More than 50 Upper Keys Business and Professional Women (BPW) members and guests gathered at the Crooked Palm Cabana in Tavernier on May 21 for the organization’s annual meeting and installation of its 2025-26 board of directors.
During the event, the local women’s organization also awarded close to $6,000 in scholarships to local working women and presented a $10,000 donation to the Monroe County Domestic Abuse Shelter in support of its new emergency shelter project.
Scholarships awarded to five local women
Five scholarships, ranging from $775 to $1,500, were presented to Upper Keys working women. Two of the five recipients qualified for a new BPW empowered woman scholarship, which requires a course of study that supports the BPW public policy platform. The platform’s three planks are economic equity, access to healthcare and equitable voting rights for women.
The empowered woman scholarships were awarded to:
- Financial adviser Alissa Reckard, to pursue a behavioral financial adviser designation that will equip her to better understand how emotions and behavioral patterns affect her clients’ financial decisions.
- Registered nurse Kerry Biondoletti, to pursue a family nurse practitioner program with the goal of expanding high-quality health care options for families in our community.
In addition, three adult women’s scholarships were awarded to:
- Insurance professional Mary Houston, to pursue an associate in insurance account management designation from the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.
- Renee Parker, to assist in transitioning to a new career as a certified X-ray technologist through a program at Miami-Dade College.
- Firefighter and paramedic Mia Ruiz, to pursue an associate degree in emergency medical services at the College of the Florida Keys.
“We received so many strong applications this spring,” said Christina Teasley, Upper Keys BPW scholarship chair. “Fortunately, thanks to our endowment fund at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, we had almost twice as much money to award this time than ever before. It’s an honor to be able to empower so many local women to achieve their career goals.”
BPW donation to sponsor business center at new DAS shelter
The $10,000 donation to DAS will fund a business center at a new emergency shelter serving the Middle and Upper Keys. The business center will provide a dedicated work space, computer equipment and supplies that shelter residents can use to apply for jobs, find housing and secure other resources to help them move forward. The money was raised through the organization’s “Give Hope a Home” grassroots campaign.
“Our members and supporters really came through with dozens of small and large donations to help us reach our goal,” said Patricia Milian, president of Upper Keys BPW. “We are so grateful for their incredible generosity in supporting both our scholarship program as well as this campaign.”
Also at the event, the organization installed its 2025-26 board of directors. The new officers are:
Milian, of Key Largo; Bonnie Barnes of Key Largo, president-elect; Ilja Chapman of Key Largo, treasurer; Elizabeth Brown of Tavernier, secretary; Bernice Dionne of Tavernier, vice president of hospitality; Violet Wahba of Key Largo, vice president of membership; Lauren Zelt of Key Largo, vice president of programs; and board members Victoria Leonard and Amy Young, both of Key Largo.
“For more than 100 years, the mission of BPW has been to achieve equity for working women,” Milian said. “Helping the women in our community advance their careers through education and gain independence after surviving domestic violence are just two examples of how we still live out that mission today.”
More information is at www.upperkeysbpw.org.
