As TIAW continues to reach all corners of the globe, one of my most challenging but enjoyable tasks is meeting members. As its first European President based in London, in the last few months I have travelled both east and west attending conferences and celebrations, and I am continually impressed by the dynamism and influence of our members. During the same period, from our administrative office in Toronto, TIAW Executive Director Maxine Westaway headed south to Washington DC.
We are very excited about the nominations for this year’s TIAW Lifetime Achievement Award and the TIAW World of Difference 100 Awards. They literally flooded in the days before the deadline - we have exceeded last year’s number with at a first glance some fabulous nominations. The judging process will take place in July with the nominees and the nominators being informed soon afterwards. The winners will be announced on October 25th at the TIAW Global Forum in Toronto when we will also be celebrating our 30th anniversary.
It is with great pleasure that I chair the quarterly Presidents’ Forum call and take much delight in the connections that have been made between the participants. We will meet again on September 21st at 10EDT when our topic will be ‘sharing best practices’. This important topic resulted from the discussions on the previous call.
One of my last duties as President is to help Immediate Past President, Stephanie MacKendrickas Chair of the Nominating Committee, put together the Board Slate for 2010 to 2012. Nominations for Board positions are now open, and if you are interested in putting yourself forward, please in the first instance, contact Maxine Westaway, TIAW Executive Director at mwestaway@tiaw.org. Election to the TIAW Board is by the majority vote of the Presidents of the Member Associations who will vote on the slate electronically or at the Annual Meeting which will be held at the end of the TIAW Global Forum on October 26th.
During this last year, there have been two significant appointments to the Board – Sherry Fotheringham Gysler as 1st Vice President and President elect and Lilia Navarrete, as VP Membership. They have provided an energy boost to those flagging at the end of their term of office!
I hope you enjoy this new issue of eConnections. I think it’s an excellent channel to spread the news about what TIAW, our members and member organizations, are doing around the world. If you’d like to contribute a feature or have news you’d like to share, do contact Maxine Westaway at the email above.
I look forward to seeing you once again in the welcoming city of Toronto.
