By Christopher M. Farish, JD It brings me great pleasure to welcome four new members to the IACP Board of Directors, and I hope that each of you will join me in welcoming the new members listed below. In that listing, you will also find the members of the current Board who will be taking a place on the Executive Committee as Officers of the IACP in the coming year. There simply are no words to adequately express how excited I am to see the Board elect the first President-Elect of the IACP from Europe, and our first elected Officer from Asia. To me, these two members of the IACP Board not only represent a clear indication of the success of the IACP in spreading the promise of Collaborative Practice worldwide, but also the strength of the global Collaborative community as a whole. Each year, the IACP Board welcomes new members of our Collaborative community to the Board who have shown their dedication to Collaborative Practice and to the IACP through their actions and involvement in IACP Committees/Task Forces in the past. These members have taken the affirmative steps necessary to show their desire to contribute more of themselves by joining the Board. Three of our new Board members are graduates of the IACP Leadership Academy, and represent a return on the investment made by each of them individually, by their practice groups and by the IACP in growing their skills in an effort to strengthen leadership in the Collaborative community. Each of our new members shares a unified vision with those already on the Board of the importance of IACP’s role in transforming the way that family disputes are resolved worldwide. As a Board, we work together and combine our own unique experiences with those of our fellow Board members to create a vision to guide the organization as a whole. We strive for diversity in our Board makeup through attempting to bring in new Board members who are diverse in profession, gender, geography and ethnicity. However, we can only choose from those who express interest in service on the Board, and to that end, I encourage all of our members to consider such service. As with anything, there is a first step. Committee/Task Force service is an essential prerequisite to Board service because it allows the Board to review each applicant’s work in forwarding IACP goals and how they address difficult tasks at the committee level. If you are a member of the IACP who believes in our mission and is looking for a way to forward that mission, I encourage you to look for the IACP Committee Interest Form, which is usually made available in November following the Forum. I welcome you to join an IACP Committee and give some of your time for the greater good. We can only affect a change in the world by taking the actions needed to affect that change ourselves, and one way to accomplish that is through an IACP Committee. If you have been serving on an IACP Committee for years and you want to take on a larger role in the Collaborative community, I encourage you to consider submitting a Board Service Expression of Interest Form, which is usually made available at the beginning of the year in early February. Board service is a next step in leading the Collaborative community and making a difference in the world around you. The IACP can only accomplish its global mission with leadership that represents our diversity, and we are committed to supporting that leadership from all parts of our community. Sincerely, Chris Farish Back to Content |
