Val Demings is a lifelong public servant who broke numerous glass ceilings in her rise through the Orlando Police Department, her election to Congress, her appointment to prosecute the (first) impeachment of former president Donald Trump, her campaign for Senate in Florida, and her consideration as potential running mate to President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A speaker, commentator, writer, and community leader, Demings is available for speaking engagements at conferences, conventions, educational institutions, and other events. You can contact her here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Val Butler Demings learned from her parents about the American Dream. They didn\u2019t have much: two parents and seven children in a small wood-framed house in Jacksonville. Her mother Elouise Butler worked as a maid; her father James as a janitor, landscaper, and orange picker \u2014 as many jobs as it took to get by. \u201cWork hard and play by the rules,\u201d they taught her. \u201dHave faith.\u201d \u201cTreat others as you want to be treated.\u201d \u201cNever tire of doing good.\u201d In America, these were the building blocks of a successful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She took her first job at 14 as a dishwasher. Became the first in her family to go to college, showing up with $50 in her pocket and working at a fast food restaurant to pay her way to a B.S. in Criminology from Florida State University and a later Master\u2019s in Public Administration. She became a social worker, working to protect children in broken homes. Then, dismayed at a system that was leaving too many families behind, she signed up to become a police officer \u2014 an officer with a social worker\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Val Demings is a lifelong public servant who broke numerous glass ceilings in her rise through the Orlando Police Department, her election to Congress, her appointment to prosecute the (first) impeachment of former president Donald Trump, her campaign for Senate in Florida, and her consideration as potential running mate to President Joe Biden. A speaker, … <\/p>\n