Mary KatherineDelegal

By Andrew Meacham

Onthe one hand, the teenage Mary Katherine Delegal had the widest array of options ahead of her. The Tallahassee native was a good student and came from a supportive family, one that would surely back whatever career choice she made.

On the other, the same family members had tracked toward one choice in their own lives. “Both my parents are lawyers, my grandparents were lawyers and all their friends are lawyers,” said Delegal, 25 (who goes by MK). “So that’s all I knew and what I thought the path was going to be.”

During her freshman year at the University of Florida, she took a prep course for the LSAT. “As a 19-year-old, it was daunting,” she said. “Your whole life is, ‘Go to college and then you’ve made it.’ But what do you do when you get to college? I sort of fell in line with what I’d observed and then I realized, ‘Oh wait, this isn’t what I want to do.’”

From then on, the things she got involved in were things she wanted to do. She majored in journalism, picking up freelance work for the Independent Florida Alligator and an internship with a local PBS affiliate. She interviewed inmates at Florida State Prison who were learning to become electricians, covered preparations for self-driving cars, and wrote about responses to the coronavirus.

She also interned for a vanity book publisher, the campaign of Rep. Chuck Clemons, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Allison Aubuchon Communi- cations. She was a captain on Dance Marathon, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, and later joined Florida Blue Key, a 100-year-old honor society that has attracted many future state and civic leaders.

“I do tend to think deeply about my next move,” Delegal said. “I think ‘thoughtful’ is an adjective I would use to describe myself, and alongside that, ‘ambitious’ and ‘driven.’ I’m a very loyal person as well.”

Those who know her best would add confidence and coolheadedness to the list.

“I’d say she knows a bit more than the average bear when it comes to experience in this process,” said Josh Aubuchon, a partner in a legal consulting business with Mark Delegal, MK’s father. “I’m excited over her ca- reer path, the trajectories taken.”

Delegal already understands politics, policy and funding, and “she exudes a presence that belies her age,” Aubuchon said.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, she returned to her hometown of Tallahassee and networked for job leads. She learned of an opening at the Florida Behavioral Health Association (FBHA), the state’s largest trade association, representing more than 70 mental health nonprofits. Soon, Delegal was directing its communications and public affairs. She stayed abreast of all aspects of FBHA’s work, from its committees to meeting with lobbyists to shape her press statements and internal communications.

“Your comms strategy has to coincide with your legislative strategy,” she said, “to make sure you’re pushing out the right message.”

One big message was the mission of the association itself, advocated in recent years by public figures including Jill Biden: destigmatizing depression and other mental health challenges.

“With the First Lady championing mental health, it kind of opened a door,” she said. “Maybe even five years ago no one wanted to admit, ‘I might have anxiety or I might be depressed,’ right? Now it’s kitchen table conversation, and people are more willing to talk about it and listen as well.”

Delegal also earned a master’s degree during her first year with the association, graduating in December 2021 from Florida State University’s (FSU) Applied Policy and Politics program.

In March 2023, she joined the communications team at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation under Secretary Melanie Griffin. “She is just incredibly dynamic, very intelligent, and somebody I’ve already learned a tremendous amount from,” Delegal said of Griffin.

She’s grateful for the counsel of seasoned women in the field, including Allison Aubuchon and Alia Faraj-Johnson, a former spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush who now runs her own lobbying and communications firm.

“From Alia I think I’ve learned grace and poise, how to handle a difficult situation,” she said. “She’s someone I’ve just kind of leaned on for support as a friend.”

Another long-standing tie goes all the way back to her high school youth group at Faith Presbyterian Church. That’s where she met Holton Graham. They eventually started dating, maintained a long-distance relationship as undergraduates (he went to FSU) and are now planning a December wedding. They enjoy jaunts to Alligator Point to catch the sunset, a boat they bought during the pandemic, and exploring hiking trails with Hank, a Dalmation mutt.

A couple of weekends in the fall, they’ll head to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, thanks to her dad, who has season tickets. There, Delegal can let loose with two words you don’t hear much in Tallahassee: “Go Gators!”