Orlando – The Metropolitan Business Association – Central Florida’s gay chamber of commerce – will greet the new year with some fresh faces.
The MBA has elected their new board members, including officially installing President Lu Mueller-Kaul, who was appointed to the role Nov. 1 after the resignation of Nayte Carrick, previous president.
“Nayte’s term was up by the end of the year, and the board felt that I was the right person to choose as the leader of the organization,” says Mueller-Kaul, who ran unopposed.
Carrick hasn’t left the MBA behind, however. He is fulfilling a newly-created role, interim executive director, on a contract basis that began Dec. 1 and ends June 30, 2016. Mueller-Kaul says they’re working on an agreement where Carrick earns $785 every two weeks.
“Gustavo Rico was our paid staff member but he got recruited away–so when we heard that he’s leaving, we had to figure out how to cover the work and have a smooth transition,” Mueller-Kaul says. “Nayte was the one who knew all procedures inside out, and he’s been on the board the longest, so it was a natural choice.”
Carrick right now the role is mostly administrative, but the goal is to make it a true, full time executive director position that pays a salary.
“For this we need both the nature of the position and the available funding for the position to grow,” Carrick says, adding that during his tenure, his goals are to find and train that future full-time executive director and build the memberships and sponsorships needed to fund the position.
“I’ve been in this position since November 1, but have so far volunteered to work unpaid until MBA’s reserve accounts are more substantial,” he says. “While we have no difficulty covering expenses, having what I personally consider to be adequate reserve funds has not been something that’s been possible over the last few years, and this seems like a prime opportunity to continue putting MBA into a very solid position.”
The other newly-elected MBA Board members are Mark Cady, Mac Wren and Cathy Keen. Kayla Bloomer was re-elected to the board, and Michael Deeying was re-elected MBA Board secretary. The newly-elected board members join existing board members Jeff Peterson, Ben Laube, Michael Thomas, Chris Stephenson, Erik Raymond and Daniel Wilson.
According to Carrick, the Board isn’t quite yet complete. He says they’ll appoint the final two board members after Jan. 1.
“Daniel Wilson and Gayle Owens, both of whom were elected last December, and whose terms end next December have resigned,” Carrick says. “Even being vacant during an election, only the designated positions are elected, while any vacated positions are nominated.”
Carrick says once the board is in place, they’ll attend a retreat Jan. 16-17 for training, planning and team-building.
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