Pine Crest’s Class of 1981 held their junior prom at The Breakers in Palm Beach. Pam (McNierney) Rauch recalls it being a first for the school and her first glimpse into Palm Beach County.
Flash forward 43 years, the prom is now held on campus in Stacy Gym, and Pam serves as Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), headquartered in Palm Beach County. She is the first woman to hold this position and serves as an officer at FPL, which is the largest electric utility in the U.S. (FPL’s parent company, NextEra Energy is a Fortune 200 company and the largest renewable energy company in the world.) Pam has been proud to play a role in shaping Florida’s economic growth and prospering business community.
The FPL External Affairs and Economic Development team is located throughout Florida, and partners with our local governments and communities to carry out community engagement and programming. FPL employees volunteer in their communities in a variety of ways, including mentoring students, serving the underserved through programs such as back-to-school supply distribution, supporting non-profit facility upgrades, support of STEM related activities, charitable giving, and more. In 2023, FPL volunteers logged more than 55,000 hours giving back to their communities.
In addition, FPL and Pam’s team operate the ever-popular Manatee Lagoon, an FPL Eco-Discovery Center in West Palm Beach to educate our community on the manatee population and environmental resilience. This community center is free and open to the public Tuesday through Sunday all year long, welcoming more than 175,000 visitors per year.
“My team has the responsibility to showcase the heart and soul of FPL. Most importantly, our employees are first responders during emergency events like hurricanes to restore power quickly and as safely as possible, partnering with other first responders throughout the state,” said Pam. “FPL has invested billions of dollars in our grid which has significantly improved reliability and resiliency for our customers in good weather and bad.”
Pam also oversees FPL’s start-up business incubator, called 35 Mules, which invests in early-stage startups by providing entrepreneurs with subject matter experts, technology, business services and use of their facilities. Since 2020, 35 Mules has received over 275 applications from start-up businesses from all over the world.
In addition, she is responsible for PoweringFlorida, the company’s economic development arm dedicated to encouraging investment, job creation and growing the talent pipeline in Florida. As an example, in 2023, this team played an important part in bringing an Amazon processing facility to the NASA Kennedy Space Center. The new facility will allow Amazon to prepare its upcoming network of space-based internet satellites known as Project Kuiper. At the time, Amazon expected to invest $120 million and bring 50 new jobs to the Space Coast.
“Amazon was one of 230 deals FPL has been instrumental in attracting over the course of 12 years, creating more than 50,000 jobs throughout Florida,” said Pam. “Project Kuiper serves as wonderful example of collaboration between the Florida business community and our local communities to connect with colleges and universities and educate the next generation of highly paid technical talent to stay and work in the region, which bolsters economic development here.”
The Pine Crest Experience
Pam arrived at Pine Crest in ninth grade and remembers how kind and welcoming the students were.
“I was extremely shy at the time, and I was so grateful for how accepting and inviting the students were,” said Pam. “I felt a sense of community and have great memories of hanging out in the quad and leaving campus to eat at Jack’s Hamburgers for lunch.”
Pam focused on academics throughout her Upper School career and played on the varsity tennis team with her best friend Allison (Avey) Pfeifler ’81 and her sister, Tamara (McNierney) Scrudders '83. In another first, the Girl’s Varsity tennis team won the state championship in 1981, and the banner is proudly displayed in Stacy Gym today. Pam decided to capitalize on her tennis skills, take a chance and go big. She applied to the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill and ended up making the starting lineup on the women’s top-ranked tennis team in her freshman year, ultimately serving as captain her senior year.
Taking the Non-Linear Path
After graduating from UNC, Pam returned to her Florida roots and earned her law degree from Florida State University and then began her career at one of the largest law firms in West Palm Beach.
Recognizing that she did not want to have a lifelong career in private law practice, Pam went on to join the City of West Palm Beach City Attorney’s Office, working with a dynamic mayor as the behind-the-scenes lawyer to transform what is now known as Rosemary Square in downtown West Palm Beach into a thriving retail, restaurant and residential area.
“I loved every minute of that five-year phase of my career,” she said.
After working with the city, Pam took the opportunity to achieve her goal of working as an in-house lawyer and join FPL’s law department, serving as the go-to lawyer for permitting and land development for FPL’s infrastructure. She is proud to have played a part in transforming the power industry via land development, regulatory changes, solar initiatives and more. After 9 years at FPL, Pam was named vice president of External Affairs and Economic Development, which has allowed her to grow FPL’s brand, community engagement and positive government relationships throughout the state.
“When I joined FPL as an attorney in 1999, I never imagined I would become a senior officer in our company,” said Pam. Reflecting on her Upper School, college and career experiences, Pam’s advice for today’s Pine Crest students is to “do something you don’t think you can do.”