Congratulations to the 44 graduates of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Forum Class of 2020 generously sponsored by Audi of Sugar Land. Under the direction of Division Chairs Jan-Michael Jenkins and Breah Campbell, the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Leadership program celebrates its most recent graduating class of effective leaders.
Participants study the qualities that make a community leader, analyze leadership roles, and develop personal leadership styles and skills. The class of 2020 represents the 32nd year that a group of outstanding individuals have participated in this rigorous program of leadership development and community engagement through active learning, expert insight, and experiential activities. The class participants are selected each year from a wide spectrum of the area’s population. The class of 2020 completed the program in Galveston on May 14th, 2021.
Presenting the Fort Bend Leadership Forum Class of 2020:
| Tara | Ae | Johnson Development Corp. |
| Ahmad | Alaswad | Fort Bend County – Commissioner Ken DeMerchant |
| King | Banerjee | Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of Sugar Land |
| Cody | Burgin | Millis Development & Construction, LLC |
| Nancy | Burnett | Cornerstone Christian Academy |
| William | Cai | Briggs & Veselka Co. LLP |
| Shanelle | Channell | Riverstone Community |
| Stephanie | Crochet | Johnson Development Corp. |
| Cindy | Dees | City of Sugar Land |
| Diana | Dobbs | Fort Bend County – Commissioner Andy Meyers |
| Mary | Favre | Citizen |
| Esther | Garza | City of Stafford |
| Steven | Gates | Teal Run General Maintenance Association |
| Troy | Goodell | Sienna Plantation Residential Association |
| Jeff | Graebert | Action Landscaping Inc. |
| Darrell | Groves | DWG CPA PLLC |
| Brandon | Irby | Fluor Corporation |
| Kendra | LaCour Ramey | Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital |
| Maureen | Lall | Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital |
| Kiyoko | Latson | Kelsey-Seybold Clinic |
| Shirin | Malik | Benzer Capital |
| Penny | Meek | Henderson Wessendorff Foundation |
| Mihir | Patel | Allegiance Bank – Sugar Land |
| David | Pella | First Colony Community Association |
| Ian | Pietz | BGE Inc. |
| Russell | Piper | Environmental Development Partners, LLC |
| Allena | Portis | City of Missouri City |
| Zulfiqar | Prasla | Prasla Law Firm PLLC |
| Preston | Price | Smart Financial Credit Union |
| Collin | Ratcliff | Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital |
| J.R. | Richardson | Consolidated Communications |
| Laura | Rosilez | Riverstone Homeowners & Commercial Property Owners Assoc. |
| Kelsey | Samuel | eXp Realty |
| Ellen | Saunders | Audi Sugar Land – A Sewell Company |
| Diana | Sayavedra | Fort Bend ISD |
| Fran | Steele | First Colony Community Association |
| Monica | Sturgill | Iberia Bank |
| Connitha | Tyrer | Houston Focus Academy Inc |
| Faisal | Vellani | Vellani Law – Title & Legal Services |
| Lisa | Watson | Dream Dinners |
| Kristin | Wernecke | Stewart Title |
| Suzanne | Whatley | Branding Matters, LLC |
| Jared | Williams | AccessHealth |
| Carl | Willis | Frost Bank – Stafford |
The Fort Bend Leadership Forum is a ten-month program, August through May; it begins with a one and a half day opening retreat in San Antonio. The opening retreat is followed by monthly one-day sessions covering criminal justice, diversity, economic development/infrastructure, health and social services, municipal/county government, a two-day trip to Austin for a state government session, and a three-day national government session in Washington D.C. which will take place for the class in 2022. The Leadership program is completed with a one and a half day ending retreat and graduation ceremony in Galveston.
As the premier leadership development program in the region, the Fort Bend Leadership Forum was designed to prepare for the community needs that demand the involvement of informed citizens. The Fort Bend Leadership Forum offers structured learning opportunities in an atmosphere that stimulates creative thinking and encourages participants to work together to utilize both new and proven tools to meet the challenges of today and to prepare for tomorrow.
The Fort Bend Leadership Forum Class of 2022 is filling up fast. For more information on the program and sponsorship opportunities contact Juliette Nessmith at juliette@fortbendcc.org 281-566-2161.