Associations Thrive

How do you support your members when a lot of their work evaporates because of government regulations? How do you educate an entire ecosystem about your members’ work?

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Pam Donahoo, CEO, America's Mortgage Banking Attorneys, aka USFN. Pam discusses:

• How she got introduced to associations because of her mother, who ran an association.
• Pam’s advice for getting to know an association and its industry or profession when you’re a new executive.
• How USFN rebranded to become America’s Mortgage Banking Attorneys.
• How USFN supported its members during the pandemic, when the US government froze all banks’ ability to foreclose on homeowners.
• How USFN doesn’t just educate its members, it educates its members’ customers and government officials.
• What banks and USFN members are doing today to keep homeowners in their homes.
• What USFN is doing to nurture and cultivate the next generation of members and leaders.
• How USFN is rethinking its conference, education, and other offerings.

References:

• USFN website
• The Source

What do a plane hijacking, the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, a hurricane in Louisiana and a deep freeze in Texas have in common? They all contributed to a crisis in the global supply of fertilizer!

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI). Corey discusses:

• The critical importance of fertilizer, without which the human population would drop by 50% because of mass famine.
• How COVID was a gift because it gave him time to get to know his members at the start of his tenure at TFI.
• The events of 2021 that led to a huge crisis in the fertilizer market (the black swan event).
• The issues that keep members up at night, including volatile fertilizer markets, supply chain issues, the ability to make massive capital investments, and sustainability.
• How TFI communicated directly with farmers, who are TFI members’ customers, to explain why fertilizer prices were increasing so much during the pandemic.
• The nuanced advocacy and lawmaker education that TFI engages in.
• How TFI has been merging with other associations and the issues surrounding organization mergers.
• How trust is so important in an organization. Staff and members need to trust TFI and its leadership, and TFI leaders need to trust their staff to do a good job.
• TFI’s hybrid staff policy which does not have any specific mandates re: days in the office.
• Global Fertilizer Day on October 13.

References:

• TFI website

How can servant leadership revolutionize an organization? How do you serve the needs of healthcare professionals AND patients and their families? How do you reinvent your conferences so they cater to the needs of members, and don’t focus on the venue?

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Adam Levy, Executive Director of the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association (ACPA). Adam discusses:

• How babies with cleft palate and craniofacial differences (we don’t call them birth defects anymore) are born to families all over the world, not just overseas.
• How Adam feels professionally fulfilled by holding a servant leadership role at ACPA.
• As ED of ACPA, he wants his team members to be successful; their success is his success!
• The importance of clarity in the job: Do staff have clarity about their tasks? Is Adam clear about his vision and expectations?
• How ACPA pivoted to provide patients with learning resources about conditions and treatments.
• How advocacy has become an integral part of ACPA's activities, advocating for patients and their families, especially when it comes to what insurance companies will cover.
• How ACPA is retooling their conferences to be less structured around a venue, but optimized for attendee education and connections.

References:

• ACPA Website
• Find an ACPA Approved Team

Note: Be sure to listen until the very end, after the outro, for the bloopers. :-)

This episode of Associations Thrive is a little different. Host Joanna Pineda had the opportunity to sit down with some of the top podcasters in the association industry. 

• Dave Coriale, Delcor Technology Solutions and host of Reboot IT
• Kiki L’Italien, Association Chat and host of Association Chat
• Ben Muscolino, Breezio and AMSGeek and host of The Association Podcast
• Dave Will, PropFuel and host of Association Strong

They talked about a few of their favorite episodes, key themes of governance, reinvention and entrepreneurship that keep popping up during the podcast interviews, and how the podcasts are changing them.

What does it mean to truly celebrate culture within the scientific community and why does it matter today? What role does mentoring play in shaping the careers of emerging scientists and leaders in STEM?

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Juan Amador, Executive Director or the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Juan discusses:

• SACNAS's goal to increase the representation of Chicanos, Hispanics, and Native Americans in STEM.
• SACNAS's motto of "celebration, not assimilation." Juan explains this as celebrating science, community, and culture and bringing one's true self to science, including cultural expressions, and building stronger communities.
• The importance of mentoring in Juan’s career.
• How SACNAS has a variety of mentoring programs, including official mentoring, long-term mentoring and episodic mentoring during the SACNAS annual conference.
• What it means to him to be the first recipient of the Association Latinos Estrella Award, awarded last October 2023.

References:

• SACNAS website
• Association Latinos website
• Association Latinos Inspira Award

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda checks in with Leah Monica, Director of Marketing at Matrix Group International and Ray Stankiewicz, Director of Client Services. They look back on a year of Associations Thrive podcast episodes. They discuss:

• Their favorite podcasts, outside of Associations Thrive
• Episodes that stood out for them this year
• Episodes that surprised them
• Key themes that echoed through multiple episodes, including:
• The theme of the importance of having a great culture in order to have a high-performing organization
• Governance and the importance of having great Board-staff relations
• Organization rebranding and website redesigns
• How associations and nonprofits helped the US navigate and overcome the pandemic

We’re looking forward to another great year of CEOs sharing their journeys and the things that their organizations are doing to thrive.

How do you grow your company while maintaining relationships and quality? How do you stay on top of industry trends to be responsive to industry needs?

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Loretta DeLuca, CEO & Owner of DelCor Technology Solutions (DelCor). Loretta discusses:

• Her beginnings in the association space and the founding of DelCor.
• How Delcor is run by a triumvirate (Loretta, Dave, Brian) and how they bring a wide range of experiences and perspectives to the company.
• The ways in which DelCor is expanding to provide more resources and services to the 501(c) sector.
• How DelCor has managed its growth, in order to maintain relationships, its reputation and the quality of its services.
• How DelCor has “boots on the ground,” or people who are tasked with spotting industry trends.
• Why associations should spend time mastering data analytics to further understand their members' needs.
• Modern methods of educating younger generations about the positive missions and goals of 501(c) organizations.

References:

• Delcor website
• The 501(c) IT Maturity Model
• Delcor’s podcast, Reboot IT

How do you lead an organization that does great work AND is a great place to work? 

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Marcie Finney, Executive Director at the Cleveland Cord Blood Center (CCBC). Marcie discusses:

• What umbilical cord blood is and why we bank it.
• The differences between a private cord blood bank and a public cord blood bank.
• The life-saving treatments that are now available because of research enabled by cord blood and stem cell transplants.
• Marcie’s journey from being a researcher to running the CCBC.
• The work she’s done to make CCBC a great place to work, including better infrastructure, a new strategic plan, updated job descriptions, and so much more.
• How the CCBC is part of the Cord Blood Association, which brought cord blood banks together and helped them achieve FDA licensing.
• The importance of racial and ethnic diversity in the cord blood units stored by public cord blood banks, especially as the US population is growing more diverse.
• How CCBC supports groundbreaking research into new treatments for all sorts of diseases, including leukemia, autoimmune disorders, cerebral palsy, and HIV.
• How creating a diverse cord blood inventory is a national resource.
• How nurses call donors when their baby’s cord blood is going to be used; these are some of the best calls they make!
• Why moms should consider donating their babies’ cord blood to a public cord blood bank.

References:

• Cleveland Cord Blood Center
• National Marrow Donor Program 
• Cord Blood Association
• Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation

What’s really working to attract Black, Hispanic and Native American professionals to the world of business? 

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Blane Ruschak, President of The PhD Project. Blane discusses:

• His personal journey from auditor to recruiter to head of The PhD project.
• The importance of diversity in the business community and how The PhD project is making a difference by recruiting diverse candidates to get their PhDs and become professors at business schools around the country.
• How The PhD supports its members through conferences, training and mentoring. The PhD project has a 90% PhD completion rate, a number unheard of in other programs.
• How they help new PhDs become better teachers and researchers through training and conferences.
• When The PhD project was founded, there were fewer than 300 Black, Hispanic and Native American professors in US business schools. Today, there are over 1700!
• How their members become PhDs and professors to give back, make a difference in their communities, and conduct meaningful research.

References:

• The PhD Project website
• The PhD Project on LinkedIn
• Member Stories

While Asian-Americans are well represented in the tech workforce, they are poorly represented in leadership positions, including tech leadership. How do we help Asian scientists and engineers move into leadership roles?

In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Khanh Vu, CEO & Executive Director of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE). Khanh discusses:

• How Asian scientists and engineers are often held back by cultural traits, including the desire to always be respectful, let their seniors speak first, and not seem overly aggressive.
• How SASE helps members develop the communication and leadership skills needed to rise up the rank at their organizations.
• How Asian women are the least likely to move into leadership positions, which is why SASE has a women’s leadership conference and new mentoring pods to support their women members.
• How the SASE National Convention is known for its amazing food, training, and job interviews with corporate sponsors.
• How hundreds of job offers were made during this year’s National Convention.
• How Northrop Grumman’s CEO challenged her Asian and Asian-American executives to come up with a plan to recruit and nurture their Asian-American staff, and then share their playbook with other SASE corporate sponsors.
• How Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) help groups within companies find support and training.
• How the National Convention in 2023 was the largest ever, with 3,000 attendees.
• How membership is at an all-time high of over 20,000.

References:

• SASE website