College of Communication and Information Leadership Board Member Victoria Vangalis Zepp has spent more than three decades working at the intersection of technology, policy, and public service. In recognition of her work, Zepp was named a 2025 News Service of Florida Above & Beyond Award recipient, an honor recognizing women who have made a lasting impact in policy and politics across the Sunshine State.

“I think it was probably more of an honor to see the other recipients in the room as well because I started thinking in my head about, ‘Oh my gosh, remember back in the ‘90s we did this?’ Or you know, 10 years ago, or three years ago, or two years ago,” Zepp said. “It kind of reinforced that the work we do is important, and it matters.”

Along with being a veteran Capitol insider, Zepp is the President and CEO of Team 180 Consulting, Inc., a government affairs firm that advises clients on procurement, legislative policy, and business development. As CEO, Zepp’s career spans both the government and private sector, bringing expertise in telecommunication, information technology, and systems integration to the company.

One of the accomplishments Zepp says best reflects the company’s mission is her role in the startup of Florida Virtual School (FLVS), where she served as the organization’s first Chief Marketing and Sales Officer.

“We had high hopes at the time, but seeing Florida Virtual School now serve more than a million students is extraordinary,” Zepp said. “The fact that other states now operate virtual schools that are essentially Florida Virtual School rebranded, and that we’re able to bring those development dollars back into Florida, is a huge accomplishment.”

Earlier in her career, Zepp played a central role in modernizing Florida’s education infrastructure. In 1996, she chaired Florida NetDay, an initiative that wired every public school in the state for technology access at a time when internet connectivity was rare.

“There was no internet in the schools back then,” Zepp said. “Leading NetDay ‘96 to wire all the schools so that you could put computers in the schools so that our future workforce would be enabled, I think that was a very big milestone for us.”

Zepp has also served as an appointee under every Florida governor since the 1990s, including her current third term on the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, a federally mandated body focused on advocacy and accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

“I’m looking out onto the street right now, where we actually have stoplights, and we have grids at the bottom, so if somebody is visually impaired or hearing impaired, they still are able to safely navigate our streets,” Zepp said. “That’s what the council does. I’ve been on that council for 12 years, I think that work has been really, really important.”

Her advocacy extends deeply into child welfare and higher education. Zepp is a founding member of Unconquered Scholars at Florida State University, a program supporting students who were formerly homeless or in foster care. Having aged out of the foster care system, Zepp understands firsthand the challenges faced by students who have earned their place at a university yet lack consistent support, resources, or a stable home to return to.

“Before Unconquered Scholars, the national average is around a 3% graduation rate for students with a two-year degree. At Florida State, we were boasting a 6%, but that’s still not what it needed to be,” Zepp said. “Since forming Unconquered Scholars, we’ve got well over a 90% graduation rate of our kids that are formally homeless or foster youth.”

Much of Zepp’s work has focused on large-scale policy change, including landmark legislation ending insurance discrimination against individuals on the autism spectrum, a bill she helped work on for 11 years before it passed. Before the reform, children were often denied coverage for speech and behavioral therapies based on technical distinctions in insurance policy classifications. Since the reforms were enacted in 2008, hundreds of thousands of children have gained access to services.

“It was hard. I mean, I lost sleep,” Zepp said. “Doing the right thing is just the right thing to do, and when you’ve been given a platform, you understand how the laws work, and you understand how some people are being marginalized, you know you can, where other people can’t see it.”

Despite the challenges of navigating politics and policy, Zepp reminds herself to persevere and focus on children as the main beneficiaries of the work that is done.

“This kind of work takes years,” Zepp said. “It’s like a giant apple; you take one bite at a time, and eventually it comes together.”

While much of Zepp’s career reflects decades of impactful work, she stresses that the work is far from finished. Today, she works with her team at the forefront of artificial intelligence and technology innovation policy.