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From the Desk of Marty Schaffel: Selfless Volunteers

The ASHA has a board of directors that are elected by our membership. And I am grateful to serve with all of these great people. They give of their time selflessly. 

The ASHA bylaws also allow the board to have a few honorary, non-voting members who are appointed to serve for one year. “Honorary board member” is a bit of a misnomer – when the board sees gaps where capable ASHA members can help, they ask. 

It’s a big ask – these people are serving as unpaid consultants in their areas of expertise. We have four such experts serving now. They are (with their areas of expertise): 

Rachel Seifert (legal)

Nicole Foster (diversity and inclusion)

Chris Schubert (financial/organizational)

Amy Dix Rock (organizational) 

I am thrilled to be fortunate enough to work with these four women, as well as the men and women who are elected to the board. They are all extremely smart and dedicated to making ASHA a better organization for its members.  

I remember 25 years ago when I went to the annual trade show for my company. It was the national audio/visual convention. This industry was predominantly populated by men. A gentleman who had a similar company as mine in another state walked up to me at the convention. He said, “Son, I hear you have mostly women in your management team and they are running your business!” I told him he was correct. He replied, “You sure won’t be in business very long if that is the case. Good luck with that!” 

I said, “Sir! The women in my company are extremely talented and outperform most of the men!” He walked away shaking his head. Seven years later he was out of business. My company emerged as the biggest in our industry and has remained that way for the last 18 years. I attribute that success to the great people I hired. And most of the people who truly made a difference were the women in our organization.  

It is not surprising to me that Nicole, Rachel, Amy and Chris are such great contributors to the success of ASHA. They are very hard working, brilliant and dedicated people. I will try and make sure that the work they are doing is highlighted in future columns. 

If you see any of them, or know them, please let them know you too appreciate their great efforts. They are making a difference for all of us. And making ASHA better than ever.

Thank you ladies!

Marty Schaffel, ASHA President