ORANGE PARK - The Shepherd’s Center of Orange Park's board of directors is excited to announce that it has hired Elizabeth Reed as its new Executive Director, replacing Christy Fitzgerald.

The Board will miss Christy’s leadership, but they are excited to build on her legacy and the work of the many volunteers, participants, and sponsors that make the Shepherd’s Center an inspirational place.

Elizabeth is an Orange Park native with an MBA from the University of Georgia. Her education and corporate work experience are related to accounting, although she homeschooled her children for 10 years, which gave her the liberal arts education she didn’t get at business school, as well as experience leading and teaching.

After she left her corporate job in 2016, she completed professional coaching training and founded her life coaching practice. She helps people live a joyful life. Most of her clients come to her for plant-based health coaching. During the COVID pandemic, she moved in with her parents and walked them home in their final days.

Elizabeth has first-hand knowledge of the power of social connections at the Shepherd’s Center. She brought her mother, Martha Reed, to many classes, and Elizabeth has also taught Yoga for Adventures in Learning at the Shepherds Center.

Elizabeth’s volunteer and nonprofit experiences include 15 years of leadership roles in Toastmasters, as a board member and President of the Northeast Florida chapter of the International Coach Federation, and as an active volunteer usher with the Florida Theatre and the Jacksonville Symphony.

Social support is one of the six pillars of health, according to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine - just as important as nutrition, activity, stress management, sleep, and avoidance of risky substances. The Board of the Shepherd’s Center is passionate about providing a strong social network for older adults in Clay County. To learn more about the Shepherd’s Center’s Adventure in Learning program, please visit our website at tsoop.org.