Fischer Named Toastmaster of the Year

Laurel Fischer of Alamogordo, New Mexico, received the Toastmaster of the Year award from District 23 Toastmasters during the 2019 Annual Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on May 18, 2019.

Laurel Fischer receives the Toastmaster of
the Year award from District Director
Jennifer Zappone.

Fischer, a member of the Desert Basin club, previously served District 23 as an Area Director, marketing chair for the final fall district conference, and the Chair of the District Leadership Committee. She worked to build membership in Alamogordo and Las Cruces and led trainings across southern New Mexico and El Paso.

"I was both honored and very surprised to receive the District 23 Toastmaster of the Year award," said Fischer. "It means a great deal to me because I feel this award is not only about serving District 23, but about working with and helping individual Toastmasters within the district."

When not working with her fellow Toastmasters, Fischer is a business strategist with STL Interactive Innovations.

Lobato Elected

Carlos Lobato was elected to a district-level office on May 18, 2019, during the District 23 Toastmasters 2019 conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Carlos Lobato

The members of District 23 Toastmasters elected Lobato, a CPA and the Chief Privacy and IT Compliance Officer for New Mexico State University, to the role of Club Growth Director for the 2019-2020 Toastmasters year. Lobato has previously served as an Area Director, Division Director, and twice as the Finance Manager for the district. He and other local community leaders recently started a new club in his home town of Deming, New Mexico.

As the Club Growth Director, he will oversee the development of new clubs in the district as well as helping all clubs with growing their membership.

"My top priority as the Club Growth Director for next fiscal year will be to highly market the value of the Toastmasters methodology to those that don’t yet know anything about Toastmasters," said Lobato. "We'll establish teams with representation from across the District to make this happen and we will think outside the box, so we can be successful in increasing membership and therefore create new clubs. We will utilize classic ways of promoting and advertise Toastmasters, but some emphasize will also be placed on non-traditional channels. Last, I am extremely honored for the responsibility placed on me by my Fellow Toastmasters from District 23. Go, Toastmasters!"