[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 113 (Thursday, June 18, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E549-E550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING KELLIE PARKIN AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA FOR 
                              PRIDE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 18, 2020

  Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, as the Pride Chamber's Chief Executive 
Officer, Kellie is a leader of Central Florida's LGBTQ economic 
equality movement. An award-winning photographer and writer, as well as 
an insatiable learner, Kellie works tirelessly every day, using her 
extensive experience in business development and journalism, to make 
our world a better, more inclusive, and equal place for all humans; and 
specifically, for her rainbow tribe whom she loves dearly.
  A puzzle solver, pattern reader, and team builder, Kellie has the 
ability to see the big picture, understand other viewpoints, and seek 
new ways and solutions that lead to consensus and action. She has a 
global perspective and an individual approach.
  Some of her recent recognitions include the Business Equality 
Network's National Top 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40, Watermark's Most 
Remarkable People, and the inaugural Chamber Leader of the Year Award 
by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Under her transformative 
leadership, the Pride Chamber was honored as Chamber of the Year.
  Last year she spearheaded the effort that led the City of Orlando and 
Orange County to

[[Page E550]]

be the first in Florida to embrace and recognize LGBT businesses in 
their procurement processes.
  Kellie serves on the Orlando Mayor's Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Commission and volunteers with the Central Florida Freethought 
Community, a non-profit dedicated to the separation of state and 
church. In the wake of the Pulse Tragedy, she served on the taskforce 
to formally establish the One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of non-
profits unifying Central Florida's LGBTQ+ community.
  She believes every moment counts, and that together we can create 
positive change if we show up, speak out, and act with love, which she 
strives to do daily for the community at large, and for her family, 
where she is a proud and fierce mama bear.

                          ____________________