Ms. Essie Reed is Nominated for FBI Director’s 2011 Community Leadership Award

MIAMI—John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Miami Division, announces the nomination of Ms. Essie Reed for the FBI Director’s 2011 Community Leadership Award for her mentoring and charitable initiatives among the people in need of South Florida.

Ms. Reed, known locally as ‘Big Mama,’ will travel to Washington D.C. in March, 2012, to receive the award from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

Ms. Reed is the president and founder of Team of Life, Inc., a non-profit charitable organization in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that assists local residents in need. Her services provide children, who come from homes where drugs, alcohol, poverty and violence exist, an opportunity to overcome the hardships they face.

She has made a difference in her community through mentoring, community involvement, and feeding the homeless. Ms. Reed is a mentor to seventh-grade students at New River Middle School, where she provides meals, clothing, and transportation to students who are in her program. Her Young Men and Women Business Association links non-profit organizations to local businesses where they collaborate to address the social and economic needs impacting their communities. She collects and distributes thousands of turkeys and gifts each year during the holiday season.

Through her efforts, Ms. Reed has raised awareness of the homelessness that plagues local communities, the need for volunteers and mentors for youth and by improving a sense of community and caring among residents.

She has received numerous civic awards including being honored as Community Activist of the Year in 2001 by the Vanguard Chronicle.

Previous award winners from Miami include former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, the Anti-Defamation League, and Handy, Inc.