The membership of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce voted recently to approve new bylaws, and the board of directors elected new officers.
John Ambler, the chamber’s 2007 vice president and chair of the Bylaws Review Committee, said the changes were "not a big departure" from those approved by the membership in September 2005.
"We cleaned up some of the sections that had special statements based on the timing of the chamber’s existence and first board of directors. We also redefined the chamber’s leadership, replacing the president of the board with a chairman of the board," explained Ambler, a corporate transactional attorney. "This move was made in order to be consistent with other businesses and with our peer business organizations."
Tony Vedda, executive director for the chamber, said the changes also included the addition of the position of chairman-elect and term limits for sitting board members.
"As we work to grow the chamber it is vital that we have a succession plan in place,” said Vedda.
"Establishing the chairman-elect position allows the board to identify its leadership in advance, giving that person ample time to ramp up and prepare for his or her year of service. It guarantees that we will never be without qualified leadership for the chamber."
The 2008 board elected officers at a recent planning retreat. The new officers are: Sherry Briggs, co-owner of Zebra Printing & Graphics and the 2007 chamber president, chairman of the board; Derrick Brown, executive director of the Kraddick Foundation (dba KiddsKids), chairman-elect; Douglas Frankel, senior real estate counsel with FedEx Kinko’s, a steering committee member in 2004 and board member since 2005, corporate secretary; and Cameron Lockley, a senior accountant with Deloitte and 2007 treasurer, treasurer.
Accepting other leadership positions on the board were: Amy Moreland of Southwest Office Systems, continuing as membership division chair; Dee Pennington, president and CEO of Dallas Credit Union, program division chair; and Jeff Youngblood of FASTSIGNS-Irving, communication division chair.
Other 2008 chamber board members are: attorney John Ambler; M. Brent Foster of First Horizon Home Loans; Veronica Torres with the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau; former Dallas City Council member Ed Oakley of Ed Oakley Construction; and Kevin Washington with Velvet Rope Productions.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 29, 2008.
