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Contact:
Rebecca Robinson
Executive Director
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas
(512) 327-7555 office; (512) 350-4621 cell
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THE WINE & FOOD FOUNDATION OF TEXAS NAMESNEW PRESIDENT, DIRECTORS
 AUSTIN, Texas (August 25, 2009) – Howard Chalmers has been named president of The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas (Foundation), the state’s largest charity dedicated to the art of wine and food.
Chalmers, a nationally recognized management consultant with an extensive client list including a number of nonprofit organizations, will serve a two year term. He succeeds Austin entrepreneur and business leader J. Buckner Hightower.
Chalmers has served on the foundation’s Board of Directors since 2001 and first became associated with the organization as a volunteer auctioneer for its annual Fine & Rare Wine Auction.
Chalmers’ experience with leadership and governance of nonprofit organizations is extensive. Early in his career, he served as Vice President for Development of KLRU-TV, later serving on its board of directors for more than a decade and as its Chairman in 1991. Later, he served as a board member of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and was later named President and CEO, guiding that organization during its early, formative years.
His national client roster includes both National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), where he also worked with management teams of more than three dozen local public TV stations around the country.
“These are exciting and dynamic times for the Wine & Food Foundation, and I am honored to serve as its president,” Chalmers said. “We have been very successful at raising initial funds to support our mission. Now the organization is committed to embracing the internet and other new technologies. We want to share information with a growing segment of the population that wants to learn more about enjoying and appreciating good food and fine wine. As we are successful in those efforts, we will further expand our charitable mission statewide through scholarships and grant programs.”
Other new members of the Board of Directors include: John Pesce, Managing Partner, TCG Advisors and Jim Stone, Founder and Managing Director of Stone Partners, Inc., a Human Resources consulting and outsourcing firm.
New Advisory Board members include: Carol Cummings, a non-profit business consultant, and JohnGL of a world-wide publisher of massively multi-player online games and creator of popular food and wine blog, the Alcoholian. Also joining the Advisory Board is Susan Lilly, founder and CEO of political consulting firm, Lilly Consulting, and Jane Nickles (‘Miss Jane’), nationally acclaimed wine educator, author and sommelier. Randy Roach, named ‘Texas Super Lawyer’ by Texas Monthly and founding partner of Roach & Newton, LLP, and Mike Shefman, retired president and CEO of Selicor Corporation complete the new roster.
For a full listing of Board and Advisory members, please visit www.winefoodfoundation.org.
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas hosts community-wide events and education classes in addition to providing culinary scholarships and grants. Most recently, the Foundation sponsored and co-presented TexSom, the annual Texas Sommelier Conference, the first of its kind in the country, which is open to both professionals and the general public. TexSom is also host to Texas’ Best Sommelier competition. The coveted 2009 title went to June-Ann Rodil of UCHI Austin.
About the Foundation
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a public charity dedicated to recognizing and developing creativity, professionalism and state-of-the-science research in all areas of the culinary and viticulture arts. Created in 1997, the Foundation provides educational grants, scholarships and fellowships to outstanding individuals and other entities that achieve excellence in these areas. For more information or to become a member visit www.winefoodfoundation.org.
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