Phil DeLone Returns to Safari Club International as Executive Director
Safari Club International 09.12.12
Safari Club International (SCI) welcomes back Phil DeLone to the position of Executive Director. Phil will begin work at the Tucson, Ariz. world headquarters in late September 2012.
“We’re really pleased to have Phil DeLone returning to SCI,” said SCI President John Whipple. “Not only is he already familiar with the workings of SCI, Phil also brings to the table experience at the Chapter level, hands-on experience with SCI’s Convention and a true dedication working with all of SCI’s international partners.”
DeLone will begin working out of the Tucson world headquarters where he will lead the staff there, as well as SCI’s Washington, D.C., Ottawa, Canada, and Johannesburg, South Africa offices.
“I am delighted to have been selected as the Executive Director for SCI. I am equally excited to work with the amazing staff of SCI, the volunteers, the members, and in particular the guides, outfitters and all the wonderful convention participants,” said Phil Delone.
“The fundraising strength, and long term growth of SCI, is what makes it stand apart from other competitors. I believe we will increase our involvement with our dear friends in the international professional hunting community, bringing more support to their organizations, and improving our advocacy for their businesses at the upcoming CITES,” concluded Phil.
DeLone served as SCI’s Executive Director from 1991 until 1996 and founded the Northern Nevada SCI Chapter where he served two terms as Chapter President, one term as Chapter Treasurer. The Chapter received the 2012 Top Gun Award. More recently, DeLone has served as the Executive Director of Sales for the Silver Legacy in Reno, NV—one of SCI’s principal suppliers during the Annual Hunter’s Convention.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
