Nechama Deana Karp

Our Q & A with Nechama

What made you want to join EWPBF?
I learned about EWPBF when I was a Florida Atlantic University (FAU) student studying electrical engineering. I was invited to the EWPBF awards luncheon as a scholarship recipient in my last year as an undergraduate. Two years later, I attended the luncheon as a guest of my employer, FPL. Those two very different experiences together made me really want to become a member and take the next step. It was like turning a page from the student who needed help.

How has EWPBF helped your career so far?
Being a member of a philanthropic organization sets me apart and has diversified and honed my skills in keeping other people engaged through charitable work. It has also helped me transition more into leadership. I was named the FPL Employee Engagement Liaison in the Boca area and for the Distribution Control Center in West Palm Beach.

How has EWPBF helped your personal connections with other professional women so far?
It has made me more comfortable speaking with executives in regular conversation. When people are out of the board room, I’ve learned they want to be asked about more personal things, like their kids. These EWPBF members are people I admire and respect. You can see most of the women shining as humble, kind, and genuine. They are not afraid that helping others will drop their status but instead see it as a privilege.

What is your proudest moment since joining EWPBF?
When I was an older student in my late 30s and a single mother of twins, one dean at Palm Beach State College in Boca, Dr. Tunjarnika “Nika” Coleman-Ferrell, helped me in ways she could never know. Later, I served on the EWPBF board from 2019 to 2020 and was honored to approve her membership application. It was such a moment approving someone who had, unbeknownst to her, been so kind to me. Back then, I would interact with accomplished people, but I never thought I would be professionally on the same playing field as I started too late in life. I realized at that moment that time doesn’t travel linearly. Not everyone gets to the same place at the same time. Time is circular.

What has been your most challenging moment since joining EWPBF?
I’m constantly trying to balance staying active and attending EWPBF events. As I grow in my job, this can be demanding. So now I may try to plan a day off when I want to attend an event. Unfortunately, I couldn’t continue to juggle the duties of the board and stay as involved as I wanted to be with events and philanthropy. It’s always about balance.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about why EWPBF is important to you?
The skills EWPBF has taught me have helped me get stronger at work and run my nonprofit “See The Endless Possibilities (STEP): www.StepScholarship.org. We provide scholarships to women studying engineering, mindfulness tools, and support to moms whose children are accepted to summer camps with STEM curriculums. Our STEP logo is a lotus flower that grows in murky water because, sometimes, the environment pushes us to grow. Like the lotus, we see the beautiful petals on the surface, but the real work is happening beneath the water where the roots are. This metaphor reminds me that as I spread my wings, I must always keep balanced and not lose the source where I started.