Announcing Christine Frederick as CEO of The Lord’s Place April 15, 2025

The Lord’s Place announces the appointment of Christine Frederick as the social impact
agency’s next chief executive officer. After an extensive eight-month national search and
thorough screening and evaluation process of close to 100 candidates, the CEO search
committee with unanimous approval of the board of directors, confidently selected Frederick as
the next permanent leader to continue to grow and inspire the agency’s 45-year mission of
breaking the cycle of homelessness in Palm Beach County.

Frederick joins The Lord’s Place with more than 20 years of progressive leadership in nonprofit
and social impact organizations, including serving as the CEO of FLITE (Florida Independence,
Training & Education) Center in Broward County since 2017. FLITE Center guides those aging
out of foster care and other vulnerable youth for a successful journey to independence through
education, employment, housing health and wellness, and system of care coordination. At
FLITE Center, Frederick coordinated the Transitional Independent Living System of Care; grew
its budget from under $600,000 to more than $9,000,000; expanded the headquarters from
3,000 square feet to more than 16,000 square feet; increased staff from eight to more than 60;
and extended its service area to include 12 counties in Florida.

“I am confident that we have found the next generation of leadership for The Lord’s Place.
Christine brings a wealth of experience, having successfully grown FLITE over the past eight
years. She has established strong working relationships with civic and community leaders—
many of whom also support The Lord’s Place. Most importantly, Christine embodies many of the
same qualities that define our dedicated staff: deep compassion for the underserved, a true
calling to take on this challenging work, and a quick, agile mind focused on solving the complex
problems we face,” stated Cornelia Thornburgh, chair of the board of directors.

Frederick serves as the co-chair of the Independent Services Advisory Council and has led
FLITE Center to receive multiple awards, including: 211 Non-Profit of the Year (2022 & 2023)
and Rising Star (2017) and Fort Lauderdale Chamber “Salute to Business” (2019). She is
recognized as a community leader, as evidenced by the following honors: Inspiring Women of
Health (2024); Apogee Award for Nonprofit Leadership (2021); Hispanic Woman of Distinction
(2018); and 100 Successful Women in Business (2018).

“I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Christine to Palm Beach County and to The Lord’s
Place family. On behalf of the board of directors, we believe Christine is the person to continue
inspiring our team, enriching our community, and, most importantly, serving those in need. We
know Christine will bring the same passion for making a difference in the lives of the poor and
homeless in our county as she has for the vulnerable youth throughout the state of Florida. We
look forward to working with her in writing the next chapter for our agency and the clients we
serve,” added Thornburgh.

Kerry Diaz, J.D., stepped into the role of interim CEO upon the retirement of the agency’s CEO
in February. Diaz will remain in the position until Frederick officially starts in June 2025 and after
a thorough handover of responsibilities and key relationships.

Accepting the role of CEO, Frederick shared, “As I toured the different programs of The Lord’s Place
and met the amazing staff I’m going to be blessed to work with, the notion of ‘hope’ stood out to me.
In every facet of The Lord’s Place programming there was a pathway to hope, with no dead end at
any point. Our job as social service organizations is to leave people better off than where we found
them. As the incoming CEO, I am excited to join such a dynamic and impactful organization that is
doing necessary work in ending homelessness one individual and family at a time. Together, we will
move the needle forward and continue to be an agency that serves as a beacon of hope for our
clients and community.”