One of the most exciting developments announced during the 103rd Educational Conference was the induction of Terri Pasternik as president of the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP). One of Ms. Pasternik’s first actions was a presentation outlining her goals as president. Here are some highlights:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I could be the International President of IAWP. My personal goal is to work hard to fill some of your expectations over the next year. Being the realist that I am, I know even with the best of intentions that we won’t be able to accomplish everything we intend to, but we will do our best to get the job done.
I want to share with you some of our goals for the coming year. One of our main goals going forward is to build and strengthen our relationships with employment security agencies and WIOA partners. We need their support and partnership to grow as an association. To do that, we need to show them the benefits of partnering with IAWP to train and skill up employees. After all, that’s our mission is it not, to educate our members.
I know this sounds like a huge goal and it is. It will also take several years, but it is one I believe we can attain with time and patience. There are many goals and priorities we will be working on in the next year, a short list includes:
- Continuing to pursue establishing 501C3 status for the association
- Reviewing and updating all of our governance documents
- Reviewing and updating our awards program
- Credentialing WPDP (one of my favorites)
- Implementing educational webinars
- Continuing to develop non-dues income to support our mission, and
- Re-branding the association with a new look and purpose
There are many more things that are on the list of things to do and we will continue to work toward completing each task and implementing them to increase the value of the association.
In the past few years, you have seen some of my articles where I talk about change. This association is changing; as it has for many years under the leadership of many presidents. To change is to grow. For me as a long-time observer, this is change that is necessary for us to remain relevant in the 21st century.
We need to continue growing this association by making hard decisions and changing some of the ways we do business. Now, I am not one to discard tradition. I love it. I look forward every year to the annual conference and the things we do during our week together. However, this can no longer be our sole focus. We need to meet our counterparts in the workforce development arena and be a provider of tools they can use to educate their staff to serve our customers better. This will increase membership, which in turn provides finances to develop more educational opportunities.
As an association we need to support our chapter leadership. We need to give them the tools to provide useful training to their chapter members. Give them tools to run their chapters efficiently, so they can focus on what’s important. Their members.
Will we get all of this done in the next year? No. But all of us on the board including your upcoming officers are committed to continuing to work on that to do list going forward.
We will not stop fighting for IAWP. If all of us here were not dedicated, committed members of this association, we wouldn’t be here. I for one will not give up the fight.”
Other 2016-2017 officers include:
- Cheryl Brown – President Elect
- Grant Axtell – Vice President
- Misti Hodges – Secretary-Treasurer
- James Thomas – Immediate Past President