To the outgoing members of the WAA board, I’d like to personally thank each and everyone of you for the countless hours you have dedicated to this important effort for our community. There is no way I can fully understand the personal sacrifices you have endured as one of the trail blazers of the association.

To the remaining members of the WAA board, I’d also like to personally thank you for your service and for continuing to give of your time to help shape our association into something we can all be proud of.

I still feel there is a long way for us as an organization to go and so there is much work left to be done.  For me, there are two critical next steps that we must take as an organization.

1) I truly believe that our association needs to be less about process and bureaucracy  and more about getting things done.  When new members come into the association, we need to be better positioned to capitalize on their exuberance. The only way this can be done is to push for faster innovation and reaction to the membership’s needs. We have come a long way but still have a ways to go.

2) We need to make sure we are showing real value to the WAA membership as often as possible. Team morale is a critical component for all successful teams and ours is no different. We need to be continually looking for ways to highlight the value that many hardworking board members, committee members, and everyday WAA members are bringing to the association.

I was very excited when the call for nominations for WAA board went out.  I had a nominee in mind who I felt would make a perfect addition to the board. Someone who was young, eager, had great vision, and has helped inject energy into organizations in the past. Someone that could play a critical role in addressing what I see as the two most important next steps. That is why I was very saddened and admittedly extremley upset when I learned that my nominee was rejected.

After reviewing the list of candidates that were accepted for the WAA board election, there is no way I can make an argument against any of the nominees. The list of nominees is very impressive and any of those individuals elected to the board will make a great addition.  However, I firmly believe that my nominee is just as qualified to run as anyone on the list. I understand the need for structure around the election process, however I personally would much rather have the community vet out potential candidates, in the spirit of fairness and transparency, it just feels like the right way to conduct business.

Although I still feel it is in the best interest of the WAA to include candidates from the “outside” in the election, I will put my full support behind the new WAA board and will continue to push for increased transparency and openness — we MUST continue to push for change to make this truly OUR organization. We need to continue the work of the previous board to transform this association from an elite fraternity to a community that is truly open to all.