Advancing the Value of Membership

It has been an honor to serve as President of the ICFTN chapter in 2019.  Making that honor even more special was the genuinely committed members who served on the Board of Directors.  Our goals for this year were to inspire our members with outstanding programming, encourage our members to engage with each other as professionals, develop as a coaching community in order to grow our businesses and become better in delivering service to our clients and promote the coaching profession in our community through pro bono coaching for non-profit leaders.  We committed as a Board to do all this while preserving the financial assets our chapter has available to sustain and grow our Mission.

I hope you agree we have achieved our goals this year to nurture the professional development our membership requires to achieve their highest potential as coaching professionals.  Please join me in thanking your Board for their time and efforts to make the chapter more relevant to you and the coaching profession. 

I would like to encourage you to engage your Board in conversation about what you would like the Board to do on your behalf, advancing the value of your membership. To that end, your participation in our local chapter member survey was very much appreciated. More than half of our membership participated in the survey. We learned, for example,

• a majority of our members have between three and ten years’ experience as coaches,

• are in private practice,

• primarily practice career and executive coaching and a great many practice personal/life coaching,

• joined the chapter to cultivate their network and learn from more experienced coaches,

• want to obtain the necessary CCEUs through our programming and,

• want to gain support for building their coaching business,

• most members attend an average of four learning events annually.

One area that I would like you to consider as we close out one year and begin another is the issue of volunteerism. Based on your answers to the membership survey, 63% of respondents have not volunteered for a committee. During 2019 the Board reached out to participants at a couple of events to communicate what committees do and how volunteers could help. We will commit to you to communicate more about how you can help make the chapter better and better. We want your active participation and input.

As we prepare for 2020, your Board of Directors wishes you and yours a joyous and safe holiday season. 

Donna Yurdin, ICFTN President-2019