Jesse Scheckner
After three years away, Curtis Osceola is returning to Miami-Dade government.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has named Osceola, 35, as Miami-Dade’s new Chief Resilience Officer, a top post within the county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources.
The appointment is effective Monday.
Osceola replaces Interim Chief Resilience Officer Patricia Gomez, who took over for Jim Murley, the first person in the role, after his retirement last year.
Osceola comes to the job after working since January 2022 as Chief of Staff to the Miccosukee Tribe, where he led Everglades restoration efforts and secured federal environmental grants.
Before taking the Chief of Staff position — his fourth official job with the tribe, following a legal internship and business analyst and slot director posts — he worked as an Assistant Miami-Dade Public Defender.
Levine Cava said in a statement that Osceola brings “a unique skill set” to the job and predicted he’ll be an “internal change agent and a coalition builder for environmental protection” in her administration.
“We are extremely proud to welcome Curtis to this key role championing resilience in Miami-Dade,” Levine Cava said in a statement.
“As Chief of Staff to the Miccosukee Tribe, he helped drive historic progress on Everglades protection, succeeding in delivering the largest-ever federal funding package for wetlands restoration. … The Miccosukee are the ancestral protectors of South Florida’s natural environment and I’m proud that we will uplift and continue to build on that legacy with Curtis as Chief Resilience Officer.”
A graduate of the University of Miami Law School and the first Miccosukee Tribe member to become a lawyer, Osceola told the Miami Herald said he intends to continue his work on Everglades restoration while increasing renewable energy use and curbing local carbon emissions.
He said in a statement that Miami-Dade must also work to harden and prepare its infrastructure to protect residents and businesses from extreme weather and sea level rise — an effort that goes beyond county borders.
“I am committed to working with other County leaders and our community to accelerate our progress to respond to 21st century challenges,” he said.
A county press note said Osceola will convene a new resilience working group alongside Regulatory and Economic Resources Director Lourdes Gomez to “operationalize policy, program, and practice across departments and make the county a continued model for resilience.”
State records show Osceola lives in Doral and is registered to vote with no party affiliation.
In a post to Instagram last week, Miccosukee Tribe Chair Talbert Cypress praised Osceola’s past work and wished him well on his new endeavor.
“It has been an honor and privilege to work with Curtis the past 3 years. We have accomplished so much together and (I don’t know) how my Chairmanship could have maximized its potential without him,” Cypress wrote. “I couldn’t be more proud of him. He has earned this new position with all the great work he’s done.”
