Board installs new vice president, bids farewell to longtime trustee

April 2022

Amber Denton of Houston is the new vice president of the NBIA Disorders Association.

The NBIA Disorders Association Board of Trustees has elected Amber Denton of Houston to be its new vice president. She is a prolific fundraiser for the organization, chair of the board’s Development Committee and the mother of a daughter with BPAN.

Denton, an instructional specialist in an elementary school, joined the board in fall 2019. She has been raising awareness about NBIA and hosting community fundraising events to support the organization even before becoming a trustee. She helps plan and leads efforts for the organization’s major fundraising events, including Rare Disease Day, the Million Dollar Bike Ride and GivingTuesday.

When her daughter, Sydney, was diagnosed with BPAN, she wrote a book, Sydney’s Song, that described how her daughter communicates with song instead of words.

Matthew Ritzman, board of trustees chair, says that Denton is “considerate, dedicated, organized, respectful and thoughtful. … At every turn she has devoted increasing efforts to our cause. There is nobody in or out of the organization that is better fit for the position of VP than Amber.”

Mary Ann Roser of Austin, former vice president.

Denton succeeds Mary Ann Roser as vice president. Roser joined the board in 1998 and has helped with the newsletter and other writing and editing for the organization.

She stepped down from the board Dec. 31, 2021, but continues to volunteer and edit the newsletter.

Ritzman expressed gratitude for Roser’s work over the years. “I always appreciated [her] commitment to the NBIA Disorders Association” and how she “helped establish the very foundation of this organization and kept us focused,” he said. “I will miss her wit, tenacity, transparency and boldness in our planning and board meetings.”