By Catie George, Director, Communications & Storytelling
In July, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) hosted its annual convention in Dallas at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, with the Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) hosting as a partner for the four-day convening of chamber professionals from across the country.
DRC President and CEO Dale Petroskey opened the convention with remarks for attendees.
“As chambers, we have a unique role in our community. We’re in the middle of the action, we’re at the intersection of the business community, the political community, the education community, and the non-profit community, and because of that, we get to connect the dots to make things happen,” said Petroskey. “Teddy Roosevelt said, ‘The greatest prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.’ If this isn’t work worth doing, I don’t know what is.”
Petroskey also shared some thoughts with the 2024 candidates for National Chamber of the Year, a prize the DRC took home in 2022 and still bears proudly.
“Whether or not you are named National Chamber of the Year tonight, your chamber—and your community—will be better off because you took the time and made the effort to go through the process,” said Petroskey. “I know we became a better chamber after looking at ourselves with some intensity—what we were doing, how we were doing it. It was fun to look back at our successes, but we also realized where we needed to improve. It forced us to get better, and I’m so glad we did it.”
The DRC also hosted the ACCE’s CEO dinner at the DRC offices to welcome various chamber’s CEOs to Dallas for the convention.
DRC Vice President of Public Policy Matt Garcia participated in a policy roundtable where he shared strategies for leveraging a chamber’s government relations activities to elevate its brand, engage its members, and showcase its impact.
“The DRC’s Public Policy team consistently engages with lawmakers at all levels of government through meetings and community- and DRC-led events to build meaningful working relationships. It was great to be with chamber peers from across the country to highlight some events that the DRC is proud to champion, as well as share strategic best practices on issue management and driving member value,” said Garcia. “Policy that supports economic growth is one of the most important functions of a chamber, and the heart of public policy is relationships.”
Manager of Leadership Programs Annette Addo-Yobo gave a presentation about how to maximize community impact through inclusive leadership programs.
“[Inclusive leadership] ensures that all team members feel empowered, valued, and respected to facilitate their success when it comes to their professional growth,” said Addo-Yobo. “My belief is that our leadership programs need to align with the mission of our organization, of our chamber because if we’re going to build the next generation of leaders, we want to make sure that they are doing the work that we’re doing in our region as well.”
She discussed two of the DRC’s leadership programs, Young Professionals (YP) and LEAD YP.
“As an organization, we want everybody to be on the same team. Our CEO, Dale Petroskey, always says that we are on the winning team. And for everybody to be on the winning team, we all have to have a winning mindset. The only way we can do that is if we have an inclusive leadership environment,” said Addo-Yobo. “The reason that these programs are so essential to the growth of our workforce, the growth of our young professionals coming into the workforce for the first time, is to develop them into those leaders who then take over our companies, who are the next generation of CEOs, CFOs, and develop their own sense of a winning team.”
To hear more from the DRC’s team of experts on a variety of topics, visit our blog.