Executive Vice President and COO
Greater Houston Partnership

Tracye McDaniel currently serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Greater Houston Partnership, a post that she assumed in June 2006. In this capacity, McDaniel has oversight of the daily operations at GHP, which was formed in 1989 from a merger of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Houston Economic Development Council and Houston World Trade Association. GHP is the fifth largest business alliance in the nation, representing 10 counties and nearly 2,100 businesses in the greater Houston area.

If the Greater Houston Partnership were a Fortune 500 company, the $1.92 trillion in combined annual sales and other receipts of the firms represented on GHP's board of directors would exceed the gross domestic products of all but the top seven nations in the world. This figure is also equivalent to approximately one-eighth of U.S. GDP. Firms and organizations represented on GHP's board directly account for one in every nine of the Houston metropolitan area's more than 2.5 million jobs.

In addition to McDaniel's overall operational duties for GHP, she is charged with overseeing activities for the organization's $40 million capital fundraising campaign, Opportunity Houston^sm. Opportunity Houston^sm is an aggressive five-year marketing program that will generate leads for economic development organizations throughout the 10-county region. It is the direct result of GHP's visionary, 10-year strategic plan, which aims to create 600,000 new jobs; attract $60 billion in new capital investment; and increase foreign investment by $125 billion in the Houston region.

Previously, McDaniel served as executive director for the Office of the Governor Economic Development and Tourism Division (EDT), spearheading economic development and tourism operations for the State of Texas. During McDaniel's leadership, Texas saw the creation of 16,506 net new jobs and a capital investment of more than $4.3 billion. She also served as chief executive officer for the Texas Economic Development Corporation TexasOne? Program, a public/private partnership marketing initiative to generate job leads by actively promoting Texas as a business location.

McDaniel has more than 23 years of executive and senior management experience in tourism and business development, convention sales, national and international trade development, destination marketing, advertising and public relations. During her tenure with the State of Texas, she was a part of three gubernatorial administrations: Gov. Ann Richards, Gov. George W. Bush and Gov. Rick Perry. Under her leadership as Tourism Director of Texas, the state became the second most-visited destination in America. She garnered such honors as one of the "Most Influential African-Americans in the Meetings/Tourism Industry" and one of the "Most Powerful Women in Travel," both from Black Meetings & Tourism magazine.

McDaniel holds leadership positions in numerous professional and industry organizations. She was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve on the Advisory Board of Economic Development Stakeholders in April 2008; as Vice-Chair for Texas Economic Development Corporation (Austin, Texas); and as a second vice-chair for Texas Southern University's Board of Regents (Houston, Texas) in October 2007. She also serves as chair emeritus of the board for the Capital City African-American Chamber of Commerce (Austin, Texas); honorary chairwoman of the capital fundraising campaign for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (Houston, Texas); board member of the Houston Greeters; board member of Center for Houston's Future; and board member of the United Way of Greater Houston. As the founding president of the Texas Association of African American Chambers of Commerce (TAAACC), McDaniel helped create more than 20 chambers of commerce nationally and throughout Texas.

A native of Waco, Texas, Ms. McDaniel is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin.