The Austin Young Chamber of Commerce has one goal – empower the next generation of Austin leaders.

That translates into trainings, events, socializing, volunteers, discussions, and so much more. At the heart of what we do though is connecting our members and leaders to the greater community and giving them the resources they need to succeed.

When that is your goal, you will see incredible members become incredible leaders. When we do our job right as a community we also see our leaders go on to greatness. As we conclude our process to expand our board, we are also saying goodbye to three such leaders – Andy Cates, John King, and James Nortey.

This year Andy Cates welcomed a beautiful baby boy into this world and took on the role as General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs at the Texas Nurses Association. In addition, Andy literally wrote the book on Texas ethics law too. Now after two full terms on the board, Andy stepped down this summer to focus on family and his exciting new career.

John King served as board member, Vice Chair, and Chair of the Austin Young Chamber. In that time, John has been an unrivaled leader in our community. John has been selected to sit on a city board and commission and joined one of the most buzzed-about new companies in Austin this year – SparkCognition. In addition, he serves as political partner with the Truman National Security Project and will continue to be involved in AYC, EngageATX, and countless other community groups.

James Nortey has served as Historian and At-Large member. James has announced he is running to serve not just young professionals but the good people of Austin. James is running for County Commissioner in Precinct 1 and is set to resign this fall to focus on the race.

We are all honored to have worked with these community leaders and wish them the best in their next steps. While we are sad to see Andy, John, and James leave the board, we know they will do incredible things.

Please click here to tweet your congratulations to Andy, John, and/or James!

Emmy Hill has taken over as Chair. Adam Flagg has stepped in as Chair Elect. In addition, the board has continued the process of phasing in new board member semi-annually. We are all excited to announce those new members soon and we look forward to continue to empower and train the next generation of Austin leaders.