Noemi Perez, 39

Most nonprofit leaders have a deep-rooted passion in their organization, and many have personal experiences with the causes and missions they get behind. Noemi Perez scores high marks on both those fronts: The CEO of the Immokalee Foundation, which helps young people in the eastern Collier County farming community build skills for professional careers, Perez worked in those fields herself.  

The daughter of a local pastor, Perez worked in the fields and then sold and delivered produce at farmer’s markets in Immokalee. “As the president and CEO of The Immokalee Foundation, and although I respect all our farmworkers,” Perez writes in her 40 under 40 survey, “my goal is to give students the educational support they need to keep them out of the fields.”