How exciting! My first communication with you as President of the Alliance. I was deeply honored to be selected for this role and will do my best to fill the big shoes of my predecessors. And of course, I am surrounded by some remarkable people. Our board contains a full range of perspectives, skills, and ideas to help our organization provide even more member benefits for you. It is a gift to serve with them.

These are unprecedented times we find ourselves in. I truly believe this is a singular moment for all organizations, and AFMTE is no exception. There is no business as usual. Very few things in the coming year will look like they have in past years. But this is no time to wring our hands. This is the time for paradigm shift. This is time to reassess what is most important. This is the time to pull even closer as a community.

We’re hard at work on all of those things within AFMTE. We are in the process of strategic planning. Since everything is so up in the air right now, it is not a five year plan. Instead, we’re looking out one to two years to determine how to best support you. While we haven’t finished that strategic planning process, I can share a sneak peak or two next month. For now, I have a couple of updates on things we have in the hopper right now.
One big shift for 2021 is that our Biennial Congress will, for the first time, be 100% virtual. We’re very excited to share this new platform with you. It will allow folks to join us who may not have been able to do so in the past. The opportunity to come together as a community will be safe for everyone. We’re working hard to create ways that you can see your friends and colleagues, meet some new ones, and get what we know is so important about the Congress: CONNECTION.

And, as an added bonus, we still plan to get together in Austin, TX in July 2022 for a hybrid conference! By that time, some of us will be ready to connect in person. For those who choose not to for whatever reason, we will be well-prepared to offer a virtual experience that is just as impactful. We hope to see you and your team at both events!

Another important topic we are exploring in some depth is equity, diversity, and inclusion in massage therapy education. I happen to live just seven blocks from the location of George Floyd’s killing. The civil unrest that event unleashed is still taking place in many locations, including my own city. Rather than simply posting a statement on the topic, we decided this was an opportunity to go a few steps further. We chose to bring together educators from across the country to explore how we can bring greater equity, diversity, and inclusion to massage therapy education. We will share the outcome of our work and hope that as we do this work, we are able to provide tools you can use on these topics as well.

I have so much more to share with you, but I will save some for another edition of our newsletter. I’ll see you again in a few weeks. Please stay safe and warm until then!

Warmest Regards,
Michele

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