As an outgoing Pennsylvania Coordinating board member, I have certainly enjoyed being a part of the PA CB (Coordinating Body). The structured transition of leaders has allowed for wonderful mentoring from other members and new ideas from our new members. The board consists of a Chair, Immediate Past Chair, Secretary, Finance Leader, Technology Leader, Education Leader, Advocacy Leader and Marketing Leader.
The transition team, in 2012, defined the policy structure and included that there would be an equal number of members on the board from each of the 5 LNG (Local Networking Groups – previously known as chapters) to bring all areas of PA together. I can still remember when Kellie Lent called me to say that AADE was restructuring and asking if I would like to be involved in the transition team, representing the northern most area of AADE membership. It sounded exciting and intriguing and I jumped on board. So often we only know of our organization by emails sent from AADE and don’t ever have an opportunity to actually know our fellow members. I sat in meetings, joined in on conference calls, acted first as secretary then later as tech lead for the Coordinating Body. What a great experience!
As I attended my last ‘face-to-face’ CB meeting this past October, I decided that the PA AADE members might become even more involved in this great board if they knew a little more about the CB members, what they do and who they are. What drives someone to take a position on the CB? What background do they come from and what does each member bring to the table? Would more volunteer to become involved in the PA CB if they knew more about the board, what are its functions and what is expected of board members? Pat Adams (SEPALNG) is the outgoing chair and has written blogs in the past defining what the board does and how it functions in the bigger picture of AADE and the purpose of this blog is not to repeat (find this in previous blogs on PA State page under Blogs). Instead I would like to share some of the findings from a mini-survey that was conducted at our October meeting.
All of the members of the PA CB are Registered Nurses or Registered Dietitians with a combined experience in diabetes education. This year the board also included a new member who is working towards her CDE and when this goal is met, the board will include all CDE’s. The make-up of the board represents a wealth of experience and when asked what previous positions have been held by our members in chapters of the past, we have past presidents, treasurers, membership chairs, web admin’s, and programs chairs. More currently, the experience of PA CB members from local LNG’s prior to joining the CB included secretary, web admin’s, secretary, vendor recruiter for programs, program chairs and presidents. Some have held positions with AADE as COI secretary and many as peer reviewers. Most members have been involved in other organizations, in varying positions.
The board members, in this survey, identified their interests in advocacy, technology, marketing, grant writing, web administration, education and programs, just to name a few, and all have high hopes in accomplishing specific activities during their tenure on the board.
A fluid concept that emanated from all members was the desire to be involved, to see and be a part of the future in our field. What impressed me most was the camaraderie and how we all blended into one cohesive group of educators who worked together toward a goal and nurtured and mentored each other along the way. I felt welcomed and valued and each new member has shared that they felt this too.
Since the terms are two years and we alternate transition of members to all for that continued mentoring, we are always looking for new AADE members to join the PA CB. If you have an interest in being involved in this dynamic group and becoming a part of the decisions made to benefit the diabetes educators of PA, ask any of your local LNG members found on our state page for more information or, if currently not an LNG member, feel free to contact and ask about your PA CB. I personally look forward to following the future of our PA CB and the diabetes educators in Pennsylvania.