Volunteers Keep the Wheels Turning In my years on the Board of the IACP, I have been amazed by the level of work that is done by volunteers in our community. Everything we do at the IACP relies on the willingness of our members to step forward and share their tremendous talents with the rest of the Collaborative community by volunteering on our committees, our training faculty and our Board of Directors among other areas. To say we couldn’t do it without you, would be an understatement of the importance of each and every volunteer. This is the time of year where we are seeking volunteers in some very important areas. We need leaders in the community to stand up and step forward to join us on the Board of Directors. My years on the Board have been some of the most fulfilling years of my professional life. The friendships I have made will last a lifetime, and the work that we do on the Board to forward the mission of the IACP will transform how families resolve conflict forever. I want to personally invite and encourage those with the capacity to give of themselves and the commitment to IACP’s mission to step forward and lend your leadership to the Board of Directors by submitting an Expression of Interest in Board Service before the March 22nd deadline. This year we will celebrate the 20th IACP Networking and Education Forum in Chicago which is quickly approaching. We are accepting Pre-Forum Institute and Workshop proposals, and I want to encourage you to volunteer in this way as well. Though our PFI presenters receive some compensation and Workshop presenters receive a Forum discount, I still consider those who present to be volunteering on some level. Each presenter could be paid far more for the education and training they are providing, but instead, they choose to volunteer to educate Forum attendees for a reduced rate in an effort to raise the bar for Collaborative Practice around the world. As Collaborative Practitioners, we are constantly learning from one another in our teams and in our practice groups. Now is the time to share your knowledge and skills with the rest of the Collaborative community by submitting a PFI or Workshop proposal before the March 17th deadline. The year is firmly underway and before I know it my term as President will be over. When I look back at where we were when I joined the Board, I am astounded by the distance we have travelled, but there is a much larger journey yet to come. The groundwork has been laid, and big things are on the way. The IACP is committed to increasing membership benefits and bringing you as much of what you have told us you want as we possibly can. To that end, keep an eye out for monthly webinars beginning in March with the Standards and Ethics webinar. In April we will bring you something of a fireside chat with the man who started it all, Stu Webb, and in May, we will bring you tools to help grow your practice - keep an eye on your inboxes for more details! Collaborative Practice is growing throughout the world with new practice groups forming in Japan, Malaysia and Panama, and the IACP will continue to be at the front of the line leading the charge to change how families resolve disputes everywhere. However, we can’t do it without you, so step up and help us keep the wheels turning. Sincerely,
Chris Farish |
