
Celestia McCloud
Assistant County Manager, Osceola County
Celestia L. McCloud serves as an Assistant Osceola County Manager, overseeing departments that help, inform, and educate residents. Following over a decade as the Director of Housing and Human Services, a recent promotion now places her in charge of Housing and Community Services, Communications, and Library Services.
During her 14 years with Osceola County, McCloud primarily held the position of Housing and Community Services Director, managing a variety of programs aimed at aiding the disadvantaged. She takes great pride in the department’s achievements and the strong team she built. Creating opportunities that enable people to thrive is what drives her.
Housing continues to excel in serving the community across all income levels. Recent highlights include several affordable housing partnerships, high-performance management of HUD expectations for entitlement communities and Section 8, ongoing homelessness efforts, and administering COVID-19 relief funds.
Under McCloud’s leadership, the library system has expanded its focus on technology, enhancing access to technology and digital resources. Her new responsibilities with the Communications Department involve ensuring residents have timely and accurate information for informed decision-making.
The three departments align with her belief in John Wesley’s adage: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
With over 21 years of public service, McCloud’s career began with the Department of Juvenile Justice, working with court-involved youth. After leaving DJJ in 1996, she joined the Orlando Housing Authority, encouraging self-improvement and self-sufficiency until 2010.
A native of Winter Haven, Florida, McCloud is the youngest child of the late Richard and Shirley McCloud and a lifelong member of the AME church. She graduated from Winter Haven High School and pursued higher education at Florida State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and at Troy State University, where she obtained a master’s degree in public administration. She was honored by Osceola Visionaries in 2018, 2024 Black History Month Honoree by Congressman Darren Soto, and recently awarded the 2024 Lt. Lloyd Burton, Jr. Service Award by Osceola County.
