  A legend has left the FWC family
Saying farewell isn’t easy. While change is a part of life, partings can bring you to tears (I’m not crying writing this, the pile of tissues just “happened” to appear).
As I sat around the dining table this past holiday weekend and we did our traditional Thanksgiving “what we are grateful for,” my FWC family came to mind. I would be remiss to not mention Carla’s impact on the agency and the family environment she created.
Without this becoming a novel, it's important to take a moment and comprehend a fraction of what has happened in the past four-plus decades. Carla’s time with FWC spanned six presidential changes. Compact discs became popular and faded away. The internet became mainstream. Rotary phones evolved to mobile personal connection devices that allow us to reach the world in a moment’s notice. But this isn’t about all that has changed, rather instead, the cog that kept us together.
Carla joined the agency and managed to do something that is no longer expected. She took a job that became her family. I say a family because, like a family, there can be challenging times but through it all you realize the support of those around you and become better. Carla spoke her mind and held regional and statewide leadership accountable. There was a time Carla knew every officer and FWC employee in the region.
She helped mold the agency with a career that was all in the Southwest region, most recently as the Regional Operations Manager – ROM (but let’s be honest it was more like MOM).
There are too many stories to tell, too many people I will miss if I tried to mention everyone, but I know that the Southwest region in no small part is the “South Best” because of Carla.
Richard Bach: “Don’t be dismayed by goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends.”
Carla, thank you from your family and friends, we will miss you!
  Candice Wade is the newest addition to the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network. She began her career as an aquarist at the Dallas World Aquarium where she cared for seahorses and sea dragons. While she loved working with animals, she also developed a passion for connecting the public to marine life. After obtaining a master’s degree in marine conservation from University of Miami, she followed this passion into education. Prior to joining FYCCN as director for the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, Candice held education positions at the National Aquarium, ZooTampa, Mote Marine Laboratory and Tampa Bay Watch. With a background in conservation psychology and as a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpretation, Candice is especially interested in engaging audiences in ways that provide a lasting impact and inspire conservation behavior change. In her free time, Candice enjoys exploring Florida with her husband, spending time with her pets, Renaissance festivals and comic conventions.
 With assistance from the Turner Foundation and the Turner Family, FYCCN has hired a bilingual educator to reach more diverse populations. Yatska Valentin was born in Puerto Rico into a family of teachers, which helped her develop an appetite and curiosity for science and research from a very early age. Her frequent visits to El Yunque rainforest, the salt flats and mangroves in her hometown, helped her develop a unique relationship with her surroundings. She holds a BS in Environmental Sciences from UMET in Puerto Rico and a MS in Environmental Education from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. In her spare time, she likes to explore all of Tampa Bay and its surroundings with her family. For solo adventures, Yatska likes to hike and tend to her ever-growing backyard pollinator garden. Yatska served as a park ranger for Florida's award-winning parks for several years and is very excited to be the latest addition to the Suncoast YCC staff. She looks forward to assisting with bilingual conservation education needs and welcoming students and families that are ready to learn and get up close with nature.
 FWC Officer Dillan Hudson, South Region Alpha.
The Shikar-Safari Club International named Officer Hudson its 2022 Wildlife Officer of the Year. He was honored at the Panama City Beach Commission meeting on Nov. 30.
OED Awards
 The 2021-22 OED Awards Ceremony took place virtually on Nov. 7. Watch the replay of the ceremony. OED includes employees in the Executive Director's Office, Finance and Budget, General Services, Legislative Affairs, FYCCN, Regional Operations, Legal, Human Resources, Community Relations, Information Technology, Licensing and Permitting, and the offices of the CFO and Inspector General.
Superior Job Performance - Samantha Adams
This award recognizes a single employee or team of employees for exemplary performance in accomplishing FWC's mission and goals, increasing agency competency in fish and wildlife resource management, improving public service, and/or providing excellence in customer service relations.
Personal Initiative - Mindy Wagner
This award is presented to a self-motivated employee who has exceeded normal expectations and showed exemplary effort in work on a special project and/or in solving a problem that helped our agency cut costs, and/or markedly improves an internal/external operation, and/or increase customer satisfaction.
Excellence in Administrative Support - Misty Everett
This award is to an administrative support person who consistently has a positive attitude, shows deep commitment to the agency, and provides administrative support services superior to all others. This person demonstrates successful communication skills, provides excellent internal and external customer service, and continually provides excellent work products.
Customer Service - Sabrina Menendez
This award recognizes an individual employee or a team of employees who have consistently worked in a positive way (above and beyond the norm) to increase communications with the public and employees which resulted in improved customer relations.
 Team Spirit - Rachel Korade and Ashley Strickland
This award is for a team of employees who have demonstrated that their team exemplifies a "Think FWC" attitude and has worked effectively together using good management, team cooperation, leadership and collaboration to achieve the goals assigned.
Survivor - Meghann Dawkins, Patricia Brown, Bill Sagues
This light-hearted award is presented to an employee or group of employees who have adapted to and overcome a difficult situation while maintaining their job performance. They have shown humor and grace in responding to an adverse situation while sharing a positive outlook with other employees.
Leadership - Rachel Korade
This award is given to an individual employee who demonstrates exceptional leadership abilities which include: effective team building, proactive planning, mentoring of employees, delegation, and problem solving and conflict resolution.
Collaboration - Courtney Feehrer (HSC)
This award recognizes an individual employee or team of employees outside of OED who worked collaboratively across division lines to contribute to OED's overall mission.
 Employee of the Year - Kim Branciforte
This award is given to an OED employee and is the highest-ranking award under the OED Awards Program. This award honors an employee who:
- Demonstrates hard work, dedication, and personal initiative in achieving the mission of the FWC.
- Continually has a positive attitude and sets a good example for all employees.
- Inspires others to improve and grow.
- Exemplifies outstanding conduct in the performance of duties.
- Participates and contributes to agency teamwork.
- Exhibits outstanding reliability and cooperation toward goals and objectives.
 Citizens and FWC customers were so impressed by the following employees, they told us about it through email on the "Praise an Employee" page of MyFWC.com/Contact. When your coworkers receive kudos, help share the good news by contacting Kelly.Broderick@MyFWC.com.
Officer Luke Davenport
Officer Luke Davenport came to our aid as we had a sick buck on our land. I want it to be known that Officer Davenport has brought great credit to himself and the FWC. Officer Davenport took charge of the matter as soon as he arrived at my house. His knowledge and ability are secondary to no one. He represented the FWC very well and I recommend a big raise for him as he made the FWC look good. This incident is ironic though, if the world had more people like Officer Davenport we would not need an FWC. Professionalism, knowledge, caring, problem solving, respectful and outstanding sense of law and ethics are just a few of his qualities that I witnessed. Thank you for your time.
 Congratulations to the following employees for reaching 5-year milestones of employment with the FWC.
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