VALPARAISO, FLORIDA - Strong presence, savvy attitude, direct gaze from blue-green eyes. These are first impressions of a local leader, Judy Byrne Riley.

Born April 13, ’45 in Valparaiso, Florida to Bill and Rae Byrne, their springtime baby would make quite a splash. Riley’s name is everywhere, as she has served on multiple organizations, as chair of United Way, to president of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County, and past president of the Niceville-Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, among others.  

Riley was recently inducted into the Okaloosa County Women’s Hall of Fame, one of four women ultimately recognized for extraordinary achievement and leadership.

While it’s easy to assume that community involvement is based on philanthropy, Riley counters that idea. For her, leadership is also about family role models, pragmatism, and a way to utilize her problem-solving skills.

Her mother Rae was always involved in leadership, and the time she devoted to the local hospital auxiliary provided a lasting impression for young Judy.

Following her mother’s example, she said, “Anytime I’ve been settled, I’ve always been involved.”

She lists the Red Cross, and the League of Women Voters in Massachusetts as early endeavors.

But one of the first things she did when she moved back to Florida in ‘78 was to join the local Chamber of Commerce. As former vice-president of Valparaiso Realty Company, and current president of Maximum Management and Leasing, joining the Chamber “was not as much altruistic as making good business connections,” she said. In real estate, as with many ventures, connections are vital for successful business.

She found that once she got involved at the Chamber, “one thing led to another.”

Over a relatively short period of time, her leadership extended to serving as chair of the Okaloosa County Commission on the Status of Women (OCCSW); president of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County; board member of the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation; and board member of the University of West Florida Foundation. 

She has also served as president of the National Association of Workforce Boards, as well as local chair, and has been involved at the state level. Locally, this is an important service for thousands of people, providing federally-funded job training and programs through the Department of Labor. The JobsPlus offices in Fort Walton, Defuniak, and Crestview provide a one-stop shop for employers looking for workers, or employees looking for a job.

Riley describes herself as a person who is not afraid to speak out, not shy about getting involved.

“Problem-solving is a challenge that I enjoy.”

Life has certainly thrown her challenges that would test her problem-solving skills.

Her beloved father Bill, afflicted with polio, died when she was twelve. She remembers the way he delighted in serving up juicy steaks and listening to Broadway hits. He taught her to swim. He instilled good family values among Riley and her brothers, Pat and Andy.

Their mother later remarried, and sister Terri was born. Riley completed high school in northern Alabama, at a boarding school.

If life has cast some pain in losing a father so young, it has also given joy. The greatest beauty in life, Riley responds quickly is, “my children.”

   She’s gratified by the tight bonds she shares with her three daughters, Marion, Meghan, and Karen. “And also their closeness with each other.”

When her marriage to the girls’ father, Jim Riley, ended, Riley decided that having three children ages 1, 6 and 10, was no reason not to pursue an education. In fact, it provided a new opportunity to complete college and stretch her skills.

She attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts, living with her three girls in the school’s old infirmary. Ironically, they had six bedrooms, but the kitchen was smaller than a closet. She decided on anthropology when taking an introductory course in the subject, discovering it answered “all the whys.”

“Why do people do the things we do, worship the way we do, eat the way we eat?”

Studies of cultures and people, and exposure to new ideas spurred her onward. Her high grades earned her appointed membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and she graduated magna cum laude. She brought her family to back to Florida and took on a career in her family’s real estate business. While many people believe single parenting is hard on families, Riley said she and her girls “had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.” She treasures the Mother’s Day letters they’ve written her.

“I’ve been fortunate in family support,” she said. She also cites the benefits of working for a company that allowed her flexibility, enabling her to participate in community involvement. But she needed more of a challenge than working at a small company and branched out. Her work on various organizations gave her a chance to hone her talents.

Along the way, she found love; Riley has been married to Odin Toness for almost twenty years. He is an anthropologist, but that isn’t how they met. The pair discovered each other at the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Fellowship of the Emerald Coast. He brought to the family two daughters, Anna and Bianca.

Jeannette Debs is prevention coordinator at Shelter House, a refuge for domestic violence victims, and her husband, Rod, serves as reverend at UU. Debs said she remains impressed by Riley’s involvement in the local community. Representative for the local NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter, Debs also meets with OCCSW leaders. Riley seems to be everywhere, she said.

“What I think of immediately is that I see her imprint in numerous places, such as United Way, and OCCSW. Her name keeps popping up,” Debs said.

“And to juggle school with three kids is very impressive. I admire her.”

Riley certainly raises the bar for women. She finds it fascinating to work on the state’s Constitution Revision Commission (CRC). After her appointment to the CRC, Riley was instrumental in striking a compromise to an amendment that added the term, “men and women alike” to Florida’s constitution.

“No, I said, let’s make it be, ‘women and men alike.’” It was more than semantics, said Riley. “What I wanted was to make people pay attention.” To turn the phrase around makes people think about the order of the words.

Currently, Riley is working on a community effort through United Way to develop a long-term recovery resource guide for hurricane victims. This assists immediate victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as future disaster victims. Riley chairs one of four Okaloosa county task forces. The hundreds of displaced people in our area need a resource point of contact, she said.

Lynne Christen, Mary Esther resident and former president of the Fort Walton Chamber of Commerce, said Riley deserves the highest recognition. Riley was president of the Niceville-Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce at the same time that Christen was president in Fort Walton. They were among the first women in the area to be named presidents. “I saw how proactive she was for getting things accomplished in this community,” said Christen. “Too many people talk, but don’t act. She does act, and she helps people in need.”

A recent example is that Riley has worked closely with others in the community to help an elderly woman sell her home and relocate to an assisted living center. Christen said it’s typical Riley behavior. “She’s front-end scene, but accomplishes far more than others realize behind the scenes. She’ll do the labor and the logistics, the little things that can overwhelm people.

“I would characterize Judy as a trailblazer. She’s opened a lot of doors for people.”

David Goetsch, vice president at Okaloosa-Walton College, and member of the Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, has known Riley for nearly twenty years. He said Riley is carrying on a family tradition of service to the community, something that’s been going on since Riley’s great grandfather, James Plew, helped found Valparaiso, Eglin, and later, Niceville. Riley’s important leadership deserves emphasis, he believes. “The Workforce Board serves the people who are hardest to help. The Board helps provide training for the people on the lowest rung of society.”

There’s always talk of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, Goetsch said. “But you can’t pull yourself up by the bootstraps if you don’t have bootstraps to pull.” What Riley’s leadership does, then, is help people escape poverty. “Judy has been a major player in making the Workforce Board the best in the state.”

Executive director of the Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, Mary Lou Reed, agrees entirely that Riley is the epitome of social service. Riley’s creating an ongoing perpetual system, empowering self sufficiency among people who might otherwise be dependent on welfare, she said.

Riley “pulls people together,” said Reed. Riley inspired a partnership among OCCSW, future leaders of the Junior League, the Workforce Board, and United Way, to create “Suit Up to Move Up,” a program that provides people the proper wardrobe needed for job interviews. At first it was women who benefited from the one-stop JobsPlus expensive closet; now there’s business attire for men, too, said Reed.

If one of Riley’s many talents is inspiring others, said Reed, another is her tremendous business acumen. “The year she chaired United Way, they broke all records of local fundraising at that time,” said Reed. Now, Riley’s raising funds for the Bill W. Peebles Jr. Memorial Scholarship at the University of West Florida (UWF). Peebles, a former county commissioner, was a person everyone looked to for fair and logical thinking, said Reed. “People loved him.” UWF was his alma mater. After Peebles passed away, Riley “spearheaded the drive to raise funds in his honor, to keep his name alive. She’s doing that to honor his integrity,” said Reed.

“Wherever she goes she seems to rise to the top.”