Alex Chang: The Pandemic President

Alex Chang:

The Pandemic President

It was with good fortune, perhaps, that the Professional Skaters Association selected Alex Chang to be its president in 2019, just before the coronavirus pandemic struck the world.

Chang, it turned out, was the perfect person to be in charge of an organization built on live interactions to pull it through a period when nothing occurred in-person.

Chang, who turned over the presidency at the conclusion of the recent PSA Summit in Chicago in May, was awarded the David Shulman Award for Lifetime Achievement, in great part due to the manner in which he led the PSA at a time when leadership mattered the most.

It starts

Chang was encouraged by coach Frank Carroll to take advantage of what the PSA offered.

“In 2001, I began as a general member and started slowly getting involved in other parts of the sport, initially as a technical specialist,” Change said. “From there, I started getting more involved in the leadership role in figure skating.

Alex took over the presidency from Christine Fowler-Binder.

“You know, you go to the PSA events, and they are fun,” he said. “You go in, you socialize, you listen to a couple of things, pick up a couple of nuggets. I am an analytical person, and I found there was a whole infrastructure of coaching education that was appealing to me. It was well beyond what I realized or imagined. Once I started doing ratings exams for the PSA, that’s when I finally got it. It would not have happened if I had not gone through the process of preparing for the ratings exams.”

Chang followed the normal course of leadership roles, being a board member at large, accepting committee appointments, and eventually chairing committees.

“It is one of those things where you support from a place of intended outcome to make things better,” Chang said. “When you volunteer, you give to have an impact that is positive. And then you just keep doing it.”

When the idea of becoming PSA president came up, Chang realized “for this period of time, it looks like I might be the best candidate. It was incumbent upon me to step up and do my part. But I do not think of it as a solitary position, as a captain of a ship. It’s more of being a member of a crew and now it is your turn.”

The COVID President

Chang became president at the 2019 PSA Summit, taking over in the summer of that year, not knowing what was about to happen.

Then it happened, and Chang realized “I am the COVID President, apparently.”

“The main thing for me was to be there for coaches during a difficult time,” Chang said. “I wanted to let them know no matter what happens, we will build a path forward. That is what coaches do. They needed to know the PSA was there to help them in partnership. They are not alone. We are going to make this work.”

The words were nice, but the deeds took some doing. Like every other organization in the world, PSA had to become a virtual source for coaches who could not safely gather with students or other coaches.

“We had tons of webinars at the beginning of COVID,” Chang said. “We talked to epidemiologists, sports psychologists, everybody under the sun to help people with what we were all dealing with. We were learning how to navigate the virtual space.”

Taking part in the 2020 Virtual Summit with PSA Executive Director, Jimmie Santee

Chang saw the pandemic struggle as an opportunity to reinvent the PSA.

“It allowed us to restructure the business,” Chang said. “It allowed us to reach coaches where they were in a safer, effective, and affordable manner.

“The online education did not diminish the value of what was being taught,” he said. “It democratized the process and let everybody have easier access. There was less travel, coaches were able to take exams online, and prepare for classes online through webinars.”

Noting that people have adjusted to the COVID threat in a manner that allows for in-person gatherings again, Chang said much of the educational process will remain online.

“The digital opportunities are indelibly etched forever into what we do,” he said. “Even with live events, we will keep a component that is virtual or live-streamed so people can go back and watch. To have something that can be stored and accessed later is critical.”

Speaking at the 2019 PSA Conference in Palm Springs, CA

DEI and the Strategic Pillars

Even before the pandemic struck, Chang had plans to make changes within the structure of the PSA. That included a personal drive to advocate for strengthening the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) component of the PSA.

“I asked myself ‘is there something within the sport to do differently to draw more people into skating in general and into coaching and membership?’” Chang said. “We must look at what our core values are, and DEI needs to be part of the DNA of the PSA. It does not need to be forced. We do need to be more inclusive, be kind, and determine how to expand our DEI influence.”

The desire to improve the DEI influence within the PSA was part of one of Chang’s three strategic pillars for improving the organization: examining the PSA’s core values, updating the programming, and improving financial stability of the PSA.

While the DEI influence played a role in the improvement of the PSA’s core values, the programming arm of the strategic pillars called for the PSA to consider whether it was doing what it needed to do to reach what Chang called “the grassroots coaches” in the figure skating community.

Presenting with Kori Ade in 2017

“Are we really getting to all the coaches we need to get to?” Chang asked. “We need to focus our energies there.”

With that in mind, Chang called for a change in the membership fees the PSA charged, dropping the Basic membership cost from $40 to $25. Then, he began efforts to increase programming aimed at the grassroots coaches. The goal was to make PSA membership more affordable and more effective for those at the lower levels of the coaching hierarchy.

While examining the cost of joining PSA, Chang also directed efforts toward improving the financial status of the organization. His goal was to improve financial flexibility, and to do so, he determined that the cost of owning the building that housed the PSA was no longer a manageable expense.

“That was controversial,” Chang said. “But in retrospect, it was the right decision. The cost of maintaining and repairing the building was so extravagant, and that was not necessary for us to run the business. It was not a good asset for us to have. So we decided to sell the building as part of the strategic arm of financial responsibility, to make ourselves more sustainable and responsible.”

The PSA remains in that building—occupying just one single office–with most staff working remotely, and without the strain of being their own landlords.

Accepting his EDI at the 2016 EDI Awards in Las Vegas.

The next chapter

What do ex-PSA presidents do once they are out of office?

What they don’t do, most times, is retire. Chang has no plans to stop in his efforts to improve the PSA.

“I am looking forward to transitioning into the past president’s position,” Chang said. “I will continue to serve on PSA’s executive committee as well as oversee several committees.”

Chang is done with the PSA presidency but not with his PSA prescence.