The Latest News for You from the Northeast Leadership Forum- February 2020

Northeast Leadership Forum Newsletter

February 2020

Greetings from Your NLF Chair, Nick Sanders

We’re just a month away from our 2020 Award Luncheon , and I am looking forward to hearing former NFL pro and Olympian Johnny Quinn as our keynote speaker. He has such an inspirational story to share about how a major injury ended his pro football career and launched his determination to become a member of the 2014 U.S. Olympic team.

Let’s also look forward to honoring Randy Clinton as our 2019 Distinguished Leadership Award recipient. He has exhibited a true servant spirit in leading the Community Enrichment Center for the past 24 years while also serving on our board and executive committee for many years. He also chaired the Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce in 2015.

Please finalize your sponsorship for the award luncheon by reaching out to John Fletcher (817-205-2334 or john@thefletch.org ). We will hold the event at the Hurst Conference Center , which is where we meet for our quarterly breakfasts. With such an exceptional speaker and award recipient to honor, we expect over 200 attendees for our luncheon.

Here’s a new twist for our award luncheon: Since we provide one scholarship (paying half the tuition cost) for each of the chamber of commerce leadership programs in Northeast Tarrant County, we look forward to meeting one of the class members of each of the programs with a brief introduction.

We had an impressive number of first-time guests – more than 15 - at our February 11 breakfast, where we heard from Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI office. His presentation about cyberterrorism awakened us all to recognize that these threats are taking place all around us.

At the breakfast, I hosted a very brief Q&A format with one of our new members, Holly Raeder, Area Manager for Oncor Electric Delivery. You can look forward to these brief introductions at each of our breakfasts this year.

I appreciate what each of you does in Northeast Tarrant County and with NLF. Your commitment and passion for growing leaders in our region helps make us successful. If you have ideas or suggestions, or if I can be of help to you, please contact me at nick@winocular.com or call 214-213-7739.

-Nick

FBI Agent in Charge of Dallas Office Shares Updates on Counter-terrorism, Other Challenges

Matthew J. DeSarno, Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI Office , attracted quite a crowd for our February 11 breakfast, with one of our largest attendance numbers in years! He revealed that the FBI keeps busy with such top priorities as:

Cyber-terrorism
Corruption of public officials
Crimes against children
Healthcare fraud
Human trafficking

Today, nations have become very sophisticated in how they carry out cyberattacks. Our government used to prioritize attacks by air, land and sea. Cyber is now the new territory.

Agent DeSarno stated that ransomware originates mostly from overseas and that the best way to avoid being victimized is to have two-step identification and change your passwords frequently.

He stated that our four major threats for cyber-terrorism are:

China,
Russia
Iran
North Korea

Of these, China, most specifically, wants to defeat us both militarily and economically and carries much of this out through cyberterrorism against our financial backbone.

He also compared the swiftness and depth of cyber-terrorism by Russia and China, saying that Russians focus on sudden impact while the Chinese work at a slower, more gradual pace that is difficult to notice.

We thank Agent DeSarno for providing a comprehensive perspective of the challenges we face in the world of cybersecurity.

Thank you also to John Fletcher at Fletcher Consulting Public Relations for sponsoring the breakfast.

Former NFL pro, Olympian to Keynote

March 27 Award Luncheon

We are one month away from our annual award luncheon on Friday, March 27 , at the Hurst Conference Center. You will thoroughly enjoy the humor and motivational comments from our keynote speaker, Johnny Quinn .

Johnny played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers following a three-time all-conference career as a wide receiver at the University of North Texas. After a torn ACL injury ended his pro football career, Johnny trained and became a member of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. His speed and rapid acceleration captured the attention of U.S. Olympic coaches.

Johnny speaks throughout the United States for many of our nation’s Fortune 500 companies . You may have seen his videos or seen him quoted in the news:

TIME Magazine and all major news networks have featured him
TEDx Talk – “Understanding the Olympic Mindset” – is a very popular view on YouTube.

Sponsors are already committing to support our major spring event due to our high-profile speaker.

The meal service will begin at 11:30 a.m. sharp, and the program will end at 1:15 p.m.

Seating options are:

Sponsorship table of 10 with premier seating: $1,000
Reserved table for 8: $500
Individual ticket with general seating: $55

Please contact the HEB Chamber at (817) 283-1521 or chamber@he b.org to register your tables or individual tickets.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact John Fletcher at 817-205-2334 .

Community Enrichment Center CEO,

Randy Clinton, Named Leadership Honoree

Our selection committee has selected Randy Clinton to receive the NLF 2019 Distinguished Leadership Award at our 29 ^th Annual Award Luncheon on Friday, March 27 . This is the one award that we present each year.

Randy became CEO of the Community Enrichment Center in 1996 and has elevated the scope and impact of the organization in Northeast Tarrant County. He expanded the reach of CEC by acquiring houses, town homes and apartments at an amazing rate to provide safe housing that gives stability to struggling families – many of them suffering from poverty and domestic violence.

Randy has also led the organization to increase services in adult literacy, financial literacy, and free tax preparation while also forming a job club and a senior network. He assisted in acquiring the Second Glance Resale Shop, which is a vital source of ongoing revenue to the CEC, and offers exceptional values on items that the store sells.

Randy is active in our community, having chaired the Mid-Cities Pacesetters Rotary Club, the Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce, Texas Homeless Network and the Tarrant County Continuum of Care for the Homeless. He is also Tail Twister for his Lions Club in North Richland Hills.

Having served multiple terms on the Northeast Leadership Forum board of directors, Randy and has consistently taken on major responsibilities. The main reason that our annual award luncheon runs so smoothly is due to him chairing that committee and overseeing all the logistics involved. He has also taken the leadership role in our new Nonprofit Roundtable.

We look forward to honoring Randy on March 27 .

Tom Lombard, who recently retired from serving on the North Richland Hills city council and a career as a software engineer with AT&T, was our 2018 honoree.

NLF Foundation Scholarship

Applications Due April 3

Scholarship applications from graduating seniors in Northeast Tarrant County public high schools are due by the end of school on Friday, April 3.

Once again this year, the Northeast Leadership Forum Foundation will award $44,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors thanks to the matching grant from the Nancy and Alan Hamm Foundation . Students are eligible if they will attend a two-year college, four-year university or a trade school.

The NLF Foundation members are in the process of meeting with area superintendents and reaching out to high school counselors so we can award our annual scholarships.

Nominations must be turned in to high school counselors by the end of the school day on Friday, April 3 . We will announce and introduce our recipients at our May 12 breakfast meeting . Click below to download the application and apply today!

NLF Scholarship Application

Keep NLF Dynamic and Growing

What an outstanding turnout of guests at our February breakfast! Now, let’s take it a step further and invite them to become members of Northeast Leadership Forum.

As you interact with business and community leaders who impress you, please invite them to our next meeting, which will be the Annual Award Luncheon on March 27 . These influencers are making a difference in our area, so let's invite them to participate in NLF. Membership is the lifeblood of our organization.

For any prospective NLF members you may know, click below to download the membership application. We want established and emerging leaders to join our organization in order to further the dynamic growth of Northeast Tarrant County. Please warmly welcome visitors and new members to our breakfast meetings.

Growing the power of networks is one of the main benefits of the Northeast Leadership Forum .

NLF Membership Application

May 12 Breakfast to Feature Entrepreneur Panel

Small businesses are a powerful driver of our economy in Northeast Tarrant County. We will hear from three small business owners who will describe the challenges they face in today’s environment and the niches they serve. They will have striking similarities to the small businesses throughout our area. Please look forward to hearing from:

Sue Schultz – What’s Poppin Texas in Bedford – After working years in retail, Sue was able to combine her passion for popcorn and that retail experience into a career she loves.
Steve Buyers – Buyers Barricades in Richland Hills – While working on a construction project at DFW Airport, Steve became so frustrated with the terrible service of the company providing barricades that he went home that night and started his own barricade business. He is one of the largest barricade buyers in the Southwest.
Elias Pope – HG Sply Co. in Trophy Club –Elias joined with three friends to create a dining and hospitality experience that provides simple food, classic drinks, and humble hospitality.

Invite your friends, particularly any entrepreneurs and small business operators, to our May 12 breakfast at the Hurst Conference Center . Networking will start at 7:15 a.m. and breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m.

Thank You to Atmos Energy for being the sponsor for our upcoming May meeting

Leadership Programs Take Austin Legislative Trips

Members of area leadership programs are heading to Austin for their annual day at the Texas Capitol, which includes sessions with elected representatives and officials from various departments in group sessions.

The leadership programs from the HEB, Colleyville, and Northeast Tarrant chambers traveled to Austin this past Thursday, February 27, and Leadership Southlake will travel next week, on Wednesday, March 4.