2015-09-23 12:05 FORT WORTH, TX – Membership celebrates 30 Years of Service to Fort Worth

Newly elected officers at Fort Worth Sister Cities International’s 30th annual meeting were Board Chair, Michael Bennett, Bennett Benner Partners; Chair- Elect Johnny Campbell, Sundance Square; Secretary, Lu Pham, Dowell Pham Harrison LLP; and Treasurer, Walter Stucker, UBS Financial Services. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price serves as Honorary Chair.

New board members include: Michael Crain, Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty; Ashley Freer, Balcom Agency; Sheryl Harris, PhD, Tarrant County College; Drew Herring, Broadway Baptist Church; and Walter Stucker, UBS Financial Services.

“The annual meeting is a time to review accomplishments and recognize those responsible for our successes,” said Johnny Campbell, Chair-Elect of the Board. A few of the year’s accomplishments were highlighted by President and CEO Mae Ferguson who said, “This year we celebrated our 30^th anniversary. We sent delegations to Italy, Germany, Vietnam and Mexico.  We coordinated youth exchanges to seven cities for nearly 200 students, welcomed 165 students and educators here, and made a $2.3 million economic impact on the City of Fort Worth.”

Sister Cities also presented two awards at the annual meeting. The Bank of Texas was awarded the Eisenhower Award for Organizational Involvement presented by the DFW International Airport and Ann Rice was awarded the prestigious Bob Bolen Award for Outstanding Board Leadership.

Other elected officers include: Ann Rice; Greg Irwin, BBVA Compass Bank; Michael Hyatt, UBS Financial Services; Staussa Ervin, PhD, TCC; Travis DeVault, BNSF Railways, Richard Casarez, ONCOR; James Meintjes, JP Morgan Chase and Mary Jo Polidore, DFW International Airport. City chairs included: Paul Geisel, PhD, Greg Jackson, Michael Crain, Michael Roemer, PhD; Veronica and Tom Law; and Anette Soto.

 “We have many things to look forward to next year. We’re going to Cuba in January and China in June; we’re welcoming new mayors from Italy and Germany; and we have nearly 100 students going to each of our sister cities on educational exchanges,” said Campbell. “We do this because we’re citizen diplomats. We care what the world thinks about the U.S.A. and we want to know more about the rest of the world.”