Four seats on the DCI board of directors belong to people not associated with a specific corps. These individuals are at-large directors, and, like corps directors, they each get a vote on all DCI matters, as do all Division I corps representatives.

Tom French
Tom French, of Walnut Creek, Calif., has been an electronics professional for more than 35 years. Since 2000, Tom has joined the Hub Golden Gate Group, LLC, which is the third-largest operating company of the Hub Group, Inc., a $1.3 billion corporation. He is vice president of the Logistics West divsion, specializing in customized contract logistics service provider solutions. "My first board of directors meeting was very enlightening, and now I have a better understanding of the breadth of the organization. Coming from the business world, it's a challenge to keep in mind that those on the board are volunteers and are doing this for the love of the organization," French said. "Knowing that each director, who is not a director at large, has a vested interest in his corps, I was impressed by how they keep checking themselves to make sure they were not biased with their discussion around the various subjects. "I was very impressed to learn more about the history and the number of years many of the corps' have been competing. "Having worked with (Santa Clara Vanguard director) Rick Venezuela, I had the privilege of seeing what he was doing with the Vanguard and the amount of dedication he had invested in their success. When Rick asked me if I would consider being on the board of directors, I asked him why he would ask me to consider. After listening to his explanation of what I could contribute based on my background, I decided this fit within my own personal mission statement and said yes. "My goal is to give away the skills I have used to scale and grow the businesses I have lead. The members of the executive board set up a conference call to interview me, and after that call I felt they would never vote me to the position. "When Rick called and shared that they had decided on me, I was totally overjoyed. I am looking forward to becoming more involved not only on the board but also to view "the experience" that the entire players in a corps get by participating," French said. Other at-large members of the DCI board of directors include Mike Kehoss, Brian Setzer and new member Chuck McCurdy. We'll be profiling these members in the next few weeks.