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Karina Pavone
President & CEO, Amigos for Kids
Industry: 501(c)(3) HQ: Miami
How This Boss Makes an Impact for Children in Florida
Through Karina’s leadership, Amigos For Kids is dedicated to fostering a family-friendly work environment through a variety of supportive policies and initiatives. To ensure the well-being of employees and their families, they provide six days of sick leave annually, with the option to roll over any unused days to the next year. She fully embraces the voluntary sick leave donation program they offer, allowing employees to donate their unused sick leave to colleagues in need. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they implemented COVID leave for both full and part-time employees, ensuring they have the necessary time off if they or a family member are exposed to the virus.
Karina recognizes the importance of work-life balance, which is why they offer 14 paid holidays and flexible work arrangements, including hybrid and telecommuting options. For those seeking part-time employment, they provide predictable scheduling and flex time to accommodate personal and family commitments. Their comprehensive benefits package includes employer-funded Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for copays and deductibles, health insurance, and family medical leave, ensuring their employees have access to essential healthcare services and can take time off to care for their families. These initiatives reflect their commitment to creating a supportive and flexible workplace that prioritizes the health and well-being of all employees and their loved ones.
Bio
Karina Pavone is a native of Argentina and emigrated to the United States with her family as a young child. She discovered a passion for helping others at an early age, having been the beneficiary of good Samaritans during those early years in Miami, Florida. This guided her decision to pursue a career in psychology. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree from Florida International University, a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from Carlos Albizu University, and is ABD (All But Dissertation) for a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology. She was the first in her family to graduate from college.
She joined Amigos For Kids, a Miami-based non-profit organization, in early 2020 as its Executive Director and is currently its President & CEO. Karina has a robust and eclectic blend of professional experiences. In the early days of her career, she began working in a variety of clinical settings – first as a therapist at a partial hospitalization program where she worked with older adults experiencing mental health issues, and later with AIDS patients, helping them adjust psychologically to their diagnosis and illness during a time when the AIDS epidemic was raging.
Amigos is dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect through programs that value children, strengthen families and educate communities. Only two months into her tenure, the COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges but one of Karina’s strengths is her ability to adapt quickly and to explore creative solutions.
Under her leadership, in the midst of a global pandemic, Amigos expanded programs to help struggling families. The organization doubled its afterschool programming and added the Amigos Care Program to assist families faced with food and housing insecurity.
Karina is a contributing author of the Hispanic Stars Rising Volume II, has been featured in a number of publications including Leaders Magazine, has served on a number of panels including the Hispanic Leadership Summit, and is the recipient of the Light of Unity Award by Unity on the Bay and the Hispanic Women of Distinction Award.