Gay-Lynne Jones is the Regional Director of the Baptist Cancer Network. The Baptist Cancer Network (BCN) is comprised of three campuses – the BCN Julie and Ben Rogers campus (Beaumont), BCN Altus Cancer Center (Beaumont) and the BCN Cancer Center of Southeast Texas (Port Arthur). Gay-Lynne has more than 30 years of experience in oncology services and an outstanding reputation among local and national cancer organizations. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she moved to Beaumont at the age of 20 to pursue a career in nursing and has since developed an exceptional career in healthcare. Her volunteerism and leadership efforts in Southeast Texas have been recognized as exemplary, and she has been the recipient of the following awards:

·         American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams National Quality of Life Award

·         Inaugural Inductee into the American Cancer Society High Plains Division Relay For Life Hall of Fame

·         American Cancer Society St. George National Award Medal

·         Julie Rogers Gift of Life Volunteer of the Year Award

·         American Cancer Society Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award

Gay-Lynne continues to volunteer for the American Cancer Society locally and regionally. She participates with Relay For Life, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and the Cattle Baron’s Ball events.

Gay-Lynne is excited about the services that the Baptist Cancer Network can provide locally to the Southeast Texas community, hoping to keep cancer care closest to patients’ family and friends. She is very passionate about the care provided being patient centric. She believes that having a cancer diagnosis is life-altering and that the patient's journey should be a positive experience.  Being the only local accredited facility by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer means that cancer care is taken to another level and the care is delivered is through a holistic approach that looks after the mind, body and spirit.

Dr. Ernest Hymel is a Radiation Oncologist with the Baptist Cancer Network at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas. He serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the Oncology Program as well as the President of the Medical Staff at Baptist Hospital.

Dr. Hymel completed his Radiation Oncology training at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2005 before moving to Beaumont with his wife, Amy. Despite his administrative duties, Dr. Hymel’s favorite place to be is in the clinic where he has the privilege of working with patients during a difficult time in their lives. His approach to patient care is simple… for every patient he asks himself, “what would I recommend to my wife, or my dad, or my best friend?” As part of his commitment to maintaining high quality care to the community, Dr. Hymel has led the Baptist Cancer Network to maintain accreditation with the Commission On Cancer (COC) and National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and has recently added accreditation of the Radiation Oncology Program with ASTRO Accreditation Program for Excellence (APEx).

When not in clinic, Dr. Hymel and his wife work in animal rescue, from dogs to cats and even donkeys!

Breakfast With the Boss is a Member’s Only event. If you are not a YPO member and would like to attend this event, please join YPO!

Earl White was born and raised in Beaumont alongside two brothers (one his twin), and three sisters. He enjoys baseball, as well as fishing and hunting, but his mother and father instilled in him a sense of personal responsibility, love, and disciplined him, and stressed the value of hard work and education.

A 1979 graduate of Beaumont ISD’s French High School, his first job was as a general laborer at Gateway Shopping Center.  A music scholarship took him to Houston’s Texas Southern University in 1979 but came back to attend Lamar University’s Fire Academy 10-week program, graduating in the fall of 1980 and beginning a career of public service.  Ultimately, due to job responsibilities as an Arson Investigator with the Fire Department, he also graduated from the Lamar University Police Academy in 1991 with the honor of Valedictorian.  

Earl served the citizens of this city for thirty-five years as a fire captain in the Fire Prevention Division before retiring from Beaumont Fire-Rescue. After retirement Earl campaigned and won the elected position as Jefferson County Precinct I Constable in 2016. He says community service is so important to him because he wants to make this a community everyone can be proud to live and work in.

After serving two and half years as Jefferson County Precinct I Constable Earl was chosen from more than eighty applicants to interview for the position and later out of thirteen candidates interviewed, Earl was appointed by the City Manager as the candidate recommended as the next Fire Chief to lead the Beaumont Fire/Rescue. Earl shares, “It’s a position of destiny, and a position of purpose.”   He states, “I enjoyed a wonderful career with the Beaumont Fire Department, and “I want every young man and woman to enjoy as great a career as I’ve had.” 

Earl credits his success with good mentorship and understanding that it’s important to practice your craft. His ability to communicate is the greatest strength he brings to position.  “The city made an investment in me, now I’m going to make an investment in the city,” “I want the entire community to understand, we’re going to build a department that the personnel of the department can be proud of therefore, make our city PROUD.”    Earl’s personal statement to young women and men who chose public service is, “You chose public service, public service did not choose you.”   Chief White’s desire is to be the best fire chief, building trust through service. Earl would like to be remembered as an honest man whose word is his bond.

Married for 33 years to Marilyn Pace-White, their son Randall E. White attended Beaumont ISD schools before going on to graduate from Prairie View A & M University.  He and his family are members of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, Port Arthur, Texas.

Civic Involvement, Charities, Boards- Current Executive Board Member Garth House-Past President and Vice President, Member NAACP, Current Board President of Beaumont Community Credit Union, Former Board Member Local American Red Cross, member of the Beaumont YMBL and !00 Black Men of Greater Beaumont.

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Join us for an interactive conversation on tips for accelerating your career as an aspiring young leader. Craig will share some of his favorite advice learned from others, that he gives to clients, and that he's experienced himself, along with some of the stories that explain why they’re useful.

Craig Escamilla helps others work on rather than in their businesses. With fifteen years of consulting, teaching, and senior management experience, Craig brings a wealth of practical experience to his consulting work.

As an advisor, Craig helps small and medium-sized businesses with strategic plan development and implementation, succession planning, team management tools and systems, team communication, resolving conflicts, and customer acquisition and retention. Craig’s clients throughout Texas are in the oil and gas, higher education, commercial and industrial construction, health care, community service, family enterprise, and nonprofit industries. Craig also coaches clients and presents on strategy, business communication, improving meetings, productivity, leadership, and ethics.

Prior to launching CAE Solutions, LLC, Craig practiced what he preaches at the Symphony of Southeast Texas and Lamar University. As Executive Director at the Symphony, Craig oversaw budget, ticket sales, and individual contributions increases, a Music Director search, and the elimination of all financial debt. Craig served Lamar University as a management instructor and Director of Accreditation and Assessment in the College of Business and as Executive Director of Retention and Student Success. In his eleven years in the College of Business, Craig taught over one thousand students in various management classes. As Director of Accreditation and Assessment, he helped develop new student assessment mechanisms and establish the College’s student success office, which saw retention increases over 20% in three years. As Executive Director of Retention and Student Success, he oversaw a nearly 5% increase in first-year retention to record levels in two years and served on the leadership team that oversaw two consecutive years of record enrollment, retention, and graduation rates, despite challenges from tropical weather systems and COVID-19.

Craig has published case studies and articles on strategic planning, leadership, ethical behavior, and nonprofit management, and has given speeches and presentations at national and international conferences and to local civic organizations.

Craig holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Business Administration degrees. He was selected as one of thirty participants in the League of American Orchestras’ Essentials of Orchestra Management Seminar in 2008 and was named one of Southeast Texas’s 40 Under 40 Young Professionals in 2014. During his undergraduate studies, he was selected as a McNair Scholar, conducting research in musical improvisation. Craig is actively involved in the Southeast Texas community, specifically with the Rotary Club of Beaumont and the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce.

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Join the #SETXYPO at Luke's Bar & Grill on Tuesday, August 9, 2022 for our "Networking After Hours" mixer!

Connect with young professionals and build relationships with members of our community. Guests are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Networking After Hours events are sponsored by our friends at the Rotary Club of Beaumont.

Please join us for our July Monthly Luncheon, sponsored by CommonCents Credit Union, at Saltgrass Steakhouse with featured speaker Lamar University President Dr. Jaime Taylor. RSVP now at http://www.bmtcoc.org/.../setx-ypo-monthly-luncheon-07-28...

Dr. Jaime R. Taylor is the 16thpresident of Lamar University, which serves more than 17,000 students in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Before his appointment in July 2021, Taylor served as Marshall University's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Signature achievements during his time at Marshall include strategic planning and programming to support dramatic increases in first-year retention and six-year graduation rates, the development of new academic programs including a fixed-wing aviation program and a doctorate of business administration, and the doubling of university-wide research expenditures, the latter leading to a new Carnegie classification for Marshall as an R2 research institution.

Prior to his work at Marshall, Taylor spent a significant portion of his career at Austin Peay State University, where he served two years as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, eight years as dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and eight years as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Taylor is an award-winning teacher of physics and was honored as an Austin Peay State University Outstanding Alumni.

Taylor has had significant success in growing student enrollment and improving student success metrics at two different institutions across all levels of administration. Under his leadership, Marshall University achieved record freshman retention rates and six-year graduation rates, with year-over-year increases of 6% and 5% respectively. Likewise, Taylor oversaw a 26% increase in the Austin Peay State University freshman class while serving as interim provost after just one year of implementing a new plan that intentionally put faculty and academics at the center of recruitment efforts. He also oversaw an increase in the freshman retention rate at Austin Peay State University of 6%, and an increased retention rate of 9% for Black freshman.

Taylor is a natural collaborator and recognizes when people love what they do, they develop fierce internal motivation and are creatively invested in the mission of the institution. By fostering a campus culture that relies on shared governance and values the expertise everyone brings to the table, Taylor invites every stakeholder to own both the problems and the successes of the university. His collaborative leadership style resulted in Austin Peay State University being named to the Honor Roll of the Chronicle of Higher Education's Great Colleges to Work For, with particular recognition for Confidence in Senior Leadership and Collaborative Governance both years he served as interim provost.

Taylor received his Ph.D. and M.S. in engineering from the University of Tennessee Space Institute, his B.S. in physics and mathematics from Austin Peay State University and an A.A.S. in industrial engineering technology from Nashville State Technical Institute. He also spent four years as a NASA Faculty Fellow working on applications of soft computing.

Join us for our July Breakfast with the Boss with featured speaker Tim Sudela, President of American Valve and Hydrant. RSVP now at http://www.bmtcoc.org/.../setx-ypo-breakfast-with-the...

Tim J. Sudela is President of American Valve and Hydrant. He served as Executive Vice-President from February 2007 until February 2008. He served as the Manager of Engineering from October, 1995 until February, 2007. He attended Lamar Institute of Technology and received an AAS Degree in Drafting Technology in 1980. He later attended Lamar University, earning a BS Degree in Industrial Technology in 1987, and a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1992. He joined American Valve in 1983 as a Designer Draftsman and served as Plant Engineer prior to being named Manager of Engineering.

He currently serves the following organizations:
*Rotary Club of Beaumont– Past President, Board member
*Golden Triangle Business Roundtable (GTBR) – Member
*Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation – Committee on Directors, Board Vice-President
*Southeast Texas Plant Managers Forum (SETPMF) – Member
*Symphony of Southeast Texas – Board member
*United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County – Past Chair, Board member

Mr. Sudela is married to the former Lisa Gerrietts from Port Arthur, Texas. They have one son, Michael, and one daughter, Casey. His hobbies include photography and home repair.