Photo by Dana Kaplan
Since early childhood, Dr. Henner’s second home has been the water, which he frequently covers in his boat, including commuting between his home in Melville and house on Fire Island.
Numbers are Not Enough A strong association depends on fully engaged members assured of the value of their membership. A conversation with Kevin A. Henner, D.M.D., 141st president of the New York State Dental Association. The overarching theme of Dr. Kevin Henner’s presidency is membership. But his approach to infusing the lifeblood of the Association differs in some aspects from past and present efforts. In his first presidential address, delivered in August at the annual meeting of the NYSDA House of Delegates, Dr. Henner described his objectives as follows: “First and foremost, we need to engage the active but silent members who just exist in their offices and play no role in creating the value of organized dentistry…Second, we need to focus on diversity…And when I speak of diversity, I’m talking about differences in ethnicity, gender, generations, specialties, practice settings and so much more. We want the leaders of those diverse groups to become our leaders. We are, after all, all dentists, sharing the common ground of our profession.” Dr. Henner is uniquely situated to carry out one of his objectives. He will be the first NYSDA president to preside over the Association’s observance of Black History Month in February. A resolution passed by the 2021 House charges NYSDA with recognizing Black History Month in its publications and by engaging an “African-American Speaker of Excellence” to deliver a CE-credited address.
16 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 The New York State Dental Journal ●
Dr. Henner understands that attracting new members is just the first step. The second and, perhaps, more critical move is to establish in the minds—and experience—of all members the value of their association. And at no time has that value been more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when NYSDA was challenged with—and succeeded in—keeping its members fully informed about the virus and its ramifications and obtaining permission to reopen dental offices long before other businesses were allowed to. Again, from his speech before the House of Delegates: “When I say membership, I’m not talking about it as a council, or the realization of increased dues on a spreadsheet or our market share but, rather, the value of belonging to our Association and organized dentistry, which was incredibly evident during the last 18 months….We have learned a lot over the last year— how to function and manage in a crisis, how to adjust to rapid change, and so much more.” To that end, Dr. Henner pledges to keep open the lines of communication within the Board, the councils and the membership. “Engaged members,” he said, “are critical to the success of the Association.”
