Congratulations to the class of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Leadership Forum in 2020.
Participants are selected each year from a wide range of the region’s population. The strict program runs from August to May. It ended with a graduation ceremony in Galveston earlier this week on May 14th. The 44 graduates spent 10 months studying community engagement and the qualities that make an effective leader.
The leadership forum begins with a day and a half retreat in San Antonio, followed by monthly one-day sessions on criminal justice, diversity, economic development and infrastructure, health and social services, and district government. It includes a two-day trip to Austin for a state government session and a three-day national government session in Washington DC that will be held in 2022 for the class.
Presentation of 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 from Sugar Land
Cody Burgin, Millis Development & Construction, LLC
Nancy Burnett, Cornerstone Christian Academy
William Cai, Briggs & Veselka Co. LLP
Shanelle Channell, Riverstone Ward
Stephanie Crochet, Johnson Development Corp.
Cindy Dees, City of Sugar Land
Diana Dobbs, Fort Bend County – Commissioner Andy Meyers
Mary Favre, citizen
Esther Garza, Town 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, Loyalty Bank – Sugar Land
David Pella, First Colony Community Association
Ian Pietz, BGE Inc.
Russell Piper, Environmental Development Partner, LLC
Allena Portis, City of Missouri
Zulfiqar Prasla, Prasla Law Office PLLC
Preston Price, Smart Financial Credit Union
Collin Ratcliff, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital
JR Richardson, Consolidated Communications
Laura Rosilez, Riverstone Homeowner & Commercial Real Estate Owner Assoc.
Kelsey Samuel, eXp Realty
Ellen Saunders, Audi Sugar Land – A Sewell Company
Diana Sayavedra, Fort Bend ISD
Fran Steele, First Colony Association
Monica Sturgill, Iberia Bank
Connitha Tyrer, Houston Focus Academy Inc
Faisal Vellani, Vellani Law – Title & Legal Advice
Lisa Watson, dream dinner
Kristin Wernecke, Stewart title
Suzanne Whatley, Trademark Matters, LLC
Jared Williams, AccessHealth
Carl Willis, Frostbank – Stafford
The program was launched in 1987 under the direction of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce with the aim of educating participants about “how things work in our community and county”. The Fort Bend Leadership Forum is currently accepting applications for its class of 2022.
