An Update From Your Executive Director

It is my pleasure to continue to share with you the progress we’ve been making since I accepted the position of CEO/executive director in February 2008. From the beginning, our overall commitment was to improve member value and invigorate the society during challenging times. Seven specific goals were included in a comprehensive plan.

We previously covered two of the goals: enhancing the website and establishing a presence in networking/digital media.

The remaining goals relate to education, member value, strategic planning, fiscal improvement and non-dues revenue.

Establishing ASHI Education Inc. (AEI), a for-profit entity that includes The ASHI School (TAS), has allowed us to move ahead quickly and successfully in the education arena. In addition, The ASHI@Home Training Systems continues to be a profitable venture for the society and a valuable resource for members.

Goals related to increased member value and non-dues revenue are each worthy of their own report. We’ll cover them later.

Strategic planning, this year, began with a one-day facilitated session in conjunction with the April Board of Directors meeting. The Board reviewed the results of that session at the July meeting, then distributed the plan to committee chairs to develop a work plan, which is intended to be “evergreen.” This means it will be reviewed at each Board meeting and updated and refined as necessary, making it possible for ASHI to adapt quickly and efficiently to changing conditions. The current strategic plan is available on the Members Only website in the Publications section.

Fiscal improvement may be the most dramatic current accomplishment. After finishing in the red for the past two years, we’ve been able to turn finances back into the black, finishing the fiscal year September 30 with a five percent surplus. We trimmed the budget, added revenue-producing programs, renegotiated contracts, created a for-profit company and maintained our membership — that and more has been good for ASHI’s bottom line.

Last month I said: success breeds success. We’ll continue to share ASHI’s successes next month.