By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Lindsay Kerdyk, director of operations at Kerdyk Real Estate in Coral Gables, has been named Volunteer of the Year by the Junior League of Miami — an honor that carries particular weight in a year the organization is marking its 100th anniversary with one of the most ambitious civic programs in its history.

The award recognizes Kerdyk’s leadership as chair of the Member Events Committee during the League’s centennial year. She oversaw programming for members while keeping the committee under budget during one of the organization’s most ambitious years.

“I’m grateful to receive the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Junior League, especially during the organization’s centennial year,” Kerdyk said. “It’s been a pleasure working alongside such dedicated and inspiring women in a nonprofit committed to improving the Coral Gables and Greater Miami community.”

For Kerdyk, the recognition also reflects a family legacy deeply intertwined with Coral Gables civic life. Her father, grandfather, and great-uncle all served on the city commission — a lineage that gives her volunteer work a context that extends well beyond the professional.

An organization marking a century of civic work

The Junior League of Miami was founded in 1926 and has operated continuously in South Florida for a century, developing civic leaders and directing resources toward what it identifies as its core focus areas: the health, education, and welfare of women and children, and the prevention of family violence.

The centennial year launched in October 2025 with a City of Coral Gables proclamation honoring the League’s century of women’s leadership, service, and advocacy, followed by a panel discussion featuring Miami historian Dr. Paul George and a screening of the Emmy Award–winning documentary Our Miami: The Magic City.

Year-long programming has included centennial exhibitions and panel discussions at the Frost Science Museum, HistoryMiami, Books & Books, and Westchester Library, paired with forums on women’s leadership, community health, and civic engagement. A centennial pop-up shop paid tribute to the League’s historic Encore Shop, a thrift store it operated from 1932 to 2004, one of the organization’s most enduring community programs.

The financial commitment accompanying the centennial has been substantial. The Junior League of Miami has awarded more than $300,000 in grants over the past three years and committed to distributing more than $500,000 through its centennial cycle, targeting organizations addressing food insecurity, literacy, education, foster care, and access to hygiene products for families in Miami-Dade County. Grant recipients in the most recent cycle included Belafonte Tacolcy Center, Feeding South Florida, Miami Diaper Bank, Uplift Literacy, and the Zoo Miami Foundation.

The centennial’s signature Done-in-a-Day initiative has mobilized members for one-day volunteer projects supporting local organizations, with past efforts including creating a meditation garden at Lotus House and establishing the Beehive Module at the Miami Museum of Science.

Coral Gables and the Junior League

The League’s connection to Coral Gables runs throughout its history. The centennial launch was anchored by a city proclamation, and the organization’s membership has long drawn from Coral Gables residents and professionals. The Women Who Make a Difference Gala, the League’s signature annual fundraiser now in its 25th year, recognizes women who exemplify its mission through philanthropy, volunteerism, and civic leadership.

Kerdyk’s award places her in that tradition. As chair of the Member Events Committee during a year of unusually high organizational ambition — the centennial demanded programming at a scale the League had not attempted before — her work supported the internal cohesion that allowed the public-facing centennial calendar to function. Keeping a committee under budget while delivering programming at that level is an organizational achievement the award specifically recognizes.

In honoring Kerdyk during its 100th year, the Junior League underscored the civic model it has promoted for a century: leadership measured by the work required to sustain institutions and strengthen community life.