Terry ReddingWhat “What” Was: Musings of your retired Treasurer (John Massad)
Be Treasurer of NAPA? You want me to do what? But, I had no idea what “what” was.
What was it to be Treasurer? What does one actually do? So, I blithely turned my head 5 years ago and got myself elected to see if I could find out. This past November, at the close of gavel of our annual business meeting, I retired. And as I look at my fine Certificate of Appreciation hanging in my home office, I find myself musing about just what it was that I did.
Sure, I developed budgets, processed reimbursements, and worked closely with AAA to manage our resources (thanks, Suzanne), but those day-to-day tasks weren’t really what it was all about. Everything I did was actually in support of an army of actively engaged volunteers – very fun people, I must say – during this time of expansion and innovation. They were the ones that had the vision, and I just helped find the means of implementing them. They did all the hard work, and they did it gladly!
And we had many accomplishments. We brought ourselves into the 21st Century with a robust social media campaign, and in the process revamped how our website is managed, with literally thousands of dollars in savings (thanks, Terry). We now have the largest workshop-based training program at the AAA meetings, resulting in significant revenue, while providing a much-needed service to our field (thanks, Sabrina). We established an Occupational Therapy Field School in Guatemala that is wildly successful, brings dignified care to the underserved, and is revenue neutral (thanks, Gelya, Nancie, and Rachel). And, we expanded our Careers EXPO at the AAA meetings, which, while costly, is an essential duty of NAPA to our rising practitioners (thanks, Cathleen).
And, yes, through it all we grew our asset pool to the point that we are now in the position to invest wisely for new efforts. So, what did I do in all this? What it really comes down to is simple – I sought to be helpful in any way I could. In the end, that is what NAPAis all about, being helpful. And in that process, increasingly our conversation has returned to one central theme: what can we do, as an association, to ensure that the younger generation of practitioners doesn’t have to go through what we have in our diverse and diversified careers?
That’s where you come in, as readers of this blog. Get involved! This is an extremely active group, but we need you to volunteer to keep it going. And, tell us what you need! I personally want to hear from you (jpnmassad@gmail.com)! You see, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m your NAPA President-Elect, and at the close of gavel at next year’s business meeting in DC, I will start to learn “what” that’s all about. Good luck to our new Treasurer, Kevin (who you will hear from shortly, in early January). May he enjoy learning what “what” is, as I have!
Thanks, y’all, it’s been an honor to serve. And thanks to Mary, Tim, and Leni for getting me into all this!