Afra Mendes Newell was born and raised in Brazil, and has been living in the US since 1994. She has been a Florida West Coast resident since 2001, being 3 years in Port Charlotte and after that in North Port. She has a degree in Industrial Design in Brazil and also attended Broward College, in Davie FL, for two years, majoring in International Business. She was chair of the Global committee for 2012, 2013, and 2014. Afra is a graduate from the PGPCNP 2015 Leadership Academy and was the 2019 President of the Realtors of Punta Gorda – Port Charlotte – North Port - Desoto. She was President of the WCR local network in 2016.