The ASHI 2023 President’s Staff Award had two deserving recipients this year—
Edwin Barrera and Alicia McCray.
Established in 1989, the President’s Award is presented by the outgoing ASHI President in recognition of outstanding service to the association.

Both Barrera and McCray have been part of the ASHI team for more than three years, contributing their talents in a myriad of ways, from their professionalism to their positivity.

We recently got to know both Barrera and McCray a little bit more, including what they love about their work and how they unwind beyond 9-to-5.

Meet Edwin Barrera

Barrera is the director of education and curriculum development at ASHI. He oversees all ASHI Education, including pre-license and continuing education for classroom, online and InspectionWorld, state and association approvals, and reviewing ASHI continuing education requests and submissions.

How long have you been with ASHI?

I have been with ASHI since October 2020, but I will say it doesn’t feel that long. It’s a great experience learning all things ASHI and helping advanced ASHI Education.

In these short 3.5 years, I have seen ASHI focus on bringing ASHI into the 21st century, from education to a new database and even a website. I have seen the ASHI board and staff working together to accomplish projects and initiatives focused on providing members with even more benefits.

Have you always done this kind of work?

I have always been involved in education; I started as a teacher and taught for over 17 years. Sometime after about eight years of teaching, I also began training teachers and directors and added talent development to my skills and soon after became a director of training and development. I have managed educational programs with teams of educators in a couple of organizations. I developed a virtual training program for teachers/educators from all over the world in preparation to teach in the US. I also created educational content for online classes and developed virtual Instructor-led classes.

What have you learned from this role?

This is my first time working for a nonprofit. Most of my experience has been with for-profit educational institutions, and they are certainly run a bit differently.
I have learned that when you put a group of people in charge of an organization, you really see how
much they care about the organization. You see their desire to succeed as an organization and provide ongoing benefits to members. You also see there
are great discussions, compromise, and backing
when a particular initiative is finally selected to move forward. I have also learned that this process takes time, which can delay starting projects, but knowing these strategic goals are coming from ASHI leadership ensures we can effectively start and complete projects that will benefit the association and members.

What has ASHI taught you?

ASHI has taught me there are people out there who are passionate about the home inspection industry, from our board of directors to our committee members and even our members. They all care about the profession, ASHI, and each other. When I hear a friend or someone looking to purchase a home, I make sure to tell them to get a home inspection so they are not surprised by issues, and I tell them that their home inspector is looking out for them and their safety.
I also tell them they need an ASHI member because of the ASHI Standard of Practice and Code of Ethics they are required to follow. I am always thrilled to tell anyone that our members are dedicated to continuing education by committing to completing some of
the highest continuing education requirements
on a yearly basis.

How is home inspector education evolving?

You may have seen some of ASHI’s new interactive online courses, which I am excited we were able to bring to our members. We are thrilled to bring these interactive courses, which involve activities and engagement throughout the course. There is nothing wrong with watching videos, especially when the video contains great content, but adding exercises, engagement, and application of what they are learning is the idea behind one main adult learning practice to ensure the information begins to be stored in a part of the brain that makes it easier to recall. I am excited to work with some of our instructors on future virtual instructor-led classes where we implement these practices to those courses.

Tell us more about you.

I was born and raised in Chicago. I have lived in all the main parts of the city, the north side, west side, near downtown, and finally purchased my building in the near southwest side of the city.
When not in Chicago, we travel to Mexico and Colombia to visit family. I live with my wife, Janeth, and two wonderful kids, Luna, 9 years old (going on 19!), and Samuel, my 14-year-old who already seems like an old soul. I enjoy spending time with them on my hikes and trips. Luna loves working with me around the house and even has her own set of tools, and Samuel and I tend to just hang around and talk,
play video games together, and watch movies.

What else do you like to do for fun?

I like to travel and spend time outdoors hiking, camping, or visiting small towns. I do spend a lot of time doing Bonsai—the Japanese art form that involves small trees in a pot. I spent several weeks a year, for four years, studying with an American Bonsai master at his Bonsai Nursery near Portland, Oregon.

Any other fun facts?

In my 20s, I practiced a Brazilian martial art called capoeira, which has a very interesting history and is considered a fighting dance because of the music and acrobatics involved when sparring with another student. I performed with the capoeira group all over Chicago for several years, and I even practiced and performed in Mexico and Spain.

Were you surprised to win this award?

Yes, I didn’t expect it at all. I am the kind of person
who wants to see projects completed successfully and effectively because it’s the right thing to do. I was brought up with the idea that if you are going to do
something, anything, to do it to the best of your abilities,
not because someone is watching or because you will get an award or bonus. It was a nice surprise; recognition is always nice to hear or see. Our past president,
Lisa Alajajian Giroux, has always been a strong
supporter of our projects and initiatives, and I always
felt recognized by her and the other board members.

What does this award represent to you?

The award is a reminder that all our work and efforts are greatly appreciated and noticed. A lot of work and time goes into creating educational content, and most learners only see the end product. We do hear positive and constructive feedback on the courses, classes, and events, but this is all after the content is completed. Receiving the award really shows the appreciation for the time, effort, and work that went into creating all our new educational content.

What does ASHI mean to you?

To me, ASHI means quality, excellence, pride, respect, and empowerment. I love seeing a legacy of ASHI members and families that embody this definition in their profession, from Sean Troxell on the East Coast to Rebecca Castro on the West Coast. ASHI represents a family, a community, that supports the profession of home inspection. When I think of ASHI, I think of its members, how ASHI was created to support its members, and how ASHI members support each other.

What do you love most about the team you work with?

I am happy to say there is no one thing I love the most. The ASHI team and ASHI leadership bring a great mix of skills, support, and knowledge under one roof. We have staff focused on collaboration and supporting each other as we work on member benefit projects, and then there is leadership that provides insight into home inspector needs, member points of view, and knowledge about the industry.
I would like to thank everyone for their patience, support, and suggestions. Everything we have done at ASHI Education has been a team effort from staff, board members, educators, SMEs, and ASHI members. I look forward to continuing to build more value with everyone’s help and guidance.
I would also like to call out my wife, Janeth, because without her patience and love, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. During the work week, she is the one who reminds me to step away from the computer to go for walks, eat, give some hugs to the kids, and get some exercise.

Meet Alicia McCray

McCray is ASHI’s financial services administrator/QuickBooks expert. She started working for ASHI in March 2021 and lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Her career passions have always revolved around business management, systems operations, and accounting.

How have you seen ASHI evolve in your time there?

When I started, we were still doing a lot of the things the old-fashioned way, but James Thomas, our executive director, was really influential on pushing ASHI into the 21st century with our systems and procedures. In the last three years we have become a fully paperless company that operates completely online, which has improved ASHI’s ability to function anywhere, anytime.

What has this role taught you?

I don’t think you could fit everything I have learned working with Tim Buell (retired ACI and financial services director) in an entire issue of the ASHI Reporter, let alone one article. But I can tell you the most important thing I have learned under Tim’s guidance is to ask questions. You don’t know what you don’t know, and it never hurts to ask questions.

What has ASHI taught you?

Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it takes a lot of time, effort, and work to revitalize a long-standing industry to make it accessible for the next generation. If you don’t have patience, it’s easy to get frustrated with the process.

What do you do when you’re not at work?

I have four kids and a full-time job, so I don’t have a lot of free time, but my family enjoys camping and swimming, and we do a lot of cross-country road trips since my husband’s family is based in Illinois.

What does this award mean to you?

I was surprised to win this award because I assumed there was only one, and it was going to Edwin Barrera because he has been nothing short of amazing since he joined ASHI in 2020. I have always had a collaborative working relationship based on mutual respect with our past president Lisa Alajajian Giroux, as I started working with ASHI when she was the treasurer, so I was not surprised when she acknowledged that because that is the type of person Lisa is. It’s easy to produce quality work when you have great leadership, so my award is really for the financial services department as a whole and not just for me personally. Still, it meant a lot to me. It’s always nice to be acknowledged for your hard work.

What does ASHI mean to you?

ASHI means community to me, because that’s what this organization stands for. We help each other, we answer each other’s questions, and we bounce ideas off each other. It’s a collaborative effort.

What do you love most about the team you work with?

They ask for help when they need it, and everyone is invited to share their ideas for the good of ASHI.
I think it’s important that everyone is heard because no one knows how to improve the process of a task like the person who is actually in the trenches completing that task. While it is important to have direction from leadership, it’s also important for leadership to hear from their employees.

I have truly enjoyed these last three years working with ASHI as we improve our culture and systems to better serve our membership, and I look forward to all the crazy things in store for ASHI over the next year.