Executive Director Update

A Year of Progress at TPA

This August, as I reached my one-year anniversary of joining TPA as Executive Director, I looked back to reflect on the hundreds of amazing TPA members I have spoken to and met— the heartbeat of TPA. Thank you for your time and generosity as I have listened and learned.

With Kim Jones’s leadership as President, along with the entire Board and leaders throughout the organization, I am pleased to say that there are wins to celebrate, and I would like to share them with you in this format.

In 2021, the TPA Board of Directors approved a new 3-year strategic plan, focused on efforts to empower grassroots advocacy, build leadership, equip the profession with resources and education, and optimize TPA’s infrastructure and engagement opportunities. The TPA leadership committed investments of time and money into advocacy, communications, and remaining relevant into the future. Everything we do, from conferences and digital education to public policy and professional development, is organized around serving the needs of members. That is what makes TPA the professional home for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and student pharmacists in Tennessee, and I hope you have felt the renewed energy behind our staff’s work for you.

We also want TPA to be a home for professional connections, personal networking, and enthusiastic engagement in the variety of opportunities offered. The return of live meetings brought more than 500 to attend TPA meetings. In addition, we continue to make the home of Tennessee pharmacy feel like a home. I welcome all members at any time to the new TPA offices at 1732 Lebanon Pike Circle in Nashville.

TPA’s more than 300 leaders and their direct activity on various committees and task forces are making a difference. To help committees succeed, I have assigned a TPA staff member to each for support. The discussions, projects, webinars, and newsletters all reflect renewed engagement and connection among members.

To support members’ wide-ranging activity on social media, we renewed our focus to enhance our communications online, reaching close to 5,000 Facebook followers, 4,000 Twitter followers, 1,300 Instagram followers, and 800 through LinkedIn, to spread the word about TPA to members and beyond. We also enhanced our weekly communication in the ’10 for Tenn’ and reformatted various ‘Society News’ communications.

Our policy efforts saw success in the legislative session, and strong voices were heard throughout House of Delegate debates. With new contract

TPA’s 2024 Strategic Plan: tnpharm.org/22-24_Strategic_Plan

Anthony Pudlo, PharmD, MBA Executive Director Tennessee Pharmacists Association

lobbyists actively working with the Legislative and Regulatory Policy Committee, TPA’s reputation as a trusted resource and evidence-based intermediary ensured that the voice and influence of TPA members are heard where and when it is most important, and supported by an experienced public policy team.

To each and every TPA member— thank you for being part of the strong heritage at the Tennessee Pharmacists Association. Your engagement, leadership, and support from across the state have created these successes and milestones in my short time at TPA—you have made all the difference!

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” —Theodore Roosevelt