By Michael J. Amoruso, Esq.,CAP, Fellow
Even before I joined the NAELA Board of Directors, it was my firm belief that a strong NAELA requires strong state Chapters. Over the last 10 years, NAELA has firmly committed its resources to support the structure and leadership of our Chapters through leadership training, creation of Charter Chapter status, and the introduction of Chapter services packages that assist the Chapters to structurally perform and deliver exceptional value to their members. It continues to be an honor to see the NAELA Board over these years embrace my vision that NAELA must do everything possible to continue to support and strengthen our Chapters.
While NAELA staff has done an exceptional job in assisting our Chapters, the one area that Chapters still ask for assistance is with advocacy. NAELA has done an excellent job revamping our national advocacy efforts to make substantial impacts in Congress, regulatory agencies, and in the courts. Chapters have seen this success and have asked NAELA for assistance with local advocacy. I am pleased to announce that the NAELA Board of Directors unanimously approved the hiring of a state advocacy coordinator who will assist Chapters with their advocacy efforts. Our goal is to coordinate Chapter advocacy training, improve the two-way flow of advocacy communication between NAELA and its Chapters, monitor state activities stemming from that communication, share these findings with other Chapters, and provide guidance to narrowly define a Chapter’s advocacy goals. Each Chapter has its own unique needs in advocacy given the local political and administrative activities.
However, NAELA’s commitment to the Chapters does not end there. NAELA will be offering a substantive program specifically targeting the needs of Chapters at our Annual Meeting in May located in Ft. Worth, Texas. Our NAELA Chapter Committee is hard at work putting together a stellar program to offer concrete solutions to assist with Chapter advocacy including regulatory, legislative, and litigation solutions for you to bring back to your state! That program will also serve as a necessary data-gathering initiative to assist NAELA in further understanding what advocacy support Chapters need.
We truly are an amazing collection of “Kindred Spirits” here at NAELA — strong advocates and best of friends. I want to thank you all for continuing to embrace and mentor each of our newest members while continuing to support all of our membership through your involvement on our ListServs, Chapters, live and virtual events, writing articles, committee work, and Board projects. You are all so vital to the success of NAELA and our Chapters in our efforts in these challenging times. I thank you for that my NAELA friends. Happy New Year!