From Our President

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

What a journey my 37 years of membership have been. What an incredible, life-changing journey! The last two years of that journey have undeniably been the MOST amazing of all. I am so thankful for having had the honor of serving as your president. It offered me the enormous privilege of chairing the talented and dedicated team that is our board of directors and collaborating closely with our equally talented, caring, and committed headquarters staff. I am so grateful for the beautiful partnership that came with the position — that of working side by side with our exceptional CEO, Tammy Talbot. Each team has gifted me with so much love and learning, and I stand in awe of their brilliance of spirit and service. I cannot thank them enough for walking hand-in-hand with me through this exceptional experience.

These two years have flown by with the speed of a driving uptune! The overarching theme has been invigorating change. It began with modifications to our headquarters infrastructure — a new membership database and a redesigned website. We updated our double-treble clef logo for the first time in years and introduced our new Life on a High Note marketing campaign. We held our inspiring Visioning Retreat from which a new collaborative, grassroots energy emerged, fueling the creation of our new vision and mission statements and the new five-year strategic plan. The work of our task forces continues and includes the efforts to archive a large amount of Sweet Adelines history; investigate new membership options and introduce a new chorus growth campaign; develop greater on-line education offerings; and expand our diversity and inclusion (D&I) work to create a chorus D&I toolkit. Additionally, in the area of D&I, language in the Judging Category Description Book was updated to help build our awareness of and provide guidance on cultural sensitivities in the selection and performance of our music. The board created two new committees to enhance the performance of our fiduciary duties: a Finance Committee and a Board Resource Advisory Committee. We created our new Philanthropy Department and completed, thanks to your generosity, an extremely successful “Support Life on a High Note Campaign.” We provided training to our incredible judges and directors and held a partnered-IES in Region #31. We prepared for this, our 75th anniversary year, with celebrations planned throughout the year and culminating in a grand jamboree this October. As always, there is much more change to come!

In my first President’s message to you, I talked about the internal, or psychological, aspect of change. How it behooves us to take the time to process how we feel about our inevitable evolution so that we can continue to engage with and contribute to it. I have tried to process your feelings with mine these last two years and, in doing so, YOU have been my greatest blessing! You have taught me that being heard is incredibly important, so I have worked to listen better, to be more engaged and present. Doing so has taught me more about the power of “us,” that together we can create so much value in the world. You have taught me to believe even more in who we are and that it is worth fighting for. Thank you for sparking that light of change in me.

It will be such a joy to see Joan Boutilier take the reins next month, knowing the splendid journey that lies ahead for her. She will shine in her new role because she has the heart of a fierce warrior — don’t let that angelic face fool you! The breath of change she will bring to us will be perfect for her time.

And so it goes...

With a grateful heart,

Patty