Mayor Milissa Holland
Milissa Holland was elected Palm Coast Mayor in November 2016 as just the third mayor in Palm Coast’s history and the first woman Mayor. She has been a community leader in Palm Coast and greater Flagler County for more than 20 years, serving as a Flagler County Commissioner and on the boards of many local organizations.
Mayor Holland is Director of Business Development – Public Sector at Coastal Cloud, the only Salesforce consulting partner headquartered in Florida and in our very own Palm Coast. She represents the City of Palm Coast as member of the Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches Tourist Development Council, as a board member of the Northeast Florida Regional Council, and a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mayor Holland was chosen as one of only eight Mayors from around the country to participate in the Mayors Institute on Community Design and also participated in the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2017 Mayors Challenge, an initiative to help city leaders across the United States uncover innovative solutions to today’s most pressing problems.
One of Holland’s current priorities is to create an Innovation District in Palm Coast and surrounding areas to attract high-growth, tech and creative startups to our community. She played a pivotal role in developing a new position – the City’s first Chief Innovation and Economic Growth Officer – as part of the City’s economic development program. The Mayor is very involved in the community, often speaking to organizations, businesses, churches, and neighborhood watch groups, listening to residents’ concerns or interests and continually updating them on services the City is providing.
Prior to her election as Mayor, she served six years as a Flagler County Commissioner, from 2006 to 2012, and was the first woman County Commissioner. She was selected as Chair in 2008, and the County adopted its Strategic Plan during her term as Chair. She was a member of the Flagler County Future Committee to re-write the County’s Comprehensive Plan and was the County’s representative to numerous local and regional agencies. Following her term in offices, she joined Southern Strategy Group, a lobbying firm based in Tallahassee, and created an entire division representing State and local governments across the State.
Mayor Holland is a past Vice President of the prestigious organization, 1000 Friends of Florida, which promotes healthy urban and natural places by wise management of growth change. She served on the North Florida Urban Land Institute, which was formed in 2005 and has more than 500 members; ULI North Florida is one of the newest and fastest growing District Councils in the country offering its members numerous programs. She has spoken to several panels statewide about transportation, trail systems and responsible growth patterns, and she was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Central Florida Regional Water Supply Plan as the Environmental Representative.
Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Mayor Holland moved to Palm Coast with her family in 1987 when she was a teenager. The Mayor’s father, the late James Holland, was a member of the inaugural Palm Coast City Council. She has lived and worked here her entire adult life and has three adult children.