Calling for Nominations to the Board of Directors
Guilty! I’ll admit that I am habitually late for church, and not just a minute or two. As Mike and I haul two little boys into a back pew, I like to imagine that this goes mostly unnoticed. However, on Passover Sunday the congregation was nearly full, and we were forced to the front. The message: “Ask not how the church can serve you, but how you can serve the church.” There it was, that call to action. The call to contribute your talents for the greater good. And there I was front and center …
Listen closely and you’ll hear this very same message within any grass-roots organization, and it’s equally applicable to our association. For nearly 100 years, AAEA has been a grass-roots driven organization. Since that very first meeting in Chicago, our members have set the priority issues and the board of directors, as well as the executive team, have been tasked with getting us there.
We want your input. We value your feedback. We need your ideas. We depend on you. We depend on you as members to contribute your time, talents and skills to help drive the association forward. For the 2018-19 Membership Year, we have three open spots on the board of directors. Two positions are for active directors at large, and the third position is for vice president.
As chair of the Nominating Committee, I’d like to officially open the call for nominations from the membership. Nominations will be accepted until 5 p.m. May 4 and should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line “AAEA Board Nomination.”
Once the nomination period closes, the Nominating Committee is charged with evaluating all nominees and making a proposed recommendation to the board of directors. Once the slate of candidates is approved by the board, it goes before the membership for a vote.
About the Board
The AAEA – Agricultural Communicators Network board of directors consists of nine active members, including the president, vice president, immediate past president and six directors at large. Additionally, two affiliate members are elected to serve as directors at large. Directors at large serve a three-year term on the board. The vice president, president and immediate past president each serve a single-year term. Members of the board and their terms are:
- President: Julie Deering, Issues Ink (2017-18)
- Vice President: Christy Lee, Cee Lee Communications (2017-18)
- Immediate Past President: Mike Wilson, Farm Progress (2017-18)
- Active Director: Ryan Ebert, Hoard’s Dairyman (2015-18)
- Active Director: Jim Patrico, DTN/The Progressive Farmer (2015-18)
- Active Director: Mindy Ward, Farm Progress (2016-19)
- Active Director: Jill Loehr, Farm Progress (2017-19*)
- Active Director: David Ekstrom, Meredith Agrimedia (2017-2020)
- Active Director: Bill Spiegel, High Plains Journal (2017-2020)
- Affiliate Director: Pam Caraway, Rhea + Kaiser (2017-2020)
- Affiliate Director: Josh Flint, The Maschoffs (2017-2020)
With all the changes underway and the implementation of our strategic plan, the board has been meeting in person three times a year (July/August, October/November and April) with conference calls as needed. The president, vice president and immediate past president serve as a governing committee of the board to take action between board meetings.
Ideal board members are passionate about the association and willing to contribute their time, skills and expertise to further the goals of the association — be it membership recruitment and retention, helping develop new professional development opportunities, increasing sponsorship revenue and identifying strategic partnerships. In selecting new board members, we not only take into account the individual skills and leadership attributes a person brings to the table but also the diversity of the board (companies and geographies represented). We try to make sure we have diverse representation and bring as many perspectives to the table as possible.
Just as I left the church that Sunday knowing I needed to step up, I hope that you, too, will heed the call and consider serving on a higher level. It’s time to step up.