The Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) Board of Directors (BOD) represents the entire membership when conducting business on behalf of the association. Elected by the members, the BOD governs the ANPD. As part-time volunteers, the BOD delegates the day-to-day administration to our full-time management team, while providing strategic direction and maintaining fiduciary responsibility for the association. The BOD connects with the members to ascertain their values to guide the organization; it gives voice to those values by preparing guiding documents such as the strategic plan, budget, and policies, and it holds accountable those who carry out those plans and policies. In this column, I will introduce new members to the BOD and also say farewell and thank you to the outgoing BOD members, while highlighting the progress of the BOD in serving its membership.
OUTGOING LEADERS
President Joan Warren, PhD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, FAAN, may be leaving the Board, but her involvement and influence are not ending. Joan's time on the Board, first as a Director and then as the President, was marked by achievements for ANPD that included the selection of a new management company, SmithBucklin, to meet our changing organizational needs, improved organizational functioning through major changes to the bylaws that increased both efficiency and effectiveness, and modernization of the association with a new name and brand. These were only the beginning. As President, she led the board to increase the value of membership and to ensure fiscal solvency, providing oversight for the development and marketing of strong and innovative products and building partnerships that support our members' professional growth, expand our name recognition, and increase our revenue. Under Joan's leadership, the BOD, in coordination with Mary Harper, ANPD's Director of Nursing Professional Development (NPD), and the management team shifted the revenue model from dependency on membership fees to generating revenue with products and services. Today webinars are in place, and multiple new products are available to our members, providing value to members and revenue for ANPD. These new programs and products go beyond traditional offerings on competency management, nurse transitions, orientation, and preceptorship courses. Additions include value-based purchasing, outcome measurement, project management, return on investment, and workforce planning. As our value to members has grown, so has our membership, which reached 4,000 members by Spring 2016. Joan also dedicated effort to build the NPD scientific knowledge base. Under her leadership, three national research studies were completed that defined the role and value of the NPD practitioner. Joan worked with other BOD members and key staff to develop a realistic yet innovative strategic plan, which, accompanied by a clear operational plan with accountability and metrics throughout, assures its integration into ANPD's daily operations. These living documents will continue to guide ANPD through the next several years. These accomplishments are not only the work of one person; they are the result of contributions of others including our Director of NPD, various committees and taskforces, the management team, and the rest of the BOD.
Treasurer Ann Colvin, MSN, RN-BC, has led the association toward a sustainable future by facilitating the adoption and support of sound financial management policies that included the move from reliance on membership dues to increasing revenue sources. Ann adjusted our investment strategies, including the addition of a financial investment firm to maximize our return on investments. She has been instrumental in analyzing the budget and enhancing sources of revenue while minimizing expenditures, thus ensuring the organization has adequate resources to advance its mission. She combined prudent stewardship of assets with the taking of acceptable risk to move ANPD into the future.
Director Linda Misko MSN, RN-BC, has served on the board for the last 2 years and contributed her enthusiasm and organizational skills to its work. She worked with Cafe Press on branding items with ANPD logos for our members. These items include note pads, mugs, and shirts. These products were highlighted for sale during the NPD Week and remained available throughout the year. She led the effort to improve the ANPD Web site, simplifying navigation among other enhancements. As liaison to the Recognition committee, she began the process of aligning awards with the Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards, 3rd Edition. She contributed to the creation of our new strategic plan, including building the foundation for succession planning. She looks forward to the realization of the strategic plan.
Director Sara Levin, MSN, RN-BC, completes her second term on the BOD. She shared with the BOD the wisdom she has gained in her 16 years of NPD experience and ANPD membership as we crafted the strategic plan and its operationalization. She has been on the Spirit of Inquiry task force and the subgroup that is developing the structure for supporting inquiry. She continues her commitment to ANPD's growth and development as a dynamic organization that supports the NPD practitioner.
CONTINUING LEADERS
President Chris Wilson, MSN, RN-BC, has been intimately involved in all the achievements of the BOD. She served as a director before becoming President-Elect and has worked diligently to structure our management of position papers and discussion papers. She was instrumental in the creation and operationalization of the strategic plan and has been an active member of the Finance Committee. Before serving on the BOD, she spent many years leading her local affiliate as its President. She has a strong interest in role definition and leadership development for NPD practitioners. She believes that the ability to speak to NPD practice and to advocate for those you serve and for the specialty is a key to being effective in the role. She plans to continue the progress of the ANPD BOD in creating current and relevant products and programs that are responsive to the needs of the membership and promoting growth in practice for NPD practitioners.
Director Cathy Gage, BSN, MHA, RN-BC, in her first year on the BOD, volunteered as a member of a BOD subcommittee that articulated ANPD's core values and has also led a subcommittee that reviewed guidelines and policies that support ANPD partnerships. Before joining the BOD, Cathy chaired the Products and Services Committee and established and led her local affiliate. She shares this expertise with other affiliates by co-facilitating with Linda Misko the affiliate meeting at the 2016 ANPD convention.
Director Michelle Noble, MN, APRN, RN-BC, joined the BOD 1 year ago, bringing 10 years of ANPD leadership exprience with her. She has served as a leader of her local affiliate and as the Program Planning Committee Chair. She also serves on the BOD's Finance Committee and is overseeing the update of our Distance Learning Position Statement.
Director Patsy Maloney, EdD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, CEN, was elected to the BOD last year. Since joining the BOD, she has served on the Finance Committee, on the subcommittee of the BOD that articulated ANPD's core values, and on the Spirit of Inquiry task force, helping to develop the process of determining research priorities. She also is responsible for the ANPD Update column in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. Before joining the BOD, she has served on the Research and Education Committees, has co-edited the NPD Scope and Standards, 3rd Edition, and served as Section Editor for two previous Core Curriculums.
INCOMING LEADERS
Treasurer Mary Golway, MS, BSN, RN-BC, has been a member of ANPD for 16 years and brings her fiscal expertise to the BOD. She was a chapter author of "Managing Fiscal Resources" for Leadership in Nursing Professional Development: An Organizational and System Focus and for the Core Curriculum for Staff Development, 3rd Edition. She also presented a poster at the ANPD convention in 2014. Mary is excited to take on the role of treasurer and to continue the fiscal progress that the organization has made.
Director Susan Johnson, PhD, RN-BC, NE-BC, has been a member of ANPD for 17 years, having served in a variety of capacities both within and outside ANPD. She is currently a Commissioner on the Commission on Accreditation for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), is author of two books, and is a member of the ANPD Education Committee and its Return on Investment subgroup. She also serves on the Board of the Indiana Nurses Foundation, is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the American Nurse, and is an expert reviewer for Nursing Management and a Magnet appraiser, a position she has left for her new role on the BOD.
Director Tina Spagnola, MSN, NE-BC, RN-BC, has been a member of ANPD for over 12 years and brings leadership experience to the board, having been an affiliate president and chair of both the Products and Services Committee and the 2016 Convention Planning Committee.
LEADING ANPD INTO THE FUTURE
The future is built on the work of the past. The new Board stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. A special thanks to the outgoing members of our board: President Joan Warren, Treasurer Ann Colvin, and Directors Linda Misko and Sara Levin. Their work has laid a strong foundation on which we will build the future. ANPD is poised to become the premier nursing professional organization.