Announcing Christine Frederick as CEO of The Lord’s Place

CEO of FLITE Center chosen to be the next leader of Palm Beach County’s leading agency breaking the cycle of homelessness

Boca Raton, FL – 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.

Christine Frederick

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.”

For more information on The Lord’s Place and its mission to break the cycle of homelessness for men, women, and children, visit thelordsplace.org. 

For 45 years, The Lord’s Place, a non-sectarian agency, has been working to break the cycle of homelessness for men, women, and children in Palm Beach County, FL, through innovative, compassionate and effective services. The Fortin Family Campus in West Palm Beach provides training and support services including: the operation of Café Joshua; job training and placement services; clinical and care coordination; community engagement services; and a reentry program helping men and women transitioning from incarceration. The agency also owns or rents 15 supportive and graduate housing locations, as well as 85 scattered site apartments, to help house about 300 individuals every night.For more information, visit thelordsplace.org.