The Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce recently recognized Tony Vedda, president and CEO of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, with the 2026 Chamber Founders Award, presented at the annual Pride In Business Celebration Luncheon.
Vedda “played an instrumental role in helping launch the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce in 2016,” according to a press release announcing the award. “His early guidance, leadership and commitment to LGBTQ+ economic inclusion helped lay the foundation for the growth, visibility and impact the Chamber celebrated at the luncheon as it marked a Decade of Impact.”
Tammi Wallace, co-founder, president & CEO of Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, said that Vedda “embodies what this award was created to recognize. His decades of service to the LGBTQ+ business community, his unmatched professional credentials and his early investment in what we built in the region made him an exceptionally deserving honoree.
“We are proud to celebrate him at Pride In Business as we marked this milestone decade,” Wallace said.
Vedda’s career in chamber management spans more than four decades, beginning at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and continuing through metropolitan chambers across Arizona and California. He served five years as executive director of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Business Association — the nation’s first LGBT chamber of commerce — before joining the newly formed North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce in 2005. Vedda became North Texas chamber’s first president and CEO and 2007.
Vedda is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management and the only LGBTQ chamber leader in the nation to hold the Certified Chamber Executive designation from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, a credential held by fewer than 3 percent of active chamber professionals nationwide.
Vedda is also a sought-after speaker on a variety of topics, including diversity, equity and inclusion, strategic planning, succession planning and governance.
The Chamber Founders Award honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional vision, courage, resilience and leadership in advancing equality, advocacy and opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community. The award recognizes trailblazers whose leadership inspired meaningful and lasting change, with awardees chosen each year by the chamber’s cofounders Wallace and Gary Wood.
— Tammye Nash