Birmingham Airport Authority
Birmingham Airport Authority is led by a seven-member Board of Directors. The Board of Directors brings extensive knowledge and business expertise in many areas and is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of the Birmingham Airport Authority and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Board members are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham and are approved by the Birmingham City Council. Members of the Authority Board of Directors serve in a volunteer capacity and are supported by an executive staff.
BAA Board of Directors
Ashby Pate
BAA Board Chair
Lightfoot Franklin & White LLC
Ashby Pate is a trial lawyer.
A former justice on the Supreme Court of the island nation of Palau, Ashby presided over hundreds of cases as a trial and appellate judge there helping to create that country's first-ever jury trial system. He also served as a judicial clerk for U.S. District Court Judge U.W. Clemon, one of Alabama's civil rights pioneers. He was the editor-in chief of the Law Review for Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, and he later earned an LL.M. from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, where he graduated first in his class and was awarded the Sir Roy Goode Prize in international law.
As one of only 50 distinguished lawyers and judges in Alabama Pate currently serves on the American Law Institute. Ashby draws on all of this unique experience in his general commercial defense practice, focused on international disputes, appellate work, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and product liability.
Darlene Wilson Gallien
BAA Board Vice Chair
Relay Accounting Management
Darlene Wilson Gallien is a distinct representative of how Birmingham businesses operate given effective and efficient leadership of their organization. As a third-generation entrepreneur, she can articulate how to operate a successful business and as she states, “knowing the business behind your business is critical to success of the business.” She works diligently in her accounting firm to ensure her talent is successful and her clients are serviced with care. Serving more than twenty years in the accounting industry and 12 of those years as an entrepreneur in our city qualifies her as a leading entrepreneur in Metro Birmingham.
Darlene received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Montevallo. She completed Emerging Leaders through the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2017 after working seven months with some of the leading entrepreneurs in Alabama. Continuing education is not only required in her profession, but is necessary to stay ahead of industry changes.
Tommy Spina
BAA Board Secretary
Criminal Defense Lawyer
Tommy Spina is a criminal defense lawyer in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. His practice is limited to criminal defense on a Federal, State and Municipal Court level. His practice focuses on representation of criminal defendants at all stages of criminal proceedings including pre-indictment, trial, appeal and post-conviction.
He has taught Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at the Birmingham School of Law (2000, 2001, 2008, 2012) and has served as Special Circuit Court Judge by appointment of the State of Alabama Supreme Court on a number of occasions in Jefferson County. He was on the Committee that studied and implemented the current Drug Court Program presently in operation in Jefferson County District Court and presided over by Judge Shanta Owens (1984).
In addition to Alabama, he has represented clients in Federal and State cases in Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Colorado and Hawaii. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eleventh and Fifth Circuits.
David Germany
BAA Board Treasurer
Protective Life Corporation
David K. Germany is Vice President and Assistant Treasurer of Protective Life. Since 2007, he has negotiated and structured commercial banking deals in excess of $2 Billion throughout the state.
An active participant in various economic, civic, and community affairs organizations, Germany currently serves as a member of the Birmingham Business Alliance Board of Directors, AG Gaston Girls and Boys Club Capital Campaign Committee, and The University of Alabama Community Affairs Board of Advisors.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Germany received a Bachelor of Science degree in Investment Finance from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and a MBA from Emory University's Goizueta School of Business.
Jennifer Egbe
Huie, Femambucq & Stewart, LLP
Jennifer is no stranger to breaking down barriers. She was one of the first attorneys in her family and the first African American woman at Huie to make partner.
Jennifer joined the firm in 2007, initially specializing in the areas of automotive product liability, personal injury, medical malpractice, employment litigation defense and general insurance defense.
Jennifer’s practice has since expanded to include environmental litigation, consumer litigation, civil rights litigation, municipal litigation, heavy equipment product liability, business litigation and medical device litigation defense. She has also represented auto manufacturers across the country and hospitals throughout the state.
A North Carolina native, Jennifer earned her BA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her JD from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.
Valerie Collins Thomas
CEO, The VAL Group
Valerie moved to Birmingham in 2010 with her husband Steven, who accepted the Director position for the UAB Hospital Burn Service. Reluctant to leave San Antonio, but always optimistic – she invested in getting to know the city, and eventually, fell in love with all that it offered.
She concluded that The Magic City is one of the nation’s best kept secrets and decided to help change that in April, 2014 by forming The VAL Group, Inc. a recruiting support service to UAB Hospital, Children’s of Alabama and others who need to showcase Birmingham to visitors or future residents. Valerie has become one of Birmingham’s Greatest Ambassadors!!
At IBM for over thirteen years, Valerie later pursued nonprofit management and development as Corporate Relations Director for United Way in NC, Executive Director of Pitt County’s Domestic Violence Center, Director of Development at the Allentown Art Museum in PA, Manager of Major Gifts at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network and Director of Development for the National Trauma Institute in TX.
An active community supporter, Valerie, serves as the Chair of the board for Pepper Place Farmers Market, President of UAB Arts Advisory Board, which includes the Alys Stephen Center and Treasurer of the UAB Women’s Club. She also serves on the board of directors for Birmingham Airport Authority, Create Birmingham, Railroad Park and the Executive Council for the historic, First Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham.
Valerie and Steven have two children. Morgan resides in Birmingham, Meghan a doctor of Public Health relocated in 2022 from Boston to serve as the Director of Community Development for the City of Birmingham and they have a 125 lb, Dogue de Bordeaux, Matlock.
Del Davis
Founder/CEO, Smart Growth Management, LLC
Del Davis is founder and CEO of Smart Growth Management providing C- Level Consulting services with a successful record of accomplishment as a Strategist, Marketing, and Business Development professional. Known by his clients and peers for building partnerships, convening key stakeholders, increasing revenue, achieving clients' organizational goals by crafting clear strategies and innovative narratives which fulfill the mission and core values internally and externally.
Mr. Davis has leveraged his experience and professional background in Government, Marketing and Construction to provide Smart Growth's clients with Strategic Advisory, Program Management and related Professional Services to produced successful outcomes. Over the last 25 years of his career, he has worked at the intersection of Infrastructure, Community and Economic Development, Capital Improvement Programs and Urban Reinvestment. Developing successful Public Private Partnerships with $2 billion dollars in deals that span construction programs in Aviation, Utility Infrastructure, Energy Savings, Public Finance and Real Estate Development projects across the US primarily in the Southeast.
Mr Davis continues to work across the country to bring Public and Private sector leaders together to develop programs related to Urban Redevelopment, sustainability, equitable economic development, public safety, and career pathways that lift the entire community.
Mr Davis did his undergraduate studies at Alabama A&M University where he was a football Letterman, is an Alum of the Environmental Leadership Program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and is a licensed Realtor in the State of Alabama.
Mayor Randall Woodfin
Mayor of Birmingham
Mayor Randall L. Woodfin’s philosophy of “putting people first” has guided his leadership. Revitalization of the city’s 99 neighborhoods is his top priority. He is focused on enhancing education for young people, fostering a climate of economic opportunity for all residents and leveraging public-private partnerships to make the city the best version of Birmingham it can be.
His vision to create new education and career opportunities for students led to the Birmingham Promise, a public-private partnership that provides apprenticeships and tuition assistance for Birmingham high school graduates. Mayor Woodfin led a regional effort to invest in the renovation and expansion of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex making the city an emerging destination for sports and entertainment.
He entered his second term as Birmingham’s 30th mayor on November 23, 2021. A graduate of Morehouse College and Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, he previously served as president of the Birmingham Board of Education.
