As I prepare to step down from my role as ACA president at the end of the month, I am reflecting on my initial goals while in office. When I wrote my statement as a candidate for president, subsequently published in Counseling Today in December 2011, I asserted three priorities: a) leadership development, b) international counseling connections and (c) social action and outreach. Over this past year, I have attempted to demonstrate concrete movement in each of these areas and thus contribute to the work started by my predecessors. So, in the spirit of assessment, let’s see how the year went.

Leadership development: I either launched or strengthened several leadership initiatives this year. First, I established an additional leadership task force focused on the role of seasoned leaders and asked it to collaborate with two previously existing task forces working on expanding the pipeline to leadership and developing training resources for leaders. Second, I asked the Research and Knowledge Committee to explore the concept of leadership in counseling to determine if our vision of leadership is unique in any way and might thus require our own set of pedagogical tools. The members and chairs of the leadership task force and the Research and Knowledge Committee presented their progress reports as a panel at the annual ACA Conference in Honolulu this past spring. Third, the Governing Council representatives received leadership training at both their meetings this year to move toward becoming a more effective board. The meeting at the annual conference reflected significant improvement in board functioning as evidenced by their visionary thinking, improved communication and decision-making, and use of meeting time. Fourth, I met with our CEO, Richard Yep, to help him formulate a self-assessment framework that is dynamic, reflective and forward thinking, and based upon effective nonprofit association leadership practices. Fifth, I worked with staff to ensure that this summer’s ACA Institute for Leadership Training would include a leadership track and that efforts were being made to reintroduce the Leadership Academy within a digital environment.

International counseling connections: Over the past three years, agreement has been reached that internationalization efforts are desired. However, only in the past year did we commit funds to expand our global presence. As president, my goal was to solidify connections with our sister organizations outside of the United States. To that end, I have engaged in dialogue with my counterparts in other countries. My hope is that by the time this column is printed, we will have signed memorandums of agreement with a few international associations. Additionally, existing partnerships allowed me to represent ACA at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy research conference (which ACA co-sponsored) in London and the International Association for Counselling annual conference in Victoria, British Columbia, in May. My visit to Victoria afforded me the opportunity to meet with leaders from the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) in preparation for ACA’s 2016 conference in Montréal, which will be held in partnership with CCPA’s annual conference that year.

Social action and outreach in counseling: My contributions to social action consisted of a presidential session at the ACA Conference. Additionally, I was able to visit Capitol Hill on several occasions to support national advocacy efforts related to education and vulnerable student populations. I also attended the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy this past fall to confer with other behavioral health care leaders on the Affordable Care Act. Lastly, I sanctioned ACA’s co-sponsorship of the inaugural Time to Thrive conference that brought together advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

It has been a distinct pleasure to serve the association. I have come to further appreciate the work of branch and division leaders as well as rank-and-file practitioners who are in the trenches helping people on a daily basis. And none of my work could have been done without the creative brilliance of the ACA staff. Thank you for this opportunity to serve.

 

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