th year, has honored over 450 women who have made significant impacts in areas such as community service, social justice, and volunteer work.
Profiles of the honorees will be published in the newspaper and online at tallahassee.com/25women, with the first honoree being Shannon Smith, a foster mom, animal advocate, community volunteer, and public relations professional.

Hail to the doctors, lawyers, sisters, mothers and animal lovers. The 2024 class of the Tallahassee Democrat's 25 Women You Need to Know and the 5 Young Women to Watch award are a talented group.

Now in its 18th year, the 25 Women program has so far honored more than 450 women making community contributions, fighting injustice and helping those in need.

Here are profiles of the 25 Women and 5 Young Women, which started on March 15 in the newspaper and online at tallahassee.com/25women .

The inspiring stories of each of the honorees is below.

25 Women you Need to Know

Winifred L. Acosta , Assistant United States Attorney
Monique Akanbi , Field Services Director, Society for Human Resource Management
Carrie Boyd , Founder of The Network of Real Estate Investing Women
Anita Bushnyakova , Chief Financial Officer/Director of Finance and Operations of Kids Incorporated of the Big Bend
Hetal Desai , Administrative Law Judge, Division of Administrative Hearings
Dot Trotman Ealy , VP/Market Manager at Cumulus Media Communication
Morgan Evers , Founder, FINACIOUS
Carla Juarez Farley, Manager in Corporate Communications at IEM
Joanne Gallagher , CEO/Founder, SOAR
Kimberly D. Hankerson , Assistant Vice President for University Advancement at FAMU
Delshuana Jackson , Principal, Bond Elementary School
Ashley Leland , Intake counselor with Oasis Center for Women and Girls
Karen Miller , CEO at Tallahassee Lenders Consortium
Chelsea Johnson Muir , Teacher/Coach Godby High School
Teresa Palmer Nix , Owner, Catering With Care, LLC
Dr. Temple Robinson , Chief Executive Officer, Bond Community Health Center
Mary Stafford , Vice President, Senior Business Development Officer at Prime Meridian Bank
Dr. Selika Stackhouse Sampson , Director of Continuing Education at Florida A&M University, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Shannon C. Smith , Managing Director, The Moore Agency
Dr. Calandra Stringer, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Tallahassee Community College
Josefina "Josie" Tamayo , CEO of Volunteer Florida
Brandi J. Thomas , Attorney/Managing partner at Akbar Thomas Law
Gwendolyn Thomas , Retired administrator/educator Leon County Public Schools
Reenee Williams-Walter , Rapid Response Coordinator, Career Source Capitol Region
Brenda Williams , Executive Director of Tallahassee Housing Authority

5 Young Women to Watch

Haniah Rose Edwards , Senior at Rickards
Aria Fisher , Senior at Leon
Kavyashree Kadhirvelu , Senior at Rickards
Riley Long , Senior at Leon
Jordyn Synii Sams ,Senior at Lincoln

Hall of Fame: Nearly 500 Women You Need to Know: A complete history

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: The 2024 Tallahassee Class of 25 Women to Know, 5 Young Women to Watch

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25 Women you Need to Know

5 Young Women to Watch