2003-2004 Committee Chairs Named

Board President Vivian Campbell has announced the following Committee Chair assignments. Each Chair is a Vice President of the 2003-2004 Board of Directors.

Each committee relies on member participation. If you are interested in serving on one of the committees mentioned above please call Cheryle Babbitt at (213) 989-2157 or e-mail her at cbabbitt@lajcc.org.

From the President (from speech at Annual Meeting)
By Vivian Campbell, 2003-2004 LAJCC President

Good evening honored guests and fellow members of the LAJCC. It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, I am most appreciative and deeply honored to have been elected as your volunteer President.
I look forward to working with Robert Yamamoto, the Executive Committee and the entire Board and Staff as we plan for what I hope will be a very successful and productive year. I thank the members of the Nominating Committee and the members of LAJCC who have entrusted me with the stewardship of this great organization.
I promise you that I will dedicate myself to continuing our efforts to develop and deliver outstanding projects and programs that benefit the youth of our community. Through the strategic planning process, we will meet, or even exceed, the goals and objectives that have been identified. We will review and update the Strategic Plan to reflect the tasks at hand and the issues that face the Junior Chamber.

I promise you that I will work with every member of the Board and every member of the Staff to ensure that we continue to lead the LAJCC with the highest degree of integrity and commitment. And I promise you that I will continue to focus on ensuring we offer our members substantive opportunities for volunteer service to Los Angeles and enjoyable, entertaining and fun social events and membership opportunities.

This evening we acknowledge the departure of several of our Board Members- our Chairman, Mike Delzotti, Vice Presidents, Tom Carter and Justin Bourret and Directors, Rupert Grant and Don Hall. I would like to personally and publicly thank them for their collective contribution to the Junior Chamber. Their individual and collective efforts have greatly enhanced our organization. Thank you guys. I would like to thank our out-going President, Michael Donovan for his tremendous contribution to the LAJCC. Due to his leadership, we had a productive year and I look forward to working with him next year in his new capacity as our Chairman of the Board.

I would like to pay a special tribute to one of my fellow Board members: Laura Guerrero. Thank you Laura, for your dedicated efforts over many years, and in many capacities, including director, vice president and volunteer, especially in your assignment as Mrs. Claus in the 3rd Street Winter Wonderland!! I look forward to working closely together next year on the Board.

I have always felt that it is important for leaders to keep their heart in the past, their mind in the present and their eye on the future. As I look forward to serving as your President, I will remain true to this belief.

2004 will mark the 80th Anniversary of the LAJCC. 2004 will mark the 40th Annual Foster Family Picnic, the 37th LA Watts Summer Games and the 78th Nissan Open. Hopefully appropriate acknowledgement and celebration of these momentous anniversaries will be seen. Perhaps one of our most well known events, the Award of Merit Dinner can be re-initiated as well.

We, as members of the incoming Board of Directors, inherit an organization with a great history, built by volunteer members who dedicated themselves to bettering the city in which they lived. We also inherit an organization with a promising future, one where we can all truly make a difference in the lives of the young people we serve.

As we plan for opportunities that lie before us, I hope history will record that we lived up to this noble task.

Thank you.

New Board Members & Officers Elected

The June Election of Board Members for 2003-2004 resulted in the re-election of members Chaitali Biswas, Vivian Campbell, Laura Guerrero, James Jackson, Shelly Martin,Robin Meeks, Gregory Ortman, David Stahl, Kimberly Tengan and Ralph Walker. Joining them are new Board Members Celestin Pao, Dezi Nebedum, Michael Johns, Morgun Chang and Scott Appel.

In July, the election of Board Officers was held. Vivian Campbell was elected President for 2003-2004 with Vice Presidents James Jackson, Shelly Martin, Robin Meeks, Gregory Ortman and Ralph Walker. Michael Donovan III, 2002-2003 President will serve as Chairman of the Board.

The new Board and Officers were formally introduced to the membership at the August 5th Annual Meeting.

At the meeting, new President Vivian Campbell spoke, outlining her vision for the LAJCC and her goals for 2003-2004. Click here to read her speech.

The meeting was also a time for current President Michael Donovan recognize those Board Members who were stepping down and thank them for their service as Board Members and as members of the LAJCC. Receiving special thanks were departing Board members Michael Delzotti, Justin Bourret, Tom Carter, Rupert Grant, and Donald Hall.

The new Board takes office in September.

Special Awards Presented at Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting is a time to pause to recognize the contributions made by the LAJCC to the community and by members to the LAJCC. At this year's meeting the following special awards were announced and presented.

Robert M. McIntyre Leadership Award: Mike Ortega (not pictured)
Price Waterhouse Award for Excellence in Fundraising: Justin Bourret
Outstanding New Member: Samantha Tardiff
Organizational Commitment Award: Rupert Grant
Outstanding Community Service Award: Bernadette Lee & Gina Loyonnet
Director of the Year: David Stahl
Presidential Award: Chaitali Biswas
Outstanding Project Leader: Michael Johns, James Jackson
Outstanding Community Service Project: Irene Garcia & Charles McCall

We thank all of these volunteers (and staff) for their commitment to the LAJCC and all of their hard work.