Mrs. Aida Seeraj is a nonprofit executive, ordained minister, and community advocate with more than 27 years of experience in child welfare and human services, including extensive leadership within the Florida Department of Children and Families and the nonprofit sector. She brings over 22 years of senior executive experience, leading systems-level transformation, trauma-informed care, and community-centered solutions that strengthen families and advance equity.
Mrs. Seeraj holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Dallas and a Master of Business Administration from St. Leo University. She is also a graduate of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida’s inaugural Bank of America Emerging Leaders Program. Ordained as a minister in December 2020 and serving as a board member of Agape Family Health since 2017 and the Mayor’s Hispanic American Advisory Board since 2020, she integrates faith, service, and leadership in her work with individuals, families, and communities.
In April 2018, Mrs. Seeraj founded Inspire to Rise, Inc., a nonprofit, comprehensive, wraparound community organization dedicated to addressing trauma, strengthening families, and empowering individuals to reach their fullest potential. Under her leadership, Inspire to Rise has expanded to four community centers serving Duval, Nassau, and Clay counties, providing vital behavioral health services, community education and wellness classes, community services, the arts, mentorship, advocacy, and prevention support and resource services. That same year, she co-founded 5 Elephants, LLC, a consulting firm that supports nonprofits and small businesses in implementing innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions.
Mrs. Seeraj’s leadership and impact have been widely recognized at the local and regional levels. She was named a Times-Union EVE Award Finalist (2020), received the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award (2021), and was honored with the City of Jacksonville’s Unidos Jax Outstanding Small Business Leader Award on September 25, 2025. Most recently, Inspire to Rise, Inc. also received the Catalyst for Change Award at the Regional Power of Prevention Conference in Ocala on December 8, 2025, recognizing the organization’s visionary leadership, collaborative approach, commitment to prevention, and meaningful community transformation.
Mrs. Seeraj has been married to her husband, Michael, for 26 years and is the proud mother of three children, whose lives and experiences inspire her passion to empower youth, strengthen families, and create lasting, generational change within the communities she serves.
