After more than 25 years of dedicated service to DBIA, Alice Wright, Associate Manager of Accounting & Administration, is preparing for a well-earned retirement.
Alice’s tenure with DBIA goes back to August 2000 when she was brought on as DBIA’s receptionist/office coordinator.
“DBIA grew and evolved, and Alice grew with us. She has been part of an extraordinary chapter in DBIA’s history, witnessing tremendous growth and change including new programs, new technology, new colleagues and thousands of new members,” DBIA Executive Director/CEO Lisa Washington, CAE, said. “Along the way, her responsibilities changed many times, but her commitment to DBIA did not. Alice became one of those invaluable people every organization hopes to have: someone willing to pitch in wherever she was needed to solve a problem and quietly make sure the work got done.”
Alice’s role would evolve far beyond her initial job description of answering phones, processing mail and incoming checks, managing database information and assisting with general office duties. Alice ends her long and impactful 26-year career at DBIA as an integral part of the Accounting and Administration department.
“Twenty-six years with one organization is an extraordinary accomplishment, but what makes Alice’s tenure so special is not simply its length. It is the loyalty, dependability, adaptability and care she brought to those years,” Washington said.
The jack of all trades mentality Alice possessed could be seen from nearly the very beginning of her tenure, said 2003-2004 DBIA President Craig Unger, FDBIA.
“I worked beside Alice day-to-day in 2003 when I came on board,” Unger said. “I learned that I could count on Alice for practically anything and everything, from welcoming visitors to financial support and planning activities. I still recall Alice’s devotion to her family and commitment to our DBIA family.”
Not only a constant and steadying staff presence, Alice has always exhibited infectious warmth and genuine care for her coworkers and all those around her.
“Alice is an amazing mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, but she has also treated the DBIA staff as an extension of her own family,” said Valexia Hall, DBIA’s Vice President of Industry Events. “She has cared for us, encouraged us and supported us throughout the years, and I have been incredibly fortunate to be one of those people.”
According to Michelle Johnson, DBIA’s Registrar for Conferences and Education, this family treatment went beyond the office as she and Alice established close bonds beyond their time as coworkers.
The love, kindness and support Alice brought to DBIA are some of the things Johnson remembers best.
“I am so grateful for all the memories, conversations, laughter and hugs we’ve shared over the years,” Johnson said. “Thank you, Alice, for your dedication to DBIA, but even more so, thank you for the love, kindness and support you have shown me and so many others.”
Johnson is not the only member within the DBIA orbit to have a relationship with Alice that went beyond the professional and into the personal.
“When you started in 2000, my wife and I had just welcomed our second child 22 days earlier. How wonderful that Maddie, now a 26-year-old professional, has also had the great fortune to work with you these past few years,” Sales/Marketing Consultant for DBIA Patrick Wilson said. “You have been a constant source of stability, perspective, humor and care as well as a wise aunt, a dear friend and a model of how to conduct yourself professionally and personally. You are a great teammate who cares about people, outcomes and doing things the right way.”
Alice’s retirement will be effective as of Sept. 30, 2026, and all of us at DBIA wish her the utmost luck as she begins this new chapter!
