The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr.
The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce from August 15, 2016 to June 30, 2020.
In 2017, Vincent Orange was appointed to the Metro Cities Council of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
In 2018, he was appointed to the United States Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 Chief Executive Officers.
In 2019, Vincent Orange was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. During Vincent Orange’s tenure, the DC Chamber moved from being ranked fifth by the Washington Business Journal (WBJ) to second amongst the top twenty-five Chambers in the Washington Metropolitan Area. For the first time in six years, the DC Chamber produced revenue exceeding three million dollars for the calendar year 2019 which should propel the DC Chamber to the number one ranking in the Washington Metropolitan Area by the WBJ. Prior to Mr. Orange joining the DC Chamber of Commerce, he was an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia having won a special election on April 26, 2011.
He was re-elected to a four- year term on November 4, 2012 and served as the chairman of the Committee on Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs.
From 1999 to 2007, Vincent Orange, Sr. served two-terms as the Ward Five Council member.
From 2001 to 2007, he served as chairman of the Committee on Government Operations with oversight over twenty-three agencies including the Office of the Mayor, City Administrator, Inspector General, Chief Technology Officer and Contracts and Procurement. He also served as co-chair of the Committee on Special Education. Vincent Orange’s accomplishments include championing the passage of the 2016 emergency legislation to implement a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for District workers, the living wage of $13.60 per hour, the minimum wage and five days of sick leave pay for tipped wage workers, enactment of the wage theft law, the reopening of McKinley Tech as the McKinley Technology High School which won the President Barack Obama Blue Ribbon Excellence Award, legislation mandating DC Public School students receive core books and materials by the second week of each new school year, a smoking ban within twenty-five feet of a playground, recognizing by law the American Sign Language in the District, adding gender identification or expression to the list of protected classes under the DC Human Rights Act, establishing the Office of African Affairs and the permanent Office of LBGTQ, protecting pregnant workers’ rights in the work place, securing economic development and recreation centers for Ward 5, introduced and championed the legislation that created the District’s only public holiday, April 16 - District of Columbia Emancipation Day, which was approved in 2005. Vincent Orange is widely credited with jumpstarting economic development, school modernization, and recreational centers redevelopment throughout the nation’s capital from 1999 to 2007; and casting the crucial seventh vote to bring baseball, the Washington Nationals, back to Washington. D.C.
Vincent Orange’s private sector experience includes serving as the Regional Vice President for Government Affairs for the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), Chief Financial Officer for the National Children’s Center, Inc., and a Tax Senior for Arthur Andersen & Co. Vincent Orange is an attorney and a certified public accountant. Taking advantage of opportunities provided by a strong public school education, at age fourteen, Vincent Orange earned an A Better Chance scholarship to attend Fountain Valley School, a college preparatory high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of the Pacific, a Juris Doctoris from Howard University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. He also earned two certificates from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government for Senior Executives in State and Local Government, and for Crisis Management: Preparation, Performance, and Leadership. Vincent Orange has received numerous awards and recognition including induction into the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame Society in 2018, induction into the DCTV Hall of Fame in 2017, Washington Business Journal Power 100 Recognition in 2017 & 2016, the Prince Hall Lodge No. 14 - 2017 Life Time Achievement Award, the 2016 Certified Business Enterprise Award for championing the establishment of “a one billion dollar expendable budget for goods and services” to be spent with District of Columbia businesses, the 2016 Sigma Delta Tau Legal Fraternity, Inc. Outstanding Service Award for career accomplishments promoting excellence in the study, practice and judicial processes of the law, and the 2016 Ready, Willing & Working Award for having a positive and lasting impact on the lives of the District of Columbia Clean Teams.
Vincent Orange Sr. is a member of the Metropolitan AME Church, a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a Prince Hall Affiliated Mason. Vincent Bernard Orange Sr. is married to Gwendolyn Evans-Orange and has three children, Vincent Jr., Paul Wesley and Jannie Elizabeth Orange, and granddaughter Layla Elizabeth Orange.
