5. D.C. Reeves

Mayor, City of Pensacola

Connie Bookman is a super mom in the eyes of Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves. With a prideful tone, he tells stories about her loaning her vehicle to a patient at Baptist Hospital and spending five days with women in a reformatory to see life through

The Pathways for Change founder and CEO is a social worker extraordinaire who has passed down her heart for service to her son. The 38-year-old Reeves serves Pensacolians with a daily desire to better

"He's very in tune with the wellness of people," Bookman said. "That's what drives his service. It's important to him that people

Reeves demonstrated his heart for service as the owner of Perfect Plain, a thriving downtown brewing company. Perfect Plain manufactured hand sanitizer for nursing homes, health care workers and first responders during the early stages of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The brewing company also provided hundreds of gallons of clean water to the public in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally.

A political newcomer, Reeves is five months into his term as the youngest Pensacola mayor in over 100 years. He has taken an unusual path to his office in City Hall. His professional career began as a sports reporter and included covering the Florida State and Alabama football programs. He returned to Pensacola and served as chief of staff for Studer before he established the brewing company that he sold last year to New Orleans-based Urban South Brewery.

"The path I've taken so far, which is nothing but to follow my heart and seize the opportunity, has been wonderful for me and wonderful for my family," Reeves said. "I'll continue that path."

Reeves learned a valuable life lesson as a young journalist that shapes who he is as a mayor. He interned for MLB.com and shadowed T.R. Sullivan. The grizzled journalist taught Reeves to be critical of players and face them afterward no matter the repercussions.

"He told me, 'You always show up the next day, no matter what you write,'" Reeves said. "I didn't realize until years later that's true with every tough decision made in private business. The expectation is you show up. If they yell at you, they yell at you. It's ingrained in every part of my life."

The mayor is still learning the lay of the land. Reeves leans on his staff and advice from former mayors Ashton Hayward and Grover Robinson IV to navigate the course terrain.

"You just don't know until you're on this side of the glass how much it takes to do things that as a citizen may seem simple," Reeves said. "There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of departments … You certainly don't get in the line I'm in to try and move your community forward if you don't love it, and I love this place."

Reeves inherited a city with a shortage of attainable housing at all economic levels. His plan is to increase attainable and market-rate housing—a nod to both his entrepreneurial spirit and heart for service. Reeves said possibilities include building units on city properties such as parks and retrofitting vacant hotels.

"We the city should be actively looking for partnerships and leverage our partnerships to create affordable housing at scale," Reeves said. "We have to myth bust that you can only do one or the other."

6. J.T. Young

Vice President/General Manager, Florida Power & Light Northwest Florida

Young is Florida Power & Light's (FPL) lead in the Northwest region, which spans eight counties, including Escambia. He is also a member of FPL's Operating Committee. In his role, Young supports the company's efforts in the Northwest Florida region including customer service, power delivery, community relations, economic development and employee engagement. Young says he's elated to return to his hometown of Pensacola to serve FPL's customers, support our employees and give back to our communities.

7. Dr. C. Edward Meadows President, Pensacola State College

Dr. Meadows began his tenure as president of Pensacola State College in 2008. The college, established in 1948 as Pensacola Junior College, began offering workforce bachelor programs in 2010 and, as a result, was renamed Pensacola State College (PSC). The college has received numerous institutional and student achievement recognitions as indicated by U.S. News and World Report. PSC ranks in the top 1% in the nation for affordability, and 95% of our students are loan-free. The college operates three campuses and four centers in Escambia and Santa Rosa County.

8. Mark Faulkner President/CEO, Baptist Health Care

Faulkner leads the area's only remaining locally led health care system. Under his leadership, Baptist Health Care (BHC) is continuing its legacy of offering groundbreaking care with the construction of the new $636 million Baptist Hospital campus opening in late 2023. Faulkner says the amazing team at BHC never ceases to inspire him, and he is blessed to serve the people of Northwest Florida.

Shareholder/Chair, Securities & Business Litigation Department, Levin, Papantonio, Rafferty, Proctor, Buchanan, O'Brien, Barr & Mougey, P.A.

Mougey has dedicated his career to championing individuals' rights against the world's largest companies. In the National Opiate Litigation, he was selected to serve as co-lead of the Distributor & Pharmacy cases in what has been called "the largest and most complex case in the history of jurisprudence" by the Washington Post. He helped negotiate the $57 billion settlement with the opioid supply chain. Mougey also spearheads several local projects, including The Heart of Pensacola's Food as Medicine, the Fourth of July's Symphony Sparks & Stars and the Palafox Beautification project along with serving on the various local boards.

Dr. Gupta is driven by wanting to make a difference in the vision and thus the lives of patients along the Gulf His dedicated teams at Retina Specialty Institute have helped build a nationally recognized care delivery model and a Clinical Trials Center for treatments of blinding retinal and macular conditions. Similarly, IRIS has impacted over one million patients nationally and now having the same impact internationally. He remains an advocate for Pensacola and the power in its people and infrastructure to create innovative & impactful startups.

Ford, as founder and CEO of the Florida Institute of Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), has built one of the nation's premier research organizations with an international reputation for excellence. In 2017, Dr. Ford was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence and humancentered computing. IHMC's success has been a catalyst for downtown Pensacola's revitalization.

Deliman oversees Cox Operations in Northwest Florida, from Pensacola and Perdido Key to Sandestin. He is an advocate for customers, employees and Cox in the community. Deliman is in his 19th year at Cox, where he has held a variety of roles at both the field and corporate offices. Before that, he worked in broadcast journalism as a reporter and managing editor at WEAR-TV. David is actively involved in the community, on the board of directors for the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, First Place Partners, Achieve Escambia, as well as the industry association Florida Internet and Television.

Rudolph oversees the area's largest hospital that serves as the region's leading provider of specialized care for trauma, stroke, cancer, pediatrics, cardiology and obstetrics. In spite of the challenges brought by the pandemic, she led Sacred Heart to add additional capabilities such as robotic bronchoscopy as part of the Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery, ECMO and living donor for kidney transplant. These program expansions as well as earning Leapfrog "A" a fourth time and Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital for the sixth year enable our community to get advanced tertiary care in Pensacola.

Davis is the owner and broker of NAI Pensacola Commercial Real Estate, following a successful career in teaching. The former state representative has been heavily involved in our community for many years, including chairing the Downtown Improvement Board. Davis has also chaired and created successful fundraisers for local nonprofits. She currently serves on the UWF Foundation Board of Directors and the SmartBank Board of Advisors.

Michles is a leader in the Florida Justice Association and former chair of the Medical Malpractice Committee. As the son of a disabled Vietnam veteran and as a veteran himself, he is committed to military issues, including the creation of the Michles Family Freedom Foundation, a charitable foundation supporting military and first responders and their families.

Rinke started Levin Rinke Realty with the late Allen Levin, selling over $3 billion in real estate over the last 30 years. He has made selling the Pensacola lifestyle his passion. Rinke and his partners have developed over 1,000 resort condominiums. He has improved the quality of life for locals and tourists and made the area a vibrant destination to live, work and play.