Megan Dennen is the new CEO of the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce. Photo submitted by Dennen.
The Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce now has something it didn’t have before — a CEO.
East Dallas native and Bishop Lynch High School alumna Megan Dennen was hired for the role earlier this month.
Dennen is new to the CEO role, but she’s not new to the Greater East Dallas Chamber. Dennen joined the Chamber just before the pandemic.
“I really loved working with other businesses, and that’s when I joined the Chamber,” she said. “It has always been really important to me to give back to the community and to stay really involved because if you’re going to be doing business in East Dallas, it’s a really small community, and we all uplift each other. So the Chamber definitely gave me that outlet to not only help my personal business, but also to uplift other businesses.”
Dennen has served on the Chamber’s board and helped grow membership as well as strengthen community connection, Chamber Vice Chair l Rheanna Avila said at the August luncheon, which also included a forecast on the economy by Pia Orrenius, research department vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Pia Orrenius, research department vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, gave a forecast on the economy at the August luncheon of the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
“As our first CEO, Megan’s charge is to grow our membership, deliver programming with measurable value, raise visibility of the East Dallas businesses, expand partnerships and strengthen advocacy for our community,” Avila said during the meeting. “This is a tremendous step forward for us, and we are super excited to have her at the helm of the Greater East Dallas Chamber.”
As Dennen is coming in, longtime Chamber executive staff member Deborah Brown is stepping down from her role. As she was being honored by Avila at the luncheon, Brown received a standing ovation from luncheon attendees. Brown, who grew up in Casa View and is a Bryan Adams High School alumna, has served the chamber for over 14 years and worked with eight different chairpersons, multiple board members and countless Chamber members, Avila said.
“Deborah has been a steady presence in the Chamber office and a familiar face in our community,” Avila said.
Brown described her time with the Chamber as “rewarding.” She has seen the Chamber grow to offer more events to suit the members’ needs, and she spoke highly of the Chamber as a good networking source.
But the time is right for Brown to retire, she said, especially as Dennen takes the reins.
“I’m looking forward to Megan taking over because she’s so vibrant and has so many ideas,” Brown said.
Brown is also known as a collector of vintage airline uniforms, and she’ll be focused on finding a way to promote that moving forward. As for the Chamber, she hopes to see the membership double in the future and sees no reason why that’s not possible.
“I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Dennen said. “She’s done a fabulous job.”
