If anybody could embody an organization, Kara Kelley has.

By Jon Ralston (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 | 2 a.m.

If anybody could embody an organization, Kara Kelley has. As president of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, she truly has been the face of the group — at mixers, at political events, at the Legislature. I’d like to tell you that she took my frequent assaults on the chamber with a good-natured chuckle or guffaw. But not so. She truly believes in the organization and is so deeply committed to it that any criticism was no laughing matter. She rode for the brand like few group bosses I have known. Her identification with the chamber is so strong that many were stunned when news of her departure surfaced Tuesday. A chamber without Kara Kelley at the helm? It’s almost unthinkable. I hope she prepares her successor for me.