Washington — The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) presented the Chairman’s Award to Mireya Zapata, executive vice president of the Lumbermen’s Association of Texas (LAT), during its annual ProDealer Industry Summit.
“The people in our industry are inspiring and they motivate me in my daily work. I believe, small businesses, family-owned businesses are one of our country’s treasures. It is an honor to have a small role in supporting them and I am grateful to Jim and the team at NLBMDA for this recognition,” said Zapata. “I also want to thank the LAT membership for believing in the power and need of a unified industry voice advocating for the entire lumber and building materials supply chain in Washington DC.”
Zapata is one of NLBMDA’s Federated Association Executive partners and has served on several committees and task groups. She also helped facilitate and spearhead NLBMDA’s Federal Advocacy Campaign to secure partnerships with industry organizations to support the association’s government affairs program. The support of these organizations ensures that NLBMDA will continue to be the national voice of the entire lumber and building material industry in the federal legislative and regulatory arenas.
Zapata has deep communications and public affairs expertise ranging from media relations to speech writing to public policy development and advocacy. Zapata led legislative offices for a high-profile member of the Texas House of Representatives where she spent almost a decade of her professional career. During her time with a national health care non-profit, she developed relationships with business, civic and elected leaders in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas to improve the lives of Americans living with chronic illness. Over her career she has led teams to reach the organization’s desired outcome via fundraisers, press events, policy roundtables and grassroots coalitions.
At LAT, Zapata provides leadership and direction for the association where she is focused on further engaging LAT’s members and on recruiting others to join her in encouraging, protecting and growing the Texas LBM industry. As a seasoned government affairs professional, Zapata represented LAT during the most recent Texas legislative session in passing tort reform for trucking litigation and pandemic liability legislation. She is working to achieve greater impact by identifying emerging trends, engaging in critical policy issues, and advancing LAT’s mission through advocacy.
