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Meet Willie Logan
Biography
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Willie Logan's Biography |
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A Native FloridianWillie Logan was born on February 16, 1957, the only child of parents Ruth and the late Willie Logan, Sr. His mother, a practical nurse, and his father, a carpenter and World War II Army veteran, came to Florida in 1941. They raised Logan in a home the senior Logan helped build in Northwest Miami-Dade County. Logan attended public schools in the area where he maintained good grades and participated in sports and other activities. After his father died in 1969, Logan landed his first job, bagging groceries, at the age of 12. He’s been working hard ever since. Logan graduated from high school in 1975,
received an associate of arts degree from Miami-Dade Community College
in 1976, and completed his B.S. in accounting at the University of Miami
in 1977, all the while working his way through. After graduating from
college, he worked in the insurance field and participated extensively
in community and civic organizations. While volunteering with a political campaign in 1979, he began to better understand the impact of politics on the conditions of people and their communities. His desire to advance his community led him to run for political office in 1980 and to form the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation that same year. A Life of Public ServiceRepresentative Willie Logan has been an elected member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the City of Opa-locka and Northwest Miami-Dade County, since 1982. Prior to his election to the Florida House, the citizens of the City of Opa-locka elected him as their Mayor, at the age of 23. Then the youngest mayor in the United States, he served from 1980 through 1982 until the beginning of his first legislative term. In the Florida Legislature, Logan has held many leadership roles, chairing a number of committees, most notably the Criminal Justice Budget Committee and the Committee on Finance and Taxation. He served as House Democratic Leader-elect in 1997. He currently is on the Appropriations and Rules Committees and is the immediate past chair of the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation, the Legislature’s largest delegation. Representative Logan has been active in many national government-related organizations. He has been an elected member of the Democratic National Committee and the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures. He has served as the chair of that organization’s Assembly on Federal Issues, which represents state government before the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the federal government. In that role, he spent considerable time meeting with members of Congress and the Cabinet to help better shape the roles of the various levels of government. In each year since 1990, Representative Logan has ranked as one of the Florida House’s most effective members, due to success in winning resources for his constituents. After both the 1998 and the 1999 Legislative sessions, he was ranked the most effective Democrat in the Legislature and credited for his ability to work well with leaders of |
both parties to secure support for constituents and issues across the state. A Life of Community ServiceTo help rebuild his community, Logan founded the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation (OLCDC) in 1980 and has served as president and chief executive since then. Under his guidance, the OLCDC has expanded from a $25,000 per year, one-man shop to a multi-million dollar corporation with five for-profit subsidiaries. Since 1980, the OLCDC has built over 1000 new units of affordable housing, rehabilitated numerous residential and commercial structures and revitalized several businesses in Northwest Miami-Dade. To further enrich the community, Logan founded the Logan Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, in 1992. Through the firm, Logan works with businesses to help them improve the services provided to residents of Northwest Miami-Dade and surrounding communities. Representative Logan has served on the boards of various charitable, business and civic organizations. His hard work for and dedication to the people of Florida have earned him numerous awards for statesmanship and service over the years. A Life of LearningWillie Logan has taken every opportunity to strengthen his leadership skills and expand his knowledge of the state of Florida, the nation and the issues that face us all. In 1995, Logan returned to the University of Miami to work toward an M.B.A. in Health Care Administration which he received in 1996. Since then, he has completed doctoral level courses in health care economics. This education helps in his continuing efforts to ensure accessible and affordable health care for all Floridians. Logan has participated in several nationally recognized leadership training programs, including two for senior government officials at Harvard’s School of Government. He is a graduate of both Leadership Florida and Leadership USA. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East on official missions, visiting France, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Zimbabwe and other nations. These missions have fortified his comprehension of U.S. foreign and international policy on issues ranging from trade, transportation, immigration and the preservation of emerging democracies. A Commitment to Family |
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Meet Willie Logan
Biography
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