Press Release: August 25, 2026
From: Okaloosa County Commission on the Status of Women
Contact: Kelly Fuller 850-830-8498

Congratulations to the 2026 Inductees into the OCCSW Women’s Hall of Fame. They are standing here (left to right): Dr. MiChele Stevenson, Military Inductee; Dr. Linda Smith, Education Inductee; Heather Ruiz, Contemporary Inductee; Christina Larson, Mattie Kelley Cultural Arts Inductee; Dr. Cristie Kedroski, Community Service Inductee; Simona Faroni, Pioneer Inductee; Vanessa D’Aquin, Spencer Humanitarian Inductee; and Megan Blancho, Business Professional Inductee. 

For more information, visit the website at occsw.com or contact Kelly Fuller at 850-830-8498.

Christina Larson

Mattie Kelley Cultural Arts Inductee

Christina Larson has spent more than fifty years weaving emergency service, advocacy, and the arts together in Okaloosa County. As the county’s first female paramedic, she earned its first paramedic degree from then-Okaloosa Walton Junior College and worked grueling 24-on/24-off shifts for six years before an injury led her to coordinate care for the Center for Independent Living, where she later founded Paddle Power, an annual accessible beach outing for residents with disabilities. Holding two psychology degrees from the University of West Florida, she taught there as an adjunct instructor. For twelve years, Christina fostered 145 special-needs children and founded the county’s Foster Parent Association. Amid this service, she assisted Mattie Kelly in establishing the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation and, with her husband Robert, created Shoal Sanctuary Nature Preserve, a retreat pairing sculpture trails with environmental education. Christina is also a published, award-winning author and poet, whose memoir Rosemary, Now and Then earned national literary honors and reflects a rare fusion of science, service, and art.

Dr. MiChele Stevenson

Military Inductee

Dr. MiChele Stevenson has built a distinguished federal career supporting our nation’s defense while giving back to the Okaloosa County community that shaped her. A product of Okaloosa County schools who earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of West Florida and a Doctorate from Virginia University of Lynchburg, she served in acquisition and equal opportunity roles with Naval Strategic Systems Programs, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy before joining the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, where she now leads the Mentor Protégé Program supporting small businesses in defense contracting. A graduate of the Department of War’s Women’s Executive Leadership Program, she has chaired DTRA’s Women’s Employee Resource Group and Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Back home, MiChele partnered with Fort Walton Beach to restore the historic NAACP Legacy Walk of Fame honoring her own parents, and serves on the Homelessness and Housing Alliance’s Grants Review Committee, helping direct funding toward residents facing housing instability, continuing her family’s legacy through Gregg Chapel AME Church.

Vanessa D’Aquin

Carolyn Spencer Humanitarian Inductee

Vanessa D’Aquin, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, has spent years transforming healthcare access for Okaloosa County’s most vulnerable women. She built her clinical foundation with an Associate Degree in Nursing from Northwest Florida State College and years in critical care and trauma nursing, later earning dual Master’s degrees in Family Nurse Practice and Nursing Executive Leadership from the University of West Florida. Since 2021, Vanessa has served as Director of Clinical Services at Crossroads Center, a free medical, dental, and counseling clinic, helping grow patient services by more than 200 percent while personally providing free care to nearly 1,000 women. She has secured no-cost mammograms for uninsured patients and built lasting partnerships supporting women recovering from addiction through Freedom House, Saving Grace, Path of Grace, and Freedom Life Compass. She also cares for patients in the Florida correctional system and mentors future nurse practitioners. Recognized as OCHIP’s Healthy Behaviors Member of the Year, Vanessa embodies selfless dedication to healing and dignity for Okaloosa County’s underserved.

Dr. Linda Smith

Education Inductee

Dr. Linda Smith has devoted her life to Okaloosa County's children, first as a classroom teacher and then as a middle and high school principal, building school cultures grounded in accountability, empathy, and high expectations. A resident of the county since 1961, she carried that devotion into a second career fourteen years ago as a Guardian ad Litem, where she now serves as a Certified Child Advocate Manager overseeing more than twenty-five volunteers with one of the highest retention rates in the First Judicial Circuit. Judges regularly seek her expertise navigating IEPs and 504 plans for children in protective custody, and she has guided countless students who once believed education held no value toward graduation or a GED. Beyond her caseload, Linda mobilizes churches and civic groups to provide clothing and comfort items to children entering care with nothing. A devoted member of Delta Kappa Gamma and her church choir, she leads with quiet persistence, refusing to give up on any child, shaping generations of Okaloosa County families.

Heather Ruiz

Contemporary Inductee

Heather Ruiz has spent the last decade at the center of Okaloosa County’s most transformative decisions. A self-described “military brat” who graduated from Niceville High School and earned her marketing degree from Florida State University, Heather built her career as a single mother, rising from media sales into digital marketing, commercial real estate, and national marketing leadership. Over nearly a decade at Destin Commons, she earned four promotions and national recognition for community impact, including Hurricane Michael relief efforts. In 2021, she became Director of Marketing for both Talking Parents and Bit-Wizards, leading national strategy for two companies at once. That same year, Heather became one of the youngest women ever to chair the eighty-year-old Fort Walton Beach Chamber, steering initiatives including local sales tax measures and the Brooks Bridge replacement. She serves on the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation board, mentors young women through Take Stock in Children, and was inducted into the Commission’s Women of Honor in 2021, all while raising two children with her husband, Dennis.

Megan Blanco

Business Professional Inductee

Megan Blancho arrived in Okaloosa County with a law degree earned Magna Cum Laude from the University of Akron and a career already forged through prosecutorial work in Florida and Virginia. She opened her own practice, building it into a statewide authority on healthcare license defense and representing thousands of nurses and other medical professionals across Florida. Despite carrying the full weight of running her own office, Megan has consistently made time to mentor other women launching their own practices, offering guidance, encouragement, and even financial support.

She co-founded the Okaloosa Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, growing it into a lasting professional home for women attorneys, and was honored with the Leader in the Law Award at the 2026 FAWL State Convention. Appointed by the Chief Judge to the First Judicial Circui’s Professionalism Panel, Megan has climbed to the top of a specialized legal field through her own tenacity while lifting other women alongside her, exemplifying the vision and leadership that define OCCSW’s Professional Business Leader inductees.

Dr. Cristie Kedroski

Community Service Inductee

Dr. Cristie Kedroski has spent more than fifteen years shaping Northwest Florida State College and strengthening the Okaloosa County community around it. A native of Okaloosa County and University of Florida graduate, she returned home to lead the NWFSC Foundation, growing its endowment from $36 million to more than $62 million while overseeing nearly $75 million in grant funding for workforce and nursing programs. In 2024, she stepped in as Interim President, guiding the College through a national leadership search with a steady hand. Beyond campus, Cristie devotes her leadership to the wider community, serving on the boards of HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital and CCB Community Bank, and chairing the Niceville-Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, where she has championed initiatives supporting local military families and public education. A 2005 Leadership Okaloosa graduate and former Hurlburt Field Honorary Commander, she has spent decades connecting education, healthcare, and business leaders toward shared community goals, always quick to credit the teams around her for the College’s growth.

Simona Faroni

Pioneer Inductee

Simona Faroni arrived in Okaloosa County from Mantova, Italy, in 1996 with no English, no credit history, and a dream of bringing authentic Italian gelato to America. Facing regulatory hurdles that nearly ended the venture, she and her husband Guido spent their days bringing imported equipment into FDA compliance and their nights learning English, becoming the first in their industry certified to import Italian gelato equipment. Simona sold gelato door to door to keep the dream alive. That resilience grew GS Gelato into a nationally distributed manufacturer employing more than 150 people who speak ten languages, with $38 million in 2025 sales. Naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2010, Simona has sponsored international workers toward citizenship, mentored entrepreneurs through Grow Florida, and given generously to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, local schools, and the Boys and Girls Club. Her honors include Enterprising Women of the Year and multiple Inc. 5000 recognitions. Simona’s story is a living testament to the American Dream, built through grit and generosity.

Since 1995, 147 women have been inducted into the Okaloosa County Women’s Hall of Fame. This award was created to honor and recognize women who have made important contributions to Okaloosa County. The first Women’s Hall of Fame was held in 1995.For more information visit the website at occsw.com.