President's Blog, December 2020
Posted: 15 Dec 2020 by Marlene Eskind Moses
It is the time of year that many of us stop and ask, where did the year go? It is especially true this year with COVID-19, social unrest, financial crises, political battles and emotional struggles that we face causing significant changes to our daily routines.
I am encouraged that vaccinations have rolled out and people are beginning to be inoculated. This advancement will allow us to travel and be with one another again. Missing our in-person meetings and ability to be with one another will be remedied soon. Our first in-person meeting on the calendar to date is September 1 through 5, 2021. Please hold the dates. We are exploring having the meeting in London, England, however more details will follow.
Until then, we will continue with our virtual monthly webinars and chats along with our Chapter and Annual meetings as scheduled and are posted on our IAFL website.
Congratulations to the European Chapter which recently successfully completed their virtual meeting. Immediate Past President William Massey lead the Chapter extremely well during his term including an outstanding meeting in Palma, Mallorca. President Rachael Kelsey has now assumed the presidency. We can be assured she will lead with precision and humor. Kudos to Alberto Perez Cedillo who was elected President Elect and to Sandra Verburgt who was elected Vice President. Many thanks to Past President Daniela Kreidler-Pleus for her many years of service to the IAFL and to Kerstin Niethammer-Jürgens and Maryla Rytter Wróblewski who retired from their service as elected members of the management committee. Welcome to Soma Kölcsényi and Alice Meier-Bourdeau who are replacing Kerstin and Maryla.
Many thanks again to the 283 of our Fellows who completed the Fellows survey and to the 48 Non-Fellows who completed the Non-Fellows survey. The information has been retrieved and collated.
From the surveys, the Executive Committee and some selected strategic guests participated in a strategic planning session. This virtual meeting was led by Tom Sasser who was well-organized, prepared and brilliant in the Zoom meeting. We broke into four groups with each delving into an assigned area which had been identified and emphasized in the survey. They included:
- Increasing Fellow Involvement
- Digital Communication
- Chapters (new chapters and/or consolidation of existing chapters)
- Meetings (location and frequency)
The information from the sessions is being gathered and summarized. Further details will follow.
This is my last President’s message for this year. Please know how fortunate I feel to be able to lead this important and highly-functioning organization with tremendous Fellows assisting and staff that is beyond compare.
Please stay safe, healthy and happy and content as we move into 2021.
Warmest regards,
Marlene
