Stacey L. Watson

Executive Director

Stacey came to Achieve Palm Beach County all the way from Buffalo, New York with 17 years of non-profit management and education experience after serving as COO of the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology and Founder / ED of the South Buffalo Education Center. Watson’s curriculum geared at supporting underserved communities resulted in an appointment to the Governor’s Team on School Engagement and Drop-out Prevention and the New York Statewide Alternative Education Committee. Watson successfully aligned members of the secondary and higher education community, human services and arts non-profit organizations, legislative bodies, service organizations, faith-based partners and trades representatives to improve education and career outcomes in the City of Buffalo. Her most recent Collective Impact work Tonawanda Tomorrow is a US EDA funded Economic Action Plan focused on a first ring suburb of Buffalo, New York to address the future of a community historically dependent on an industrial and coal centered economy. Watson served on the convening Advisory Committee and as Chair of the Workforce Development Stakeholders Group.

During her teen years, she was an “at-risk” adolescent who now says “post-secondary education saved my life. When my peers went off to college, I was living on my own and scraping together part-time jobs to get by; I had no framework to imagine a different future. After spending a year watching many people I loved who were not in school self-destruct, I decided to try college. It was during my undergraduate years at Radford University that I discovered confidence, goals, and hope. I found my voice in the world and decided to use it on behalf of other children who may not see success as something they have access to.” Her commitment to personal growth through education continues and in 2015 she attended and completed the Duke University Non-Profit Management program.

Gabriela Como

Operations Manager

Gabriela arrived at Achieve Palm Beach County after a nine-year career at Palm Beach State College where she spent the majority of her time working in the Registration/Admissions Department getting an up close and very personal look at the very real struggles and challenges our youth face when trying to navigate a college path. Prior to education, she worked in the financial services sector supporting executives. She attained an Associates in Arts Degree from Nassau Community College. She’s currently working on completing her bachelor’s degree. “Becoming a mom really highlighted how important it was for me to continue my education because I know I must set the example for my daughter. I grew up with a single mom who worked full time and went to college full time so that she could achieve her career and financial goals. She taught me that education can be an equalizer in many areas of life and that knowledge is something that once gained can never be taken from you.” She is originally from Great Neck, New York but relocated to Boynton Beach after having vacationed here and falling in love with Palm Beach County.

Jucelmo Vieira

Operations Specialist

Jucelmo began his journey to the Achieve Palm Beach County Team all the way from his native country, Brazil. Due to extreme poverty, he was forced to leave school and begin work at the age of 12 to help his family financially. It wasn’t until many years later after he got married, that he was able to return to his studies to graduate high school. Unfortunately, post-secondary education would not be an option for him in Brazil, so that dream would have to be put on hold. But he kept his hope of a post-secondary education alive and came to the United States. It was then that he was able to realize his dream and obtain his Associates Degree at Palm Beach State College. He knows from very personal experience just how difficult it is being a First Generation in College Student as well as the challenges students face when English is their second language. He currently lives in Coral Springs with his wife and two daughters.