This is the leadership update from August's e-newsletter.
I hope everyone has been having a good summer. It’s hard to believe this is August already! Of course, this means that ACHA’s Board of Directors just held our annual election. We are very pleased to welcome John Fernie and Sean McCarthy as the newest members. I am sure they will be fantastic additions to our leadership team.
Serving on the Board for ACHA has been a great honor for me. The role of the Board is to support the leadership and staff in defining and pursuing a strategic vision for ACHA, while also ensuring that we can develop the resources to meet these goals. This means that a big part of our job is fundraising. Another part of our job is governance—that is, making sure we meet all the requirements of a responsibly run non-profit. We also provide input and insight into the programs and services that ACHA provides, and the projects we get involved in.
This is what we do. But who are we? We are a group of dedicated volunteers. We are individuals with CHD, family members and medical providers. We represent some of the diversity of the CHD community, and bring with us a broad range of life skills and experience. What draws us together is the common desire to make the world a better place for all those born with CHD.
Sometimes we need to make hard choices, like any organization (or family), so we don’t get overextended and our “wants” do not outreach our means. We do this at meetings by phone throughout the year. We also hold an annual planning meeting with ACHA staff in Philadelphia, the next one being in October.
And this is where your voices are very important. As we prioritize our goals for the next year, I want to hear from you: What are we doing right? Where can we improve? Are there new ideas or directions we should investigate? Please contact me via ACHA and let me know what is on your mind.
I look forward to hearing from you, and hope the rest of your summer is healthy and happy.
Peggy Powers
ACHA Board Chair