Professional children and youth director, nonprofit fundraiser, volunteer and longtime Wellington community leader Shelly Albright recently announced that she has filed to run for Seat 4 on the Wellington Village Council in next year’s municipal election.
Seat 4 will be an open seat. It is currently held by Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone, who is term limited. The election will be held March 19, 2024.
“As a longtime Wellington resident who raised my family here in the community that I love, I am running to bring my many years of experience to the Wellington Village Council. As a children and youth ministries director, and an active community leader, I have the knowledge and experience to be the strong and effective leader that the village needs,” said Albright, the mother of four adult children.
Albright is a Florida native, a Hispanic woman, a 20-year resident of Wellington, the current director of children and youth ministries at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Wellington, a BoardSource certified nonprofit board consultant and the former CEO of the Sophisticated Octopus.
At St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, Albright is responsible for all children’s programming from infants through 12th grade. As the former founder and CEO of the Sophisticated Octopus, she specialized in inspirational retreats and impactful workshops for women and girls that inspired women of all ages and stages in life to live life to their full potential.
Additionally, Albright has a long history of statewide, county and local community service on multiple boards and committees.
Albright currently serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Foundation of Florida, which empowers women and girls to positively affect the economic, political and social status of women and girls across Florida. Albright also currently serves on the advisory board for the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club of Wellington and is the current vice chair of the Wellington Education Committee.
Albright is a longtime member and past president of the Junior League of the Palm Beaches Inc. As president, she was responsible for the governance and management of a volunteer organization of 736 women. During her tenure, she served as a board member, chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, chair of the Internal Mentoring Development Committee and vice president of Fundraising, to name a few.
Albright previously served on the Palm Beach County Advisory Commission on Women, as chair of the Wellington Interfaith Committee, as president of the PTO for Elbridge Gale Elementary School, as president of the PTA for Citrus Cove Elementary School, as co-chair of the Cattle Baron’s Ball for the American Cancer Society, and in various leadership roles for United Methodist Women at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church.
Albright has also received much recognition for her community service, including the Bethesda Hospital Foundation’s Women of Grace Award, the Volunteer of the Year Award from Elbridge Gale Elementary School, the Junior League of Boca Raton’s Woman Volunteer of the Year Award nominee and the Junior League of the Palm Beaches’ President’s Award nominee.
Albright has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Florida, a certificate of nonprofit board consulting from BoardSource and a certified practitioner of MBTI from the Myers & Briggs Foundation.
Seat 4 is one of three council seats that will be up for election in 2024. The others are Seat 1, currently held by Councilman Michael Drahos, and the mayor’s seat, currently held by Mayor Anne Gerwig. Like Napoleone, both Drahos and Gerwig are term limited.
