Sophia Eccleston

Army Veteran Sophia Eccleston is a member of the External Affairs team at Florida Power and Light Company (FPL).

As an External Affairs (EA) manager in Palm Beach County, Sophia is responsible for advocating with local elected officials and key community stakeholders on behalf of FPL. Before joining EA, she worked as a solar developer and developed large-scale solar projects located in Desoto, Manatee, and Charlotte Counties.

Sophia served over four years in the military on both active and reserve duty. She was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, and Savannah, Georgia.  While in the military, she supported the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.  She was also responsible for managing equipment and supplies for the 95^th Military Police Battalion and the 224^th Military Intelligence Battalion.

Along with her military experience, Sophia also worked for Halliburton and KBR Inc. in the Middle East and Africa. Two of her most notable roles were negotiating multimillion-dollar contracts to build infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan for the United States military and starting up the first Regional Expediting Department located Dubai.  She also oversaw KBR expediting offices in Jordan and Turkey.  Sophia built a team that managed millions of dollars in equipment and supplies supporting the U.S. Military throughout the Middle East and Africa.

Sophia is a Commissioner on the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. She was appointed by Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, in 2018.  In 2019 Sophia was also appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the newly formed Florida Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission.  She currently serves as President of the Board of the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County. She is a board member for Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Foundation, Palm Beach County Homeless Advisory Board, Florida Women’s Business Center and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.  She is also a member of Impact 100 of Palm Beach County.   Sophia is a former board member for the Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, the National Society of Arts and Letters, Florida East Coast Chapter, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries and the Wounded Veteran Relief Fund.  She also chaired the Leukemia Lymphoma Society 2016 Boca Raton Walk.  In 2017 she was honored by the City of West Palm Beach as their Hometown Hero and was a finalist for the Greater Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, 2017 Athena Leadership Awards. Legacy Magazine of South Florida named Sophia as one of South Florida’s Most Powerful and Influential Black Business Leaders of 2018. In 2019 she was honored as a Community Influencer by the Achievement Centers for Children and Families.

Sophia has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a MBA with a concentration in Organizational Psychology and Development.  She is a certified organizational development professional (OD) and holds a Lean Sig Sigma green belt certification. She completed a training program on Leadership and Negotiations from Harvard Law School and is also an Alumni of Leadership Palm Beach County.