Professional Background: Ron Swofford retired from Shell Oil Company in 1995 after a 42 year career. In his last position, he was Sr. Vice President of Saudi Petrochemical Company.  In this position he and his family spent over ten years living in Saudi Arabia where he was responsible for the design, construction and subsequent operation of a major petrochemical complex. He holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MS in Engineering Administration from Washington University. He has lived in Houston since 1967. In addition to volunteering at ESCH, he serves as a Councilmember of the City of Nassau Bay.

ESCH Experience:  Ron joined ESCH in 1998 and since then has helped more than thirty nonprofits through board development training, strategic planning and other management consultation services. He is the past Chair of ESCH's Board of Trustees and past Treasurer of the Executive Service Corps Affiliated Network (ESCAN), the umbrella organization for all of the executive service corps in the country.  Ron is a current member of ESCH's Development Committee and continues to work directly with nonprofit clients. Some of his recent clients and projects include: The Galveston Bay Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the natural resources of Galveston Bay requested professional assistance in the areas of reviewing business operations practices and the development of a multi-faceted strategic plan. Ron helped them through the transition to a new chief executive and the development of their strategic plan.

Bay Area Turning Point, Inc. empowers survivors of family violence, sexual assault, and displacement by providing crisis intervention and emergency shelter, and promoting education and awareness within our community - the Greater Bay Area.  In response to their request, Ron led a team that performed a comprehensive organizational assessment and governance training for their Board of Directors.

The Kemah Historical Society is an organization that was founded to research and preserve the history and artifacts of Kemah and the surrounding Bay Area. ESCH assisted the organization in obtaining their 501c3 status and Ron mentored the initial Chairman through the formation and initial meetings of the Board of Directors.

According to Ron, I have enjoyed my association with ESCH as it has given me the opportunity to interface with hundreds of interesting people that I would never have met otherwise. It permits me to utilize the skills that were developed during my working career but more importantly it has allowed me to continue to expand my horizons as I worked with this myriad of people with skills that were completely new to me.