Board of Directors
Officers
Board Chair
Michael Gallops served the Rowlett Area Chamber & Visitors Center as an Ambassador, Board Member, and Chair until he was hired as President/CEO in 2017. Michael also served in the Air Force for 10 years and was a Rowlett City Council member for 6 years.
Regionally, Michael was on the Emergency Preparedness Planning Council, the Legislative Coalition of the North Texas Crime Commission, the Leadership North Texas Steering Committee, and the Freedom Church Board. He’s a graduate of Leadership Rowlett, Leadership North Texas, and Rowlett Citizen’s Fire and Police Academies. He’s on the boards of Life Message, Rowlett CERT, Amateur Community Theater of Rowlett, FBI Dallas Citizens Academy Alumni Association, and the Garland ISD Education Foundation.
Michael has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Angelo State University and a Master of Science in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship from the University of Houston–Victoria.
Michael and his wife Jill live in Rowlett and have ten children and 12 grandchildren. They have fostered several children, and three of their ten are adopted.
Chair Elect
Tammy Gazzola wears many hats in Weatherford, TX. Tammy has served as the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce President since 2006. The Weatherford Chamber has over 1,000+ members, serves as the Visitor Center for Weatherford, and organizes the award-winning Parker County Peach Festival!
Treasurer
Jennifer Shumate has served as the Executive Director for the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce since January 2022. Jennifer, a lifelong resident of North Texas, has always had a community-minded spirit and has served on many boards and commissions over the last 25 years. Before coming to the Chamber, she worked for a municipality for ten years, where she served on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce in that area and, before that, was in corporate event planning for a multi-billion-dollar company. Jennifer graduated from North Central Texas College in Gainesville, Texas, and she and her husband and three dogs reside in Cooke County.
Secretary
Mary Ann Kellam is President/CEO of the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC). Under her leadership, the IHCC has added several business seminars, Leadership seminars, as well as on-going training for small start-up businesses and existing businesses needing specific assistance or certification as minority-owned businesses. Ms. Kellam has led the chamber to such success that it’s being recognized as one of the most involved Hispanic chambers in the DFW area and their members come from all over the Metroplex. They have received 3 back-to-back Medium Sized Chamber of the Year awards from TAMACC. They have also received 2 grants from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, for the success of their Power Hour Seminars and the new Spanish Entrepreneurship workshops, La Hora de Poder. The IHCC was selected as the 2021 United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Chamber of the Year.
Past Chair
Darby Burkey is a native of Rockwall, TX, and began her career in the Chamber industry in 2014. Before joining the Chamber industry, she had 18 years of small business ownership experience. She served on the Board of Directors at the Rockwall Chamber in 2012. Darby transitioned to the team in June 2014 as the Director of Marketing and Communications.
Darby has served as the President/CEO of the Rockwall Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center since November 2018. The Chamber represents 775 organizations and over 13k local employees. Darby completed the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management certification in November 2021. Additionally, she led the organization to a 5-Star Accreditation designation with the United States Chamber of Commerce in November 2022.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing from the University of North Texas. She is a graduate of Leadership Rockwall Class of 2010. Darby serves on the Board of the Texas Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. She is the incoming Chairman of the North Texas Chamber Executives Association and the Incoming Chairman of the Rockwall Noon Rotary Club. She is a past Board member of the North Texas Commission, the Rockwall ISD Education Foundation, and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Rockwall County Awareness Committee.
Darby enjoys traveling and calls Rockwall home with her fiancé, Kurt Nielsen.
Division Chairs
RaDonna Hessel currently serves as CEO of the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce, a position held since June of 2008. She has served in five different communities around the state of Texas since 1990. RaDonna completed the Institute for Organizational Management at SMU and the Oklahoma University, graduating in 1997 and received her CCE (Certified Chamber Executive) designation in 2013. The Grapevine Chamber received the designation as a Five-Star Accredited Chamber in 2015 by the US Chamber and was reaccredited in 2021.
Professionally RaDonna served on the Executive Board of the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Association (TCCE), and was the 2017 Chairman. She was also 2008 Chair of the North Texas Chamber Executives (NTCE). RaDonna previously served on the board of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) 2015 through 2022, where she also served as chair of the ACCE Emerging Cities. She currently serves on the board of the Texas Association of Business (TAB) Executive Board. She was the 2024 Chair of the Northeast Leadership Forum, and serves on the Grapevine Colleyville Education Foundation. She is also a member of the 2017 – 2018 North Texas Leadership Class.
RaDonna also finds time to serve her community, including as President of the Grapevine Rotary Club in 2011 – 2012 and she was the 2005-2006 Centennial President of the Grand Prairie Rotary Club and was a leader in the construction of the Grand Prairie Veterans’ Memorial.
RaDonna received the 2018 Marvin Hurley Award, the highest honor of the Texas Chamber Executive Association. Prior to that she received the 2013 and 2010 Distinguished Service Award for the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Association. She was the 2012-2013 Grapevine Rotarian of the Year and was selected as the 2018 Grapevine Rotary Pro. Previously, she was presented with the President’s Award from the Soroptimist Club. She also was honored as the Grand Prairie Citizen of the Year in 2002, and received the International Athena Award (Woman of the Year) in 2003. She received the Doris Black Award from the Brighter Tomorrows Domestic Violence organization in 2005.
Brian Bondy took over as President of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce in September, 2024. Bondy is coming to Grand Prairie from Granbury where he served as president of the Granbury Chamber for the past three and a half years.
Bondy has been a part of chamber of commerce work in Texas and Missouri for over 30 years serving as a volunteer, committee member, committee chair, board member and board officer before transitioning to the 'other side of the desk' with the Northwest Communities Chamber of Commerce in suburban St. Louis.
Bondy brings a wealth of chamber experience in membership, finance, special event and advocacy as well as member and community-focused programming like Leadercast, Lemonade Day and business delegation visits to Austin and Washington DC.
He has been a Rotarian for more than 20 years having served as club presidents in both Kerrville and San Marcos and is also a Paul Harris Fellow. Bondy graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University and has also earned the Institute of Organization Management (IOM) designation through his participation in and graduation from the US Chamber of Commerce Institute.
Brian and his wife Jean have two adult daughters, Lauren who teaches in Mansfield ISD and Erin earned her Masters and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis and works for the University of North Carolina-Chappell Hill.
Lori Fickling is the President/CEO of the Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to joining the Chamber in the spring of 2018, she served as Director of Economic Development for Denton County.
Additional past positions include President of the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce for 10 years, Chief Development Officer for Communities In Schools of North Texas, commercial and residential real estate agent, and small business owner.
Lori is a 30-year Rotarian and a founding member of the Cross Timbers Rotary Club, where she served as its second president. She also served as president at her former Rotary Club and held many district-level positions with Rotary, including Assistant Governor for three years and Lt. Governor for one year.
Lori serves on the Board of Directors of the North Texas Commission and also on the Board of the North Texas Chamber Executives. She also serves on the Board of Medical City Lewisville.
Lori is a graduate of the University of North Texas and a graduate of the Institute for Organization Management, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is a published author and loves travel, reading, interior design, public speaking, writing, and spending time with her family, especially her four grandkids. She and her husband, Mike live in Double Oak.
Chris Wallace is President and CEO of the North Texas Commission. Under Wallace’s leadership, the NTC convenes the region’s most prominent public and private sector leaders to address the greatest challenges for our 13-county area, including leading the region’s unified legislative advocacy at the state and federal levels. The NTC ensures that state and federal policies promote strong local governments, support excellence in public schools, increase the skilled workforce pipeline, and safeguard a thriving business environment.
Prior to joining the NTC, Wallace was President/COO of the Texas Association of Business, the state chamber of commerce. Wallace also served 10 years as President/CEO of the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber, the first national Five-Star Accredited Chamber in Texas. Wallace is a past chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management. He is a 1992 graduate of Texas Tech University-College of Media and Communication, where he was named an outstanding alumnus. He was recently featured among the Dallas 500 most powerful business leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth by D CEO Magazine.
At Large
Lisa Flowers
Parker County Chamber of Commerce
Tracy Heckel
Prosper Chamber of Commerce
Alexander Helgar
Mesquite Chamber of Commerce
Tina Henderson
Lake Cities Chamber of Commerce
Tina Stelnicki
Wylie Chamber of Commerce
Diana Theall
Denison Chamber of Commerce
Lori Walker
Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce