Chevron

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

We Are Family

By Dave Feldman, Chevron Ibecame the Board Chair for WBEC South the end of 2019. It has truly been one of the highlights of my career to have been a part of this dynamic, innovative, “can do anything-no matter-the-challenges” organization. The Board of Directors, the community of women business owners, the corporate members, and the staff have each been a blessing to me.

I am so appreciative of their talents and energy that have contributed so mightily to the success of the organization. WBEC South is special. Not just because we are guided by our mission to advance and enhance business opportunities between corporations and women-owned businesses through a reputable certification program, education and professional growth opportunities, but also because we are not guided by what’s been done in the past or what others are doing. We recognized, way before I became

“We needed to be bold in our thinking and unafraid in our decision making. And, we had to set aside our egos and personal agendas to defi ne a culture which values activism, inclusion, empowerment and be willing to challenge and question our thinking.”

the Chair, that to stay true to our mission, in the ever-changing world in which we live, we were going to have to do things differently. We needed to be bold in our thinking and unafraid in our decision making. And, we had to set aside our egos and personal agendas to define a culture which values activism, inclusion, empowerment and be willing to challenge and questions our thinking. The programs that have emerged and continue to evolve in the WBEC South portfolio reflect the dynamic nature of the organization—always changing, always looking to do things better and differently, and always with the interests of our constituents tops of mind. The WB Collective, the WB Marketplace, the Women’s Business Center South, and the Enterprising Women of Color—each in their own rather unique way contribute to our mission. And each program is being led and managed by the dynamic WBEC South staff, under the leadership of President and CEO, Phala K. Mire, who is ever enterprising, ever passionate, and ever capable, enthusiastic, accommodating, and hard-working. The recent past has been difficult. We’ve endured a global pandemic, social unrest in the aftermath of tragedies that have highlighted the inequities that exist in our society and in our institutions, and natural disasters—seemingly one after another that impacted South Louisiana and the greater Gulf Coast, and the physical and mental toll that all this has taken on us. Yet, through it all WBEC South has not just persevered, but grown and flourished.

We have 985 certified WBEs and growing, 40 corporate members and growing, five states, four offices, and two federal grant programs. It makes me tired just saying it. While we may be tired, mostly we are proud of work that is happening within the WBEC South family. I’m intentional in the use of the word “family”—just recently described by the great poet who is my daughter, Gabbi Feldman, as “a living organism that expands and contracts and re-organizes itself to make sure everyone in attendance has a place to sit and to share and to listen. A recognition and preservation of the idea that fellowship need not take itself too seriously in order to be essential and influential in one’s life.”

Yes—that is my family and that is WBEC South. WE