Happy New Year WHA Members!
As we wrap up 2023 and enter 2024 there is a lot to celebrate. We have a new Development Map available on the website. We recognized Bill Callegari with the WHA IMPACT Award, last given out in 2019. Our public presence via social media has increased by about 20%. We started a member driven series of articles featured on our website and newsletter. We held our first half-day Quality Planned Development symposium and look forward to the next one this summer!
If you want to know more about what happened in 2023, stay tuned for our 2023 Annual Report that will be released later this month. In the meantime, you can learn more about our most recent collaboration with Rice University, which wrapped up in December. We are working to have a few more projects this spring as part of an ongoing initiative to engage the next generation of leaders of quality growth.
January will be kicking off with both a Board Strategic Planning meeting to discuss WHA wide strategy for 2024 and beyond as well as a Committee Leadership Breakfast which will be focused on building capacity for WHA internally and each committee setting their priorities for the year. Then in February the Sustainable Infrastructure is hosting a panel entitled “The Marketing Value of Green Development.” If you missed the news, Houston has a new Mayor and multiple new City Council Members. On March 28th, WHA will be hosting Mayor John Whitmire, to hear about his first 100 days in office and his plan for the years ahead. Stay tuned for details on that event!
Later this year we have our Rising Leader’s TopGolf tournament on May 23rd. Sponsorships are available. Individual teams and tickets will be available in the months ahead. Meanwhile, Class 9 of our Rising Leaders program will start in April. We’ve already had a lot of interest. If you would like to nominate someone, including yourself, please reach out to me by the end of January.
We also have a few committee meetings taking place in January. The Government Affairs Committee will be meeting January 8th, the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee will be meeting on January 9th, the Education and Workforce Committee is meeting on the 11th, and both the Quality Planned Development Committee and the Water Resources Committee are scheduled for January 18th. If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for these committees, or any others, please let us know.
I am looking forward to a great year ahead and want to thank you for your support of the West Houston Association and working to improve quality of life for the 2,000,000+ people who live, work, and play across the Greater West Houston region!