2023-2024 District 1 Leadership Candidates (July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024) are elected by majority vote at the District Council Annual Business Meeting, to be held on Friday, May 19, 2023, 6pm Pacific.
Nominations are now closed, The District Leadership Committee has nominated the following candidates for District office:
Candidate for District Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Leann Levine
Candidate for Program Quality Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
If elected, my goals are to:
- Achieve distinguished or better District status.
- Ensure the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) goals are tracked year-round.
- Ensure club officer lists are submitted on time.
- Introduce a Pathways Ambassador Network – as a year-round resource for clubs – with webinars and Q&A sessions.
- Lead teams in planning events such as Toastmasters Leadership Institutes, Spring Conference, and monthly new member orientation.
My recent Toastmasters leadership roles:
- 2022-23: Club Growth Director
- 2021-22: Division A Speech Contest chief judge/Top Sales Toastmasters, President
- 2019-20: Division A Director
- 2018-19: Area A1 Director (distinguished)
- 2017-18: Professional Women Toastmasters, VP Membership (25% net growth)
Some fun facts about me:
I am a member of Professional Women Toastmasters and Top Sales Toastmasters in District 1, and Past District Governors/ Directors Club in District 100. In my daily life, I am a wife, a Boy Scout mom, and an Aflac insurance benefits advisor. I am currently working towards completing my second DTM designation.
During my #MeTime, I enjoy cooking, baking, watching a Dodgers game, good food, knitting, spinning, a spa day, and carefully skiing down an easy green run!
To sum it up,I am a leader with a #GrowthMindset! I am qualified to be your next Program Quality Director because I have over 10 years of solid expertise in client relationship management (CRM). In the world of Toastmasters, CRM means to me Club Relationship Management. I look forward to working with you and your club because …
When You Succeed, We All Succeed!
Gary Cohen
Candidate for Club Growth Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
I am excited to be a candidate for Club Growth Director. When I joined Toastmasters in 2007, my only desire was to be less nervous speaking in front of groups. Since that time, not only did I achieve that goal, but I also became a confident leader, gained communication skills well beyond my expectations, and made lifelong friendships.
After several years in club leadership, I accepted my first Area Director role in 2014-15 in North Carolina’s District 37.
My learning experiences in that year helped me build a strong foundation for my current career in risk management.
I repeated the Area Director role in 2022-2023 upon moving to District 1. In between, I served two terms as Division Director, in 2016-2017 and 2020-2021, leading my division to President’s Distinguished status in 2016-2017. During my sixteen years in Toastmasters I have also served in all club officer roles, as Pathways Ambassador, District Contest Chair, and led several officer training workshops.
Given the opportunity to serve as Club Growth Director, I will direct my energy toward the creation of new clubs across the district and the support of existing clubs. In doing so, I will take responsibility for ensuring that members can easily access the resources they need to succeed and thrive. I look forward to building a club growth team comprised of so many of the wonderful leaders in District 1 that I am beginning to get to know.
I humbly ask for your vote and support on this journey!
Shawnte Howard
Candidate for Club Growth Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Greetings! It is my honor to be nominated as Club Growth Director! I joined Toastmasters in 2020 to find my voice, but what I received from the program was more fulfilling! I learned that I not only had a voice, but through my story, I can help others find theirs.
Serving this past year as Public Relations Manager taught me the importance marketing plays in establishing overall message and voice. We all have a story to share, and through branding and marketing, we can share authentically and attract like-minded individuals into our tribe!
In 2022-23 I lead the district to new heights by training hundreds of Toastmasters on CANVA and social media. I not only promoted and highlight the district in this post-pandemic era, but I also made it my personal mission to teach what I learned to others, so that they could lead their clubs with excellence.
As Club Growth Director, I will lead all aspects of growth and retention by re-evaluating District 1 and our clubs “why” to help find and/or reshape our voice. Building new clubs and strengthening unsteady ones starts with mission of why they were founded. We need to tap into that in order to effectively lead them to growth and excellence.
Some Achievements in/out Toastmasters: Public Relations Manager, Area Director, Two-time President, VP of Education, VP of Membership, VP of Public Relations, Certified in Board Leadership, Connective Leadership, and Advanced Leadership, Entrepreneur, and lover of cats ☺
Candidate for Division A Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Candidate for Division B Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Candidate for Division C Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Candidate for Division D Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Patrick Verebely
Candidate for Division E Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
I’m honored to be a nominated candidate for Division E Director. The theme I’ve chosen for my term as
Division E Director is Electric E; electric stands for excitement and energy everywhere. Should I be
elected, the goals for my term will include:
Helping and supporting our club members
– Lead and support my team and provide opportunities for them to grow, develop, and shine
– Support the district mission: “We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence”
by helping the district wherever and whenever possible
– Make it fun! (Sure, there’s work to be done, but let’s have fun along the way.)
Within Toastmasters, I have served in 5 of the 7 club leadership positions and had the honor of
sponsoring and leading a newly chartered club which achieved Select Distinguished status in three
months. The same club went on to achieve President’s Distinguished status the following Toastmasters year in only eight months.
I am grateful to be recognized for the following accomplishments:
– Area Director of the Year in the 2018-2019 Toastmasters year, contributing to my area being President’s Distinguished (the only area in the district to earn this distinction in 2018-2019)
– Recognized as Club Member of the Year by my home club, the Rough Writers
– Sparkplug Award recipient (2020-2021 and 2021-2022)
– District 100 Toastmaster of the Year (2021-2022)
I humbly ask for your vote.
How can I help you?
In service and with gratitude,
Patrick Verebely
Candidate for Division F Director
District 1 Toastmasters, 2023-2024
Applications for Floor Candidates can be submitted to dlcchair@district1toastmasters.org For details about the election process, visit https://district1toastmasters.org/leadership2023/.
Floor candidates must declare their intent to run no later than seven (7) days before the Annual Meeting of the District Council.
There are two categories of floor candidates:
Qualified Floor Candidate — This candidate meets the qualifications described in the District Administrative Bylaws.
Eligible Floor Candidate — This candidate was evaluated by the DLC for the specific role they are running and meets the qualifications described in the District Administrative Bylaws.
All floor candidates must be qualified or eligible and have a signed and submitted District Leader Agreement and Release statement.
Floor candidates must be nominated by a member of the District Council or self-nominated if they are currently a member of the District Council. If the floor candidate is absent and has appointed a representative to speak on their behalf, the representative must not be a member of the District Executive Committee, a member of the DLC, a Credentials Chair, or a meeting official, as identified by the District Director. Any candidate may be nominated for a maximum of two roles at the annual District Council meeting.
The only situations in which floor candidates can run for District elections are:
- If a candidate was evaluated by the DLC but not nominated for a particular role, the candidate may run from the floor for that specific role(s).
- If the DLC report is incomplete, qualified floor candidates may only run for a role(s) that has insufficient nominated candidates.
- If the DLC report is invalid, all floor candidates (qualified and eligible) may run for any elective role(s).