On behalf of the AVA Board I want to thank each of you for your attendance at the AVA Annual meeting and luncheon on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 in Atlanta.
It was very encouraging to have so many of you there and getting such valuable feedback from you. We were proud that we had 46 states, Guam, and D.C. in attendance during our meeting.
During the meeting, you heard updates from AVA’s President, Treasurer, and Executive Director on everything that was accomplished in FY ’17. Each of you received a packet that included an agenda, a profit and loss statement for last fiscal year and a chronology of AVA activities since 2007.
We also held AVA Board elections during the meeting and elected two new members to the Board, Tina Chamberlain from Montana and Merry Wills from Nebraska. In the packets that we provided, you each received information about the five candidates running for the Board and a nomination ballot.
In our AVA Board meeting later that same night, the following Executive Committee positions were decided and the full composition of your 2018 Board includes:
· President – Julia Fuller-Wilson, Virginia
· Vice President – Bill Schaefer, New York
· Treasurer – Cecilia Miller, Minnesota
· Secretary – Tina Chamberlain
· Immediate Past President – MaryEllen Garcia
· Michelle Bynum – At-large member
· Jade Palin – At-large member
· Diana Fleming – At-large member
· Merry Wills – At-large member
Please see About the Board for photos and Bios of your Board members.
The most rewarding part of the meeting for me was to get your feedback about what we are doing well and what you would like to see us do differently.
We are grateful to you for your active participation during the meeting and your willingness to let us know how we can best assist you with any challenges that arise. I am encouraged that our meeting seems to create an atmosphere that elicits honest and meaningful conversation.
I thank each of you for your part in making sure that our meetings are filled with valuable question and answering sessions, planning for the future, and just good old fashioned fellowship.
