Staff
Florida Bridgewater-Alford
Director, Community Relations
Ms. Florida Bridgewater-Alford manages various aspects of the Community Relations initiative for the University of Florida.
Previously, Florida served as a traffic/office manager for Bogie Broadcasting Inc. Then she served as a member of The Gainesville Sun Newspaper (N.Y. Times Group) news staff for nearly seven years in various roles including news assistant, news researcher and staff writer covering the 911 beat. In addition, she was The Sun's first Web producer and a member of its online redesign committee for GainesvilleSun.com, which won re-design awards during her tenure.
She is a member of several civic and industry organizations including the Sunrise Rotary Club of Gainesville, National Association of Black Journalists and Public Relations Society of America. Professionally, she has served as a judge for the national Bronze Anvil Awards programs, one of the highest awards recognizing Public Relations tactics.
She is vice president of the Twenty Pearls Foundation Inc. Board of Directors - the charitable and development arm of Mu Upsilon Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Dividing time between being a mother, wife, PR professional and a community leader, Florida currently serves on the College Park/University Heights Gainesville Redevelopment Advisory Board, Gateway Girl Scouts Board (representing the Gainesville area), Reichert House Advisory Board, Santa Fe College Blount Center Advisory Board, and is secretary/fiscal compliance advisor for the American Cancer Society Board.
Giving dozens of volunteer hours annually, Florida received the Outstanding Advisor Award, NPHC, at the University of Florida for the years: 2002, 2003, and 2005, while serving in that position from 2001-2005. She is a graduate of Leadership Gainesville 32 and UF Academy Class 2007-08.
Florida is a proud 1993 UF graduate.