Pub. 61 2020-2021 Issue 4

24 TADA Q&A with Charles Bacarisse C harles Bacarisse of Houston is Vice President of Major Gifts at Houston Baptist University. He is a former board member of the Department of Information Resources, where he served as chair. He served for 13 years as the elected District Clerk of Harris County. Previously, he served on the boards of the County and District Clerks Association of Texas, Neighborhood Centers Inc., the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Houston Chapter, and Downtown Houston Association. Bacarisse and his wife, Jana Fay, are both native Houstonians who are active in their church. Their two adult children are busy young professionals. Charles enjoys golf, reading history and biography, hunting and fishing, traveling on cruises and attending HBU athletic events. Charles received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University. You have been serving on the TxDMV board, but recently have been appointed as chair. What are your thoughts about this new venture? I’m honored that Governor Abbott asked me to serve the agency in this way. After being a board member for about two years, I have been amazed to learn the scope of services and responsibilities for which the agency is responsible. I’m also very thankful for our talented fellow board members who bring energy and passion to their work. I have learned from each of them and I’ve told them I’d be relying on them even more going forward. We have a great team, and the TxDMV professional staff is the best. I’m always impressed TADA recently had a chance to sit down with the newest members of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) board. The Governor appoints these nine members to the TxDMV Board with the advice of the state senate, which also designates one board member to serve as chair. Charles Bacarisse was appointed as chair, Sharla L. Omumu and Christian Alvarado are the newest board members. TADA enjoyed getting to know more about these amazing individuals, and we look forward to tenure on the board.