Alan Steinberg is the new CEO/President of the West Houston Association. He was formally introduced to the West Houston Association membership at the City Issues Forum and at the Hello/Goodbye Virtual Happy Hour and Pub Quiz on May 20th. As the newest executive officer for this organization, we asked Alan a few questions that membership may find helpful.
What do you love about Houston? What do you like about the Greater West Houston?
Houston, and West Houston in particular is home. I have lived in West Houston for the majority of my life and it has been exciting for me to see the growth and change over the last four decades. I love the diversity of Houston. The cowboy hats and boots juxtaposed with astronauts. The high culture of museums and theater attended by the same people with friends in low places enjoying honky-tonks and rodeo. I just feel like I belong in city where culture clash is natural, such that my own fascination with the mythos of the frontier, be it Star Trek or the American West comes together in a city that embraces differences and believe in growth and opportunity. West Houston, in particular, has always felt like the frontier of Houston. Following in the footsteps of America’s westward expansion, opportunity lies to the west.
What would others say are your 3 greatest strengths and how will they serve you in your new role at WHA?
Due to being very consciousness, I am emotionally bound to follow though. No matter how small or large the issues I’m dealing with, I take responsibility for getting things done and I am committed to delivering results. Taking on this position binds me to the West Houston Association such that our success is linked together. I want great things for West Houston (my home) as well as for the organization and our members. I plan to push us to continuously increase our impact.
I also have an insatiable love for learning and believe that we learn from doing. While at Rice University I loved having new projects working on real-world issues with community partners each semester. Here at West Houston Association, this is our day-to-day. I thrive in dynamically changing environments, so I am excited to work with our members to make an impact on Greater West Houston by addressing the challenges of today and making the most of opportunities for quality growth. We will push for success and learn from our missteps such that we will do better the next time.
I take pride in being able to create and support environments, recognizing connections and bringing together diverse stakeholders with their unique knowledge, skills and experiences to learn from each other, build off one another and ultimately create great things. Driving work within interdisciplinary environments is a skill I developed up over the years working with research groups at Rice and multiple committees within the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This interdisciplinary approach, bringing multiple perspectives towards addressing issues is the hallmark of our committee structure within WHA, and I hope to serve a good shepherd for the members in encouraging movement towards the goals identified in our 2060 plan.
What do you hope to accomplish via WHA?
WHA does amazing things for the region, but we don’t do the best job of making sure people know that. So first and foremost, I want to increase public awareness of the association. By the end of the year WHA will have an increased web presence including videos that promote our mission and vision. That includes raising awareness of our 2060 plan. In tandem with these efforts, I want to work with our membership to bring the 2060 plan to fruition. This means increasing and broadening our advocacy, collaboration, and education efforts. Using the 2060 plan as a guide I want us to push forward to achieving the goals laid out ahead of schedule by starting to address challenges and immediately taking advantages of opportunities.
