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 Friends:
July is such an exciting time. All of
our dreaming and planning have come together
in camper and staff recruitment. All
of our skills have been shared in staff
training experiences. Now we daily watch
human development happen in our camp
programs. In a few weeks, special events
will begin to appear to break up what
could become routine (and what originality
you demonstrate in these programs!).
This is the month when summer and camp
come together with great energy and creativity. Enjoy
the challenge – know that
you are contributing to strong participants in our communities and our world.
As we embrace our 20/20 Vision we realize
that only 20 percent of children in the
U.S. benefit from a camp experience.
So we have a task before us to share the
message, recruit more campers, and strengthen
other camps providing this key experience
to children, youth, and adults.
I have some exciting news to share with
you. As you remember the American Camp
Association (ACA) National Board of Directors
postponed the election of new Board members
last fall and the Council of Delegates
agreed to a change in the Bylaws switching
election by the Board. The Board appointed
an Interim Board Development Committee
that enthusiastically began a process
of candidate identification, cultivation,
and now election. In June, we elected
three new Board members who will help
us move into the 20/20 Vision. Ed
Greene most recently has been director of global outreach at Sesame Workshop
and has been involved in a broad range of youth development activities for over
thirty-five years. Glynn and JoAn Turman have been elected to one Board
position. Glynn is an actor with broad experience on the stage and in TV productions. He
and his wife JoAn had key camp experiences as youth and now run a camp for under
privileged children. Alan Yuspeh is a senior vice president and chief
ethics compliance officer for the Hospital Corporation of America. He has experience
with both private and nonprofit camps. This group of professionals is excited
about partnering with ACA to transform the Board to achieve our 20/20 Vision.
Thanks to the Interim Board Development
Committee (Scott Brody, Rodger Popkin,
Ann Sheets, Art Wannlund, Kevin Gordon, and Charles Butler) for their energy
and resourcefulness in this project. This same group will bring another
class of candidates to the Board in October for election to begin service in
February 2009. We are continuing to search for new committee members outside
the ACA community who would be willing to join this team to continue the process
of candidate identification, cultivation, recruitment, and invitation to Board
participation. We are looking for potential members who:
- Have 501 (c)3 Board Development experience
- Are people with personal connections
for this process
- Are non-ACA Board members and non-camp
folks
- Can set their sights appropriately
as we move through this process
- Can offer diversity (i.e., experience, profession,
ethnicity, geography)
- Have skills in board training
- Are skeptics – who know how
to ask hard, probing, challenging questions
in the recruitment process
- Can join the Interim Board Development
Committee with grace
- Are willing to jump into the process
with energy and imagination
If you know any persons who would make
great contributions to this process, please
send information to Peter
Surgenor and
Peg
Smith.
If you have a few spare moments, check
out Peg
Smith's blog (which is much more challenging and inspiring
than a stream of consciousness). Don't
be shy about posting a response – we
all need feedback, and your thoughts will
add energy and depth to our progress toward
20 million campers and 20,000 ACA participants
by the year 2020.
Safe camping to you this summer. May
all the human development you plan for
be realized.
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