Reflections: My Year as NCA President
From The NCA President - Roseann M. Mandziuk
As my year serving as NCA President draws to a close, I am thrilled to have this opportunity to express my thanks and to reflect on our Association’s accomplishments in this most transformative year. It has been my profound honor and privilege to have been able to contribute my energies to our work together as we made such significant progress in enhancing our efforts and orienting toward our future successes.
Serving as President of NCA was so much more than I expected, and in every way! This year demanded more time, presented more tasks, and surfaced more challenges than I could have ever anticipated, but it also provided more opportunities and joys than I imagined. I have learned much about leadership, collaboration, and the love for this discipline that drives us forward to achieve great things together. I have enjoyed the chance to meet so many new members, to listen to your perspectives, and to engage with you as we undertook some very significant tasks this year. There are so many people that I could thank individually for holding me up, but mostly I want to express my gratitude to you, our members, for joining me in an extraordinary journey toward change this year.
We have much to celebrate as we bring 2022 to an end, and much more to anticipate in our future together. Among the major transformative achievements, we welcomed our new Executive Director, Dr. Shari Miles-Cohen, in January, and we are so very fortunate to have benefitted from her leadership and expertise. We made significant progress toward a realignment of our National Office processes and strengthened our governance practices. Most significantly, we approved NCA’s first new comprehensive Strategic Plan in over a decade, and we endorsed our first Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Strategic (IDEA) Plan. With these significant documents to guide us, we now are situated to embrace the decisions that our Association will need to make in the future about our priorities, initiatives, and resources.
These will not always be easy conversations, but I am so very optimistic about the capacities of our members to engage in the work ahead. One of the wonderful signs of our vibrancy and engagement was the record number of applications – over 170! – that the NCA Leadership Development Committee received this year from members seeking to fill our 54 available leadership positions. We also launched our first membership survey, garnering almost a 25% response rate, and we initiated work with consultants to advance our commitment to IDEA in all that we do. As we also initiate the work of our new NCA Mentor and Leadership Development Council in 2023, I am confident that NCA’s membership will become even more engaged in our Association and that you will be ready for the journey that now lies ahead. I am excited to undertake those next travels with you.
My sincere thanks to all for a truly fulfilling, inspiring, and amazing year as your President. I wish you all the very best for a wonderful Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year!