Chamber of Commerce elects Marion-Burton Board President,first Black, LGBT Pres.

[Oak Park, IL] On Tuesday, November 2, the Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce elected Darien Marion-Burton as President of its Board of Directors. Marion-Burton, who will take over for Dr. Mary Ann Bender starting January 2022, has been a member of the Chamber since 2018 and has sat on the Board of Directors since 2021. A lifelong Oak Parker, Marion-Burton is the President and Founder of D.M. Burton, an agency offering effective, efficient marketing strategies for small and medium-sized businesses in the Chicagoland area.

An active participant in Chamber of Commerce events, Marion-Burton co-captained the volunteers of Bite Night in 2020 and served on the Golf Outing Planning Committee. He also hosted the Inside the Chamber Podcast and used his marketing background to improve the Chamber’s social media presence. Most recently, Marion-Burton chaired the Business Spotlight Soiree, a celebration of local business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Describing himself as the “youngest, blackest, and gayest” President in Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce history, Marion-Burton seeks to create a more cool, connected, collaborative, and inclusive business community. “Oak Park has been extraordinarily welcoming and supportive of my business,” Marion-Burton said, “and I am excited at the opportunity to give back. I acknowledge the incredible work that Dr. Mary Ann Bender has done in leading this organization for the past two years. I look forward to building on this momentum.” Some of Burton’s initial goals are to create a black, indigenous, people of color (bipoc) business owners affinity group within the Chamber as well as to establish an employee sharing program for local businesses to address labor shortages.

“I think Darien Marion-Burton is exactly what the chamber needs at the exact time when it needs it,” says Liz Holt, Executive Director of the Chamber. “He has an incredible ability to build connection and affinity amongst our members.” Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce has over 440 members and aims to provide a space for local professionals and entrepreneurs to network and support each other. To find out more about the Chamber or to join, call (708) 613-0550, email info@oprfchamber.org, or visit oprfchamber.org.