New Leadership Tyler Director

TYLER — Leadership Tyler, a non-profit organization established in 1986 to equip leaders to enrich the Tyler community, has selected Colleen Colby as its new executive director. “I feel privileged to be selected for this opportunity to work with people who are so committed to leadership,” said Colby. “I am delighted to be part of this historic organization as we approach Leadership Tyler’s 25th anniversary. My plans are to work with the team to continue to offer insightful programs for leaders in the community.”

Colby said her fondness for Leadership Tyler began when she applied to the program while residing in Maryland. “The first people I met when I moved to Texas were people in my Leadership Tyler class,” says Colby. Joan Andrews, current president of the Leadership Tyler board of directors, said, “We are very excited to have someone with Colleen’s skills and leadership experience to lead our organization.”

Colby has an extensive background in development, training, education and communications with several companies, including her present position with the professional services firm PBS&J. She was a journalist and a second class petty officer in the United States Navy and served on board the USS Puget Sound off the coast of Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. She has an executive MBA from the University of Delaware and a B.A. in mass communications and political science from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, and she attended an international business school in the Netherlands.

Colby has an extensive history of community service including Wilmington, Delaware, Habitat for Humanity; Junior Achievement; Wilmington Food Bank; Delaware Children’s Museum; and in East Texas, CASA, Discovery Science Place Museum, South Tyler Rotary, Tyler Executive Women’s Network, Girl Scouts & Boy Scouts of America, and Leadership Tyler class 21. She replaces Cindy Klein, who has served Leadership Tyler since 2004 and recently accepted a new position with Mentoring Minds.