President’s Podium

September 2016

David Como

Dow Corning Corporation NLGI President

Hello again from high atop the podium of the NLGI. The good news is that I can see you all better from up here. The bad news is that I lost ½ inch in stature since I was last checked a couple years ago … very disconcerting, indeed. It has been a very busy and productive year for the NLGI headquarters as well as your board of directors; but how would you know if you are not updated on our progress? So I’m here to tell ya!

Those who were paying attention already know that we were working with an outside consultant last year to breathe new life into our organizational efficacy and long-range planning. Under the guidance of Mr. Mark Levin, we revamped both our vision and our mission statements and laid the groundwork for revising our constitution and by-laws (C&BL) both for accuracy as well as for structural efficacy. Our proposal will be in the form of a revised NLGI Constitution (including the aforementioned statements) and a new NLGI Policy Manual. We hope to be able to present the results of these efforts later this year.

On the long-range planning front, we boiled down the various outputs from the board into these priority areas: • Membership growth and outreach • Provide expanded educational opportunities • Efficacy of governance and leadership for NLGI • Basic research • Communication of the value of knowledge-based resources and certification • Global NLGI outreach

Committees and sub-committees are now being organized (or re-organized) to address these areas that will include the membership. We have heard from several members who have energy

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around these topics which is great to hear … so don’t be left out if you are interested in contributing! We are also actively restructuring and re-emphasizing our existing committees’ purpose and commitment. Much of our C&BL work brought some gaps to light for us here.

Most importantly, we are striving to both listen to AND ask support from the NLGI Membership. THIS MEANS YOU!!! We are always open to constructive change and are now making a point of involving non-board members in committees in order to gain your input DIRECTLY … so please don’t be shy!

Simply, Dave Como