Latina Panamanian- American Has Devoted Her Career to Public Service
Meet Yvette Colbourne, 2023 Hispanic Woman of Distinction, Commissioner, City of Miramar
“Hispanic women bring a level of culture that is nurturing yet strong, and our role is to ensure that we pass that along to future generations. The passion of Hispanic women for culture leads to an enlightened future for coming generations.”
For most of her adult life, Yvette Colbourne has devoted her career to public service. Before being selected as Vice Mayor for the City of Miramar, Yvette spent 30 years as a Miami-Dade County Administrator, Vice Chair of the City of Miramar’s Economic Development Board, served as a member of the Civil Service Advisory Board and the Broward County Diversity Committee.
Yvette has devoted her life to ensuring the well-being of the elderly and the under-served, promoting diversity and acting to ensure that the entire city is thought of as “One Miramar.”
She was selected as Vice Mayor four times and now serves as a City of Miramar Commissioner. She currently represents the City on the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization board. She also serves as the Vice President of the National League of Cities Women in Municipal Government Committee and board member of the National League of Cities Hispanic Elected Local Officials, among other local business, community and political groups.
Her other projects have included creating, planning and hosting the wildly-popular Latin Music Festival for the last ten years which attracted more than 7,000 people in 2022.
Born in Panama of Jamaican ancestry, Yvette planned and hosted the City’s first Juneteenth celebration. Working with local high school and college students, she also hosts the “Adopt-A-Street” annual cleaning event.
During the Covid pandemic, Yvette created a weekly hot meals distribution program for Miramar’s senior citizens. In 2022, she also sponsored a resolution for Miramar’s Veterans Program and created the Miramar Mile Run.
She also created the Miramar Latin Voters Club and served as a panelist for the Hispanic Vote during Women’s History and Hispanic History Month.
A recent accomplishment was planning the Women Empowerment Luncheon featuring Ana Navarro as the keynote speaker.
Her extraordinary leadership efforts have not gone unnoticed by numerous organizations. In recent years Yvette has been awarded the Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Transportations Planning Organizations Safe Street Award, the Teen Counsel Advisory Board Women’s History Month Award, the National Panamanian Friendship Reunion, Inc. Award, the United Negro College Fund Champion of Education Award, the 15 de Septiembre Honduran Organization’s Community Service Award, the Jamaican American Bar Association Community Award and other recognitions too many to note.
Yvette received her B.A. in Business Administration and a Master of Public Administration degrees from Nova Southeastern University. She is also a graduate of the “Good Government Initiative” from the University of Miami’s Leaders of Excellence Program for Elected Officials.
Yvette and her husband, Omar Colbourne, a network engineer, and their two children, Omar Jr. and Jesenia, love returning to Panama’s beautiful Playa Coronado and just spending family time together.
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