Dr. Rebekah McCloud is a retired educator. She most recently served as the Executive Director of TRIO Programs, at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. McCloud brought her extensive knowledge to UCF in 1995, where she worked with pre-service and veteran teachers. She also served as the Director of Minority Programs in Education, and the Associate Director of the Office of Diversity Initiatives. A prolific grant writer, Dr. McCloud has secured over $50 million dollars in grants, been a grant reviewer, and field reader for several federal and foundation grant competitions.

 Dr. McCloud's impact reverberates throughout academia. A former school principal and an awarded classroom teacher, she has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses at several institutions of higher education. She is a published author, award-winning journalist, and served on the editorial review board for six national peer-reviewed journals. She has shared her wisdom through over 200 workshops at local, state, regional, and national conferences. Dr. McCloud holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction, a M.S in Business (Managerial Leadership), a M.Ed. in Education (Educational Leadership), a B.A. in Communications, and a Graduate Certificate in Career & Technical Education. A versatile educator, she is a Certified Life Coach, a Certified Practitioner in Financial Capability, a certified Financial Education Instructor, and a certified Florida teacher and school administrator.

 A recognized Black Church historian, Dr. McCloud is the 2004 recipient of the Rhea Marsh and Dorothy Smith Winter Park History Research Grant sponsored by the Winter Park Public Library and Rollins College. Her project, Across the Tracks: A Collective History of Black Churches of Winter Park chronicles the history of the six oldest Black churches in Winter Park. Her follow up to the project, sponsored by the City of Winter Park, is Sacred Places, Sacred History: Black Churches of Winter Park. It chronicles the beginnings of Winter Park and Hannibal Square, the development of the twelve churches, and highlights several of the citizens who contributed to the development of the West Side. Dr. McCloud is currently working on a series of Christian journals and book about Black churches in the south. She has photographed and collected information of more than 50 historic black churches in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

 She is actively involved with several civic and community organizations. She serves as Vice President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History Central Florida Dorothy Turner Johnson Branch (ASALH) and is on the board of the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Garden. She is also a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Central Florida Chapter (AAHGS), the Central Florida Branch of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the Past Presidents Council of Florida TRIO, and a member of the Adult Education and the College/Career Fair working groups of UpliftED.