Message from Leadership: Gathering, Once Again

By Michael Gunther–

What a wild ride this last year has been. We were coming out of the first tunnel of the pandemic and were hoping to continue on a path of strength, connection, and health. However, none of us knows how long this current stretch of openness—albeit with restrictions due to the Delta variant—will last before we possibly hit a roadblock that will require additional restrictions.

We were planning to celebrate in person that we made it through the first tunnel. The Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) was looking forward to gathering in person with our members and community beginning in September at our Annual Meeting, but it appears this may be virtual as we enter the second tunnel of the pandemic.

During this last year and a half, we had to adjust our programming, becoming more innovative in the delivery of our events and looking at new ways to connect with our members. I am truly in awe of the amazing Board of Directors who dedicated their time and energy to ensure the sustainability of the GGBA while also working to keep their own businesses or careers strong throughout this COVID-19 journey.

This group of volunteers added new members every month, created new interactive programming that helped drive growth for our member businesses, developed an all online Power Lunch event that exceeded everyone’s expectations, formalized a volunteer program, raised sponsorship dollars (even during the pandemic), put on advocacy events with our elected officials, grew the Board of Directors by adding numerous new members, had the first annual plan and budget in place to ensure sustainability of the organization, and started the process of hiring an Executive Director. Whew, what a year! Can you imagine what will be created next, considering all of this was done during the first year of the pandemic?

It just goes to show us that a committed group of individuals who are passionate about building the economic and social strength of our community can have the collective power to drive change even during adverse times. Imagine what we can accomplish this next year if our membership continues to grow and we continue to offer engaging programming and events that make our members’ businesses and leadership skills stronger.

With that in mind, the GGBA Board of Directors is currently engaged in developing our first 5-year strategic plan with the hope of rolling it out in December of this year, laying the foundation to build a sustainable organization as we enter our 48th year of existence.

I implore you to determine how you might become engaged with the GGBA, the oldest LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce in the world. The more that we, as a community, can build economic sustainability for our community, the more that we can continue to build a healthy community for future generations of LGTQ entrepreneurs and business leaders.

So, join us in acknowledging the hard work that made the achievements of this challenging past year possible while also celebrating hopes for the future at our Annual Meeting (we hope in person) to honor all of you for showing your leadership this last year and laying a solid foundation for the years to come. We all have an important role in the ongoing advocacy for our hard-won rights, as well as for ensuring that equity and equality in our community continue to evolve and thrive.

Michael Gunther is a Board Member and President of the Golden Gate Business Association as well as the managing partner at Collaboration Business Consulting, which is a team of highly skilled business professionals who are dedicated to assisting proactive individuals build scalable, profitable businesses.