The Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) announced John Olajide, founder and CEO of Dallas-based Axxess, North America’s leading home health care technology company, as its 2020 Chair of the Board during its Annual Meeting at the Hilton Anatole.
At 38, Olajide becomes the youngest board chair in the DRC’s 111- year history. “I am truly honored to be trusted with this responsibility by my colleagues on the DRC board,” Olajide said during the largest DRC Annual Meeting in its history. “As a boy, I dreamed of attending college in America while growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. And now to be selected by some of the best and brightest business minds in the world to lead an amazing organization like this before my 39th birthday… Only in America.”
Olajide said that he plans to focus his one-year term as chair on helping innovative entrepreneurs, promoting education, and spreading the message that business must be a force for good. “Business done well provides jobs and builds the economy,” Olajide said. “Better still, great businesses also get involved. We can demonstrate that business is a force for good by being good corporate citizens, giving back and solving some of our community’s most challenging problems.”
Olajide succeeds Chris Nielsen, Executive Vice President, Product Support, and Chief Quality Officer for Toyota Motor North America. Nielsen, who remains on the DRC board, noted 2019 wins on economic development and public education, including the passage of a school finance reform bill during the 86th Texas Legislative Session and significant Dallas ISD improvements.
“Education and its output, a skilled and talented workforce will always be mission critical to the DRC’s goals,” Nielsen said. “It is critically important that we continue to engage and support all students, no matter their geographic location or circumstance.”
Michelle Vopni, Dallas Office Managing Partner of Ernst & Young LLP, will serve as DRC Chair of the Board in 2021. “The Dallas Region is thriving like never before, with more than 130 corporate headquarters relocation’s in just the past decade,” Vopni said. “It’s an incredible honor to serve on the DRC board at this time, and I look forward to collaborating with John, my board colleagues, DRC CEO Dale Petroskey, and his team as we continue to work to make the Dallas Region the best place in the United States to live, work, and do business.”
ABOUT THE DALLAS REGIONAL CHAMBER: The Dallas Regional Chamber is one of the most established business organizations in the nation and serves as the voice of business and the champion of economic development and growth in the Dallas Region. We work with our member companies and regional partners to strengthen our business community by advocating for pro-growth public policies, improving our educational system, attracting talented workers from around the world, and enhancing the quality of life for all. Our goal is to make Dallas the best place in the United States to live, work, and do business. For more information, please contact the DRC at 214.746.6600 or visit; https://www.dallaschamber.org/
Complete list of 2020 DRC Board members
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