Remembering Paul DiMare
By Jennifer Valoppi | Women of Tomorrow President & Founder
It is with a broken heart that the Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program mourns the passing of our friend, patron and generous supporter, Paul DiMare.
Paul was a man of great compassion, wisdom, and courage. He spoke his mind, stood up for what he believed in and turned his father’s business selling vegetables out of a pushcart in Boston, into the largest grower/supplier of fresh tomatoes in the United States. His passion and vision for agriculture made him a nationally influential expert in the field.
He was a true embodiment of the Women of Tomorrow philosophy that you can come from anywhere and be anything you want, if you are willing to work hard for it.
Paul was a wise advisor to many, and my husband Christian De Berdouare and I were fortunate to share numerous happy occasions with Paul and his beloved wife Swanee.
Our community is forever changed for the better because of Paul & Swanee. Our hearts go out to Swanee and their entire family as we mourn the passing of a man whose mark will be felt by many, many generations to come. Paul was 81 years old.
With Deepest Sympathy.
Jennifer Valoppi
Founder & President
Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program
Jennifer Valoppi is a multi-Emmy Award winning TV journalist, award winning author and social entrepreneur, who has been recognized 10 times on the floor of the United States Congress and is a recipient of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Points of Light Award, the highest honor in Florida.
As an author, Valoppi recently re-released her best-selling sci-fi novel, Certain Cure: Where Science Meets Religion (Murray Hill Press 2020/2008) and is in the process of writing book two of the trilogy. THE WAY IT WAS: My Life with Frank Sinatra (Hachette Books/October 24, 2017), is a candid and eye-opening look at Frank Sinatra, a personal friend of Valoppi’s, written by Valoppi as told by his long-time manager, Eliot Weisman.
As Founder & President of the Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program, Valoppi designed and directs the unique program aimed at helping minority and at-risk young women life up to their full potential. WOT currently mentors 4000 girls annually in 160 public high schools in South Florida and Metro Detroit with a network of hundreds of highly accomplished professional women. Now in its 26th year, 24,000 young women have been touched by the program and over $8 million dollars in college scholarships have been awarded to its graduates.
Valoppi makes frequent appearances discussing issues of journalistic ethics, female empowerment, mentoring, and her books. She is a veteran TV news anchor and host in Miami, New York and Los Angeles and has hosted numerous network, local, cable and nationally syndicated programs as well as consulting on and appearing in film.
Valoppi was the lead anchor at NBC6 Miami from 1994-2005, taking the station from a distant #2 to #1 in the ratings in a matter of two months and remaining there through her tenure as anchor.
