THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION NEW SCSI CEO SHIRLEY COULTER SPEAKS ABOUT HER AIMS FOR THE SOCIETY, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL MEMBER ORGANISATIONS.
S
hirley Coulter brings over 14 years
on what members need from their professional
organisations face, such as the need to avoid
of experience in professional
organisation, and how best to provide it:
being too ‘Dublin-centric’, and to be relevant
member organisations to her
“I’ve seen what works, and what doesn’t work
and appeal to different age cohorts and
new role as CEO of the SCSI (see panel).
as well. What has to be key is that member
genders, but for Shirley, there’s also a
At the time of our interview, she’s been in
focus, the ‘member first’ outlook, because our
‘squeezed middle’ that can sometimes be
situ for just six weeks, but says this experience,
whole raison d'être is to serve members, in the
neglected:
and the welcome she’s received from members
public interest”.
struggling to find a work-life balance,
and staff, has made the transition a very
She knows that it’s not necessarily the ‘big
who have been caught up in some of the
pleasant one: “It feels familiar, even though
ticket’ issues that concern members: “The real
repercussions of the economic downturn and
it’s a different industry. Also, from the minute
issues are the ones that affect their day-to-day
still may be impacted by that. There’s a
that
announced,
working lives. We can add value in lots of ways,
whole generation there that I think, as the
people have reached out, which I hugely
at a very high level, and we will continue to do
profession’s representative body, we need
appreciate”.
that, but really, it’s about tuning in to how can
to be tapping into and they are quite difficult to
Shirley plans to use her experience to good
we help members in a very practical way”.
engage because they are busy with childcare,
effect in her new role, with an emphasis firmly
She sees the challenges that member
or elderly parents. They are definitely a focus”.
the
appointment
was
INTERVIEW Ann-Marie Hardiman Managing Editor, Think Media
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SURVEYORS JOURNAL Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2020
“People
who
are
maybe