Board of Directors Update
Alison Grimmer chair, SSDP Board of Directors
The Board of Directors started off 2009 by restructuring the composition of the board. By approving an amendment to our organizational by-laws, the board reserved one appointed director seat for our Executive Director and created an additional SSDP alumni seat. With these changes, we welcomed two new appointed directors to the board: Marc Brandl (SSDP Alumnus, American University) and Derwin Dubose. In addition to our two new appointed directors, first alternate Irina Alexander (University of Maryland) joined the board in April.
The Board of Directors also revamped the planning and implementation process for our organizational strategic plan. By condensing the plan, the Board felt we would be better equipped to share our goals and strategies with our membership, donors and other interested parties. A copy of the 2008-2009 Strategic Plan is available here . The Board has also been working with the national staff to develop an alumni outreach and engagement plan. We look forward to working with SSDP’s new alumni director, Tyler Smith, to further implement this plan.
The Board of Directors will be meeting this July in Washington, DC for our annual strategy summit where we will re-evaluate our Strategic Plan, begin planning our annual SSDP Congress and brainstorm campaigns and strategies that will serve to strengthen our organization. A full report of summit activities will be available to the SSDP community in early August.
Perhaps the most important undertaking of the Board so far this year is replacing our fearless leader, Kris Krane, who will be leaving us in July. The Board takes this responsibility very seriously and I can assure everyone that we are committed to identifying a leader that will continue the success of SSDP.
Enjoy the rest of your summer and in the words of new board member Irina Alexander, "keep fighting the good fight!"
