Joél Junior Morales is an outspoken, Puerto Rican, queer advocate. And he is remarkable. We both relocated to Orlando from Massachusetts, me in 2002 and him in 2011, and I have had the privilege of working with him since 2019 when he returned to The Center in his current role as director of operations.
Often the executive director of a nonprofit gets most of the credit for good things happening within the organization. I learned early in my career to surround myself with the best and that is exactly what I did when I hired Joél. So many of The Center’s recent accolades were because of his hard work and dedication to our community.
Prior to 2020, Joél has accomplished so much. From being a co-founder of QLatinx to being regional chapter coordinator of Crime Survivors for Safety & Justice, he has always been a catalyst for change. He advocated for the passage of House Bill 7125, which was signed into law in late 2019. The new policy improves the probation system, gets Floridian’s back to work and removes barriers to victim’s compensation.
Joél and I had a mantra going into this year. “2020 is the year of The Center.” We probably said it about a million times to each other. While COVID-19 may have sidetracked many of our plans, Joél was able to pivot and refocus his energy on what the community needs. He was instrumental in the creation of the LGBTQ+ Relief Fund, a collaboration of several LGBTQ organizations. He worked tirelessly to make sure that the most marginalized citizens’ needs were being met during the pandemic.
I witnessed him navigate a broken system to make sure that The Center’s new initiatives to bridge gaps in food security were happening. And he was instrumental in ensuring that The Center would be the future home of the Orlando United Assistance Center, where he worked immediately following the Pulse tragedy. Not backing away from a challenge, he began consulting this year with the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center, bringing his expertise to organizations across the county.
Through the pandemic and closures, Joél never slowed down. As I write this on Thanksgiving weekend, I am thankful that Joél is part of The Center family. Orlando is lucky to have such a remarkable person working for their benefit. So, as 2020 ends, it was indeed the year of The Center and the year of Joél Junior Morales. Here’s to 2021.
To view the full list of Watermark’s Most Remarkable People of 2020, click here.