Once again, the Board of directors of the FSAA invited all members of the Ford Scholar Alumni Association to attend its January board meeting. This year the meeting was held on Saturday, January 7, and not even the threat of a snow storm could stop Ford Alumni from gathering. In the heart of downtown Portland, the Board was joined by 10 FSAA general members, and six additional general members attended via conference call.
As we kept our eyes on the weather and watched the flurries of snow that fell, a brief history of the FSAA was given, with a vital correction from a founding member, for the record, the FSAA was founded in 2003. Following the introductions and history of the FSAA, committee chairs provided updates and solicited much-needed feedback and a callout for members to join committees. You can find information about joining a committee on the FSAA website. Additionally, members learned a bit more about Bonnie Williams’ position at the Foundation, which has served as a major game-changer in planning the future of the FSAA and how we work with the foundation.
Speaking of the future, attendees also had an opportunity to be a part of constructing the vision of the future of the FSAA. We broke out into small groups to discuss, write down and share ideas of things we would like to see our network do better and where we see ourselves as an organization in 10 years. Some ideas include: having FSAA chapters in different cities, mentorship opportunities, a more active and cohesive network (better utilizing one another as resources), and self-initiative — meaning, encouraging all of us to be engaged in our respective communities, through service and volunteerism.
A couple of special notes from the meeting were the new format of our quarterly newsletter, which will no longer be in print format, but sent via email, and can also be found on the FSAA website. And oh yes, the website! You might have noticed it looks a little different. The new layout of the website will make it easier to navigate and will be the go-to place for all of your FSAA inquiries. Of course you can still ask us questions!
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the meeting. It was a pleasure having your participation. To those who weren’t able to, there’s always next year. We closed right before the heavy snow came in and everyone seemed to have made it home safe.
