Jacksonville Leaders and Mayor Deegan Honor Audrey Moran

The number of cancer victims has decreased Audrey Moran physically, but Leadership Jacksonville At the luncheon that honored her with a lifetime leadership award, she still managed to bring the crowd to its feet when she spoke about the values of leadership “in these extraordinary times.”

“We must lead with love,” she said. “Love of your community, love of your neighbor and love of what is possible. When you lead with love, it is never about you. It’s about what’s best for others.”

About 350 people attended Thursday’s luncheon in honor of Moran, best known for her “I’m with Audrey.” run for mayor in 2011 — to see her receive the Frederick H. Schultz Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a credit to her decades of work that combined roles in government and the nonprofit world.

Mayor Donna Deegan was among the speakers who said that beyond the influence of Moran’s civic leadership, she was a person who could be turned to for advice and guidance for many navigating their own paths into leadership positions.

Deegan called her “a major inspiration” and said the rise continued even though Moran had “been through so much.”

“Little notes of encouragement for me: ‘Keep going. Don’t let anyone stop you,” Deegan said. “She is like that. So I am thrilled to stand before you today as your first woman mayor, with the support of someone who would make an outstanding first woman mayor.”

Former Sheriff Nat Glover, who was in Jacksonville’s 1989 leadership class with Moran, called her a “true trailblazer” as an attorney, public leader and nonprofit advocate.

Her public service began as a prosecutor in the Prosecutor General’s Office. Later she worked at highest level of Jacksonville City Hall as legislative director during Ed Austin’s tenure as mayor and as chief of staff during John Delaney’s second term. She served on the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.

Her 2011 mayoral campaign finished third among six candidates, missing out on a runoff in which Alvin Brown defeated Mike Hogan. She won uncontested elections in 2022 for a district judge.

In the nonprofit world, she served as CEO of the Sulzbacher Center, which helps the homeless. She was senior vice president of social responsibility and advocacy. at Baptist Health and president of the Baptist Health Foundation.

She was involved in the Jacksonville Women’s Network, the Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation and the JAX Chamber, among other organizations.

She and her husband John raised four children. Her son Jack Moran, who is a member of Jacksonville’s Leadership Class of 2024, was unable to attend the luncheon, but in a video testimonial shown on large screens in the room, he said the family joke between him and his siblings is that they didn’t come. I don’t know that she worked outside the home when they were growing up.

“She was a presence in our lives growing up,” he said, recounting how she volunteered to coach his six-year-old soccer team even though she had never played soccer herself.

“I think she called us ‘meatballs’ because our team was basically just crowding around the ball and running around the field,” he said.

Audrey Moran did not talk about cancer in her speech, but in podcast she recently did with Kate Moorehead Carrollrector of St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville, she spoke about the spiritual journey she went through as the cancer spread despite intensive courses of radiation and chemotherapy.

“The pieces of the puzzle of life are sometimes very difficult to understand, especially during difficult times,” she said. “And over the last three and a half years, I’ve certainly had some very difficult times, but I’ve also had some great times.”

Her speech at the Jacksonville Leadership Luncheon focused on leadership in challenging times on a broader level.

“Leadership—true servant leadership—is always a critical component of any healthy society, but it seems especially important these days,” she said. “War in the Middle East, catastrophic weather disasters here at home, and yes, a presidential election in just 12 days. How best should we conduct ourselves in times that seem unusual?”

She recalled that when she was working in the Austin administration and he was talking to his staff about the “crisis of the day,” he would get advice on what would make a good sound bite, help him politically, or “play well.”

She said Austin raised his hand and said he had heard enough. “What should we do for the people of this city?” he asked. “What is in their best interest?”

“It was an example of loving leadership that I will never forget,” Moran said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. I am so lucky to be surrounded by the love of my family and phenomenal friends like you every day.”

She added a practical message to this inspiring message.

“So when you leave here today, lead with love,” she said. “Oh, and don’t forget to vote.”

(This story has been updated because an earlier version contained inaccuracies.)