Former Independence mayor named interim executive director for LGBT Chamber

An interim leader was announced Thursday as the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce forms a search committee tasked with identifying the next full-time executive director for the Kansas City-based business advocacy group.

Eileen Weir, who served as mayor of Independence, Missouri, from 2014 to 2022, takes on the interim role July 11 after the announcement in June of Suzanne Wheeler’s planned departure.

Suzanne Wheeler, Mid-America LGBT Chamber

The LGBT Chamber’s first full-time executive director, Wheeler resigned from her role — where she’d served since 2019 — effective July 14 to pursue another professional opportunity, she said in a previous statement.

“Serving this organization and working alongside dedicated and talented people in this Chamber has been a privilege, honor, and joy,” Wheeler said. “I will look back on my time here with pride in my dedication to our mission and our tireless work to navigate the perils of a pandemic and achieve remarkable milestones.  But most of all, I will cherish the many close relationships I developed during my tenure here and the opportunity to play a small part in the growth of several businesses.”

Click here to read Wheeler’s response to a recent wave of anti-trans legislation sweeping the Midwest and nation.

The Chamber lauded Wheeler’s “significant impact, leading the organization through the pandemic,” noting she “actively worked to sustain the Chamber’s programing and service to its members.”

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Eileen Weir, interim executive director, Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Weir comes to the LGBT Chamber after a lengthy career in local government, becoming in 2014 Independence’s second female mayor.

Under Weir’s leadership, Independence revised its personnel policies to extend health benefits to domestic partners and became the second city in Jackson County, Missouri to prohibit conversion therapy.  She is a former member of Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination.

Weir began her career in public relations with the Kansas City Chiefs. She is the founder and owner of Impress KC, specializing in economic and community development, community engagement chair for the Parade of Hearts, and currently serves on the boards of directors for the Truman Library Institute, University Health and HCA Centerpoint Medical Center.

Click here to connect with Eileen Weir on LinkedIn.

Weir is a native of Binghamton, New York, and a graduate of LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. She and her husband, Tom, are parents to grown twins, John and Nora.

Plans for the LGBT Chamber’s search committee and the hiring process are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.