Pace In the News

Melanie Lawson hosts a documentary exploring strides being made with Jacksonville’s Juvenile Justice system. She looks inside organizations such as Pace Center for Girls and the Florida Youth Challenge Academy plus feature remarkable stories of redemption.

Makasia Purdy, 14, lost her 13-year-old friend, Christopher Scott, at a party in June 2021. Just a few months earlier, she lost Maliyah Godwin, 13, who was killed in the safety of her own apartment. Her friends were killed because of gun violence and gang activity. Purdy is now determined to make a change. Purdy, a member of Pace Center for Girls, was nominated as a representative in this council along with 13 other youth representing different cities and organizations in Alachua County. 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — First Lady Casey DeSantis, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), the Florida Juvenile Justice Foundation, and the Florida Juvenile Justice Association (FJJA) honored the 2022 DJJ Youth Ambassadors yesterday in celebration of Youth Success Day.

Mary Marx joined Pace as vice president of external affairs in 2007 and has served as president and CEO since 2010. PND asked her about Pace’s advocacy efforts around juvenile justice reform, its national expansion strategy, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on needs and programs.

When girls are offered the tools, support, and relationships they need to succeed, a positive ripple effect occurs in our communities. The advocacy work that we do at Pace Center for Girls (Pace) does not happen in a vacuum – it is done with the goal of improving the communities that surround us.