“I want to express my deepest gratitude to my colleagues on the General Executive Board, to our other officers and staff, and to every single one of my brothers and sisters, the greatest craftspeople in world. Most of all, I thank my wife Jeanne and two sons EJ and Ryan for making all of this possible.”

“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead this great organization as our next General President,” Sexton said. “I have devoted my life to the betterment of our great union and our proud members, and I will do everything in my power to keep moving the OPCMIA forward.

“With the wave of infrastructure funding coming our way, we have a great responsibility to ensure that our union supplies the world-class plasterer and cement masonry craftspeople needed to rebuild our two countries in the coming years. General President Stepano has positioned us to do precisely that, and I intend to take us to the next level, so we can meet every challenge and seize every opportunity before us.”

General President Stepano joined OPCMIA on Aug. 5, 1980, as a Plasterer in Local 31, Pittsburgh. While working in the trade, he rose through his local union, serving as Recording Secretary, Apprentice Coordinator/Instructor, Executive Board Member, Business Agent, Fund Trustee, Business Manager and Financial Secretary.

On July 22, 2004, he was appointed International Vice President and General Executive Board Member, and one month later, he was elected to the position by delegates at the 48th OPCMIA International Convention.

In 2007, Stepano was appointed Executive Vice President and Director of Organizing, and was re-elected at the OPCMIA’s 2009 and 2014 International Conventions. On April 16, 2016, Stepano was elected General President by the General Executive Board. He was then elected to a full term as General President at the 52nd OPCMIA International Convention in 2019.

General Secretary-Treasurer Sexton joined the apprentice program of OPCMIA Local 518 in Independence, Missouri, in 1985 after serving in the U.S. Army. He was elected to his Local’s Executive Board in 1993, and three years later was elected President. He later became Business Agent and then Business Manager.

In 2002, Sexton was appointed as an OPCMIA International Deputy Representative. He was also elected Vice President and then President of the Kansas City Building Trades. In 2011, he was elected as Treasurer of the Missouri State Building Trades.

Sexton was appointed to serve on the OPCMIA International Finance Committee in 2011, and four years later, he became an International Representative. In 2016, he was appointed Vice President, and in 2017, he joined the General Executive Board and was appointed Assistant to the General President. He was elected General Secretary-Treasurer by the OPCMIA General Executive Board in 2018, and was elected to a full term by the OPCMIA International Convention in 2019.

He is married to Angela Sexton and together they have eight children, eight grandsons and three granddaughters.