Every year the outgoing GHBA president selects members who have supported them throughout the year. These individuals have shown a tremendous amount of loyalty and a commitment to the association through their interaction with other members, and their willingness to share their industry experiences. 2023 was an exciting year of growth and recovery for our industry, as well as one with many challenges related to land, supplies and labor. These members stepped up to the challenge.
Kristal Casey, Unicorn Service Solutions
Kristal Casey stepped it up this year, not only as a sponsor for many events but also in the realm of political affairs. She served as the Government Affairs Committee co-chair, and did an outstanding job navigating election season. She not only spoke before the Planning Commission twice, but also Houston City Council – where she worked to get a compromise on Livable Places proposals that impacted homebuilders and developers. She knows all of our city council members and was helpful in reaching out to them, even enlisting the help of individuals outside our industry to make their voices heard. In addition, she was ever present as a HOME-PAC member and in attending state and national meetings.
Kathy Howard, Burgess Construction Consultants
Kathy Howard, is a regular at GHBA events and a sponsor of many. She is not only involved with GHBA but also at the Texas Association of Builders (TAB) and the National Association of Builders (NAHB) as a delegate. Kathy participates with the Volume Builders Committee, Associate Council and Codes & Standards Committee. In 2023, she was GHBA’s representative for changes to the City of Houston Energy Code. Many, many meetings later, she was able to fight off major amendments to the code and helped save builders thousands of dollars.
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Spencer Huck, CitiQuest Properties
Spencer Huck might be a newer GHBA member, but he made a big impact on the work on the City of Houston’s Livable Places proposal. He met with most of the 16 Houston City Council members to personally persuade changes to the ordinance. He spoke at both Planning Department and city council meetings and brought out a large number of real estate agents to speak out on this issue. GHBA applauds his devotion of time, effort and passion.
Sonora Storm, Lincoln Jacob Construction
The next winner is someone who most everyone knows at GHBA. And if you don’t, you will soon. As chair of the Membership Committee, Sonora was able to increase GHBA’s membership in a year we all expected it to drop. The midyear membership drive was a stellar successful with 52 members participating in the tropical themed event. Winner of many Spike of the Month awards and always a little out there, Sonora is totally devoted to GHBA and we are fortunate to have her as a member.
Allen Griffin, 512 Builders
Allen Grifin has been a GHBA member for many years. He is a past president of both the Remodelers Council and the Custom Builders Council. He didn’t just serve and drift away, he has stayed involved at many levels of GHBA and TAB over the past several years. His commitment to serving our community led to an incredible volunteer project for the Custom Builders Council at the Hangar Unity Center in Brookshire, where he and other volunteers worked alongside students in the program to build an extended space for their projects. He also served on the Bylaws Committee this year, to help improve and sustain the Custom Builders Council in years ahead.
Brandi Coatsworth, Howard Hughes Holdings
The next citation recipient, Brandi Coatsworth, traveled to Washington, D.C. with the GHBA government affairs team to lobby for transformers. She serves on the HomeAid Houston board, is active in the Developers Council and the Professional Women in Building Council. This year, Brandi was selected as just one of four “Ladies Who Lead” to share her professional wisdom and personal experiences with the PWB’s annual luncheon attendees. She serves on the GHBA board and in her spare time, she cosplays as Wonder Woman for the sake of sick kids. Thank you, Brandi Coatsworth of the Howard Hughes Corporation for sharing your wonders with us and earning a presidential citation.
Katie Pritchard, Sandcastle Homes
Behind every successful person is someone watching his back. The final winner, Katie Pritchard, definitely had Mike Dishberger’s back, and she has been involved in many aspects of GHBA this year. She worked hard to have fun with Professional Women in Building’s event committee, HomeAid’s project committee and is one of the youngest members of HOME-PAC. It was her idea to set up a phone bank for our new Mayor Whitmire’s campaign. She also helped ensure the success of GHBA’s 2023 Installation Celebration in garnering many sponsors, who helped make the event one to remember.
Congratulations to all of the 2023 Presidential Citation honorees! GHBA applauds your dedication to the association and the industry.