Sylvia Acevedo

Senior Director of Refugee and Employment Services, Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services, Clearwater, FL

Sylvia Acevedo has been with Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services (Gulf Coast) for over 5 years where she currently serves as Senior Director of Refugee and Employment Services. She has over 25 years of nonprofit leadership, dedicating much of her focus on developing and overseeing programs that address the needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations. In previous years, her work focused on developing outreach programs to migrant workers vulnerable to sexual exploitation and labor trafficking. More recently, her work has focused on helping programs build their capacity around creating welcoming and affirming services for LGBTQ refugees/immigrants.

As Senior Director, of Refugee Programs’, Sylvia provides direction to ensure the successful integration of refugees and survivors of torture for programs located in Miami and Tampa Bay. In her role as Senior Director of Employment programs, she oversees the administration of the agencies Employment Programs in 5 counties, which focus on helping clients attain self-sufficiency. Currently, she serves on HIAS’ Affiliate Council as a member at large, and as Vice President of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs.

Sylvia received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Lynn University and her Master of Laws from St. Thomas University School of Law in Intercultural Human Rights.