[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING NICOLE VICTORIA MCLAREN AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL 
                    FLORIDA FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 21, 2025

  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, Nicole Victoria McLaren, Esq. is a first-
generation American born to Jamaican immigrants. She is a proud alumna 
of Florida's public school system, graduating from West Orange High 
School, Florida A&M University, and the University of Florida's Levin 
College of Law.
  She wholeheartedly believes, as Shirley Chisholm once said, ``Service 
is the rent you pay for the privilege of living on this Earth'' She 
built her career in public service, first as an assistant public 
defender and then as an assistant prosecutor for Florida's Department 
of Business and Professional Regulation, following the 2008 foreclosure 
crisis. During this time, she volunteered as the Orange County District 
3 representative on the Orange County Membership and Mission Review 
Board and was later elected as an Orange Soil and Water Supervisor.
  Nicole was honored and humbled to serve the residents of Florida's 
Ninth Congressional District as the legislative director for 
Congressman Darren Soto and, most recently, as a presidential appointee 
to the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations 
at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the 
Biden-Harris Administration.
  She is eternally thankful for the lessons she learned from her 
grandmothers, Dezerene Christian and Emelme McLaren, as well as her 
parents, Gary and Dell McLaren. Nicole is grateful for the continuous 
support she receives from her sister and brother-in-law, Dr. Shelly 
McLaren and Joseph Webster; her nieces, Ailani Simone, Alora Synclair, 
and Alaya Shayne Jolee Webster; her day-ones; her ``Golden Girls''; her 
FAMU forever friends; her mentor, Colonel, USA Retired Myrna Amelia 
Mesa; and her mentees, whom she affectionately calls her kids, 
Renegade, Atlas, Dandelion, Velvet, and Jaguar.
  She will eternally be grateful to Congressman Darren Soto and her 
extended Team Soto family for the opportunity to work alongside them to 
serve her neighbors.
  Team Soto Forever (Team Soto Para Siempre).

                          ____________________