Rosanne Dunkelberger
In the media world, saying someone is “leaving to spend more time with family” is usually code for a sex scandal or an ignominious firing.
But when Jamie Champion Mongiovi steps away from her job as Director of Communications at AARP Florida after two-and-a-half years, she really is taking a break from high-level strategic communications to do just that.
Circumstances in her extended family over the past several years led Mongiovi to her decision.
Her father, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2015 passed away in October, his last years at being cared for at home by her and her sister, Morgan. Her mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. But Mongiovi’s No. 1 motivation is her 3-year-old son, Holden.
“I’ve been in the world of communications for nearly 20 years,” she said. “It’s a big step for me because this is very different than what I’m used to doing. But I’m excited because it’s going to let me be a better mom and that’s the most important thing right now.”
In that career, she started out in the Florida Department of Education, ultimately becoming its Public Information Officer, then went on to spend two years at the CoreMessage PR shop. Mongiovi spent seven years doing coms work at the Florida Office of Financial Regulation before moving on to AARP.
But the almost-40-year-old said she’s actually been working nonstop since she was 14, when she and Morgan, then 11, (“my first employee”) passed out flyers in their new neighborhood offering mother’s helper/nanny/babysitting services.
“We were not prepared for the response that we got,” she recalled. “We ended up having Fridays and weekends booked for, like, the next four years.”
Their first client was a family with three children under the age of five. “I think that’s when I also realized that I wanted to be a mom because I like being around the babies and the younger kids.”
Her decision to step out of the political whirlwind for a while was first floated by Mongiovi’s husband, Joe Mongiovi, after her father died. He is also part of The Process, as a partner at Capital City Consulting, overseeing their IT practice.
“Joe has been my rock,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without him.”
But she calls the decision “bittersweet.”
“When our work life and our identity is so tied together, it feels like you’re kind of jumping off a cliff — especially when you’ve never had a career break or stepped away from something you really love doing.”
She was able to finish up her third Regular Session with AARP on a high note. The nonprofit scored wins with the passage of laws relating to affordable housing and prescription drugs, among others.
“It was the best Session I’ve seen with a volunteer organization like AARP. We brought volunteers every day to the Capitol, walking the halls, talking with legislators … they aren’t all 50-plus, they are people who care about their communities,” she said.
And if you’re still skeptical about Mongiovi’s circumstances in leaving, here’s a fan-email from her boss, AARP Florida Director Jeff Johnson:
“In Jamie’s two-plus years at AARP Florida, she has led our communications work to new heights and has been a key to our success in Tallahassee and around the state. By all the metrics that communicators use, she is leaving us in a far better place than she found us, and more importantly, AARP Florida is a much stronger and more influential voice for older Floridians due to her communications leadership,” he said. “Personally, I will miss her keen insight, good humor and compassionate heart. Team Sunshine is grateful for her time with us and we wish her nothing but happiness as she focuses more time on her family.”
