Announcement: ABS Welcomes New Executive Director
July 15, 2024 by ABS Board of Directors
American Bonanza Society Announces Beth Barberree as the next ABS Executive Director and Lauren Bayless as Senior Director of Operations
WICHITA, KANSAS - The Board of Directors of the American Bonanza Society today announced the selection of Elizabeth “Beth” Barberree as the next ABS Executive Director. Beth succeeds Whit Hickman, who resigned his position in April.
Ms. Barberree is a 25-year association management executive and a resident of Wichita. During her career, she was Interim Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer of the Learning Disabilities Association of Saskatchewan, the National Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer of the Canadian Centre for Men and Families, and the Founding Chair and Executive Director of the Alberta Support Council for Massage Therapy. During this time, she also ran her own small business that served corporate clients in Calgary, Alberta for almost 20 years.
In these roles, Beth handled day-to-day operations, member engagement, finances, fundraising and events planning for these organizations. She was also responsible for strategic planning, technical support, authoring technical articles and overseeing the publication of association periodicals. She was successful at planning and overseeing new technology integration, the enhancement of member engagement, developing staff and generating fundraising to support the mission. She recalls fondly flying with her father in small airplanes as a girl. Beth and her husband relocated to Wichita in 2023 as a result of her husband’s job transfer.
Concurrent with Beth’s appointment, the ABS Board also announced the promotion of Lauren Bayless to Senior Director of Operations. Lauren recently celebrated her 10th anniversary with ABS and during that time has enhanced member engagement through technology and superb events planning. Lauren has worked tirelessly to ensure we retain the robust membership numbers we need to succeed. She also is instrumental in our ability to manage and implement the technology platform and the ever-increasing number of events and programs for our members. The relationship she has developed with our membership is second to none and has helped the ABS retain its position as the premiere aircraft type club in the world.
“We are fortunate to bring Beth’s level of management talent and expertise to our organization. Lauren is an ABS treasure and has unparalleled credibility with our membership,” said ABS President C.K. Lee. “We believe these two will be a dream team to propel ABS into the next great era of support for our members and for Bonanzas, Barons, Debonairs and Travel Airs.”
"I look forward to working with Beth on what she needs to know about general aviation, ABS and the Beechcraft community," said Tom Turner, ABS Air Foundation Executive Director. "Beth's experience with management, publications and fundraising, added to the phenomenal abilities Lauren brings to her new, expanded role, will make ASF even more effective in its mission 'to protect lives and preserve the Beechcraft fleet.'"
“I’m thrilled to be bringing my association management expertise to the ABS team”, said Beth, ABS Executive Director. “It’s a great honor to be working with an organization steeped in such rich history and ever-growing subject matter expertise. I can’t wait to have Tom take me for a hop in the Bonanza and I look forward to learning from the superstar staff at ABS, Board members, and members alike.”
“I’m excited about continuing to work closely with our members and exploring new opportunities to serve in my new role as the Senior Director of Operations at ABS”, said Lauren Bayless. “I look forward to learning from and leveraging Beth’s extensive experience to support the mission of both the American Bonanza Society and the ABS Air Safety Foundation.”
Ms. Barberree and Ms. Bayless will assume their respective new duties on Monday, July 15, 2024. Beth plans to be at Oshkosh, including at the ABS Member Dinner on July 23, 2024. The entire Board of Directors appreciates the engagement of our membership throughout this search process, and we look forward to seeing everyone next week in Wisconsin.