Our Profession Matters
There is an old joke in the Association management profession that after decades doing our jobs, we are still explaining to our family what we do for a living. While I love this joke it also gives me pause.
As a life-long nonprofit/association management professional and executive, it is at times frustrating that what we do is not recognized as the unique business specialty it is. Maybe it's because we're used to explaining; maybe it's because there's no coherent message out there; or maybe we sometimes don't think what we do is unique. That is definitely not the case! What we do as non-profit executives is a unique skill set and knowledge base.
We are part of a business specialty that focuses on improving professions, helping entire industries do better, and making our communities a better place. I believe in our profession and it's why I've spent my entire career here.
It's why I think the Certified Association Executive (CAE) program is vital to the future of our profession and its success. There are too many people who don’t understand what we do or why and thus are dismissive. Instead of learning, they think they can do it too. That is not the case.
There’s a reason we have 8 domains of practice that we need to be familiar with and keep up with in our ongoing professional development. It's why we have a professional designation that sets us apart.
As we move forward in the (hopefully) waning days of the pandemic, and we look to the second half of 2021 and ahead to 2022, let's re-commit to educating the world about what we do in this unique specialty.
You may have noticed that the League has increased the number of CAE courses and support services over the last six months. This is directly related to our commitment to our profession and securing its future.
The League is a leader in nonprofit/association management education, mentoring, and being that voice for our community of practice. Whether or not you are a CAE, you can do your part to spread the word about the significant impact our profession has on the success of the organizations we serve. Please join us in amplifying the voice of the nonprofit management profession.
Check out our offerings in support of the profession here.
Podcast Alert! Cecilia Sepp, CAE, is the guest this week on Joy Duling’s “The Joy of Membership” series. Hear a different take on Chapter Relations from a long-time Chapter Relations Professional (ahem, that’s me, Cecilia!) and what could and should change in our local networks. We need a new Rule Book. Watch it here.
Coming this Fall: CAE Refresh – a course for current CAEs to learn more about the current domains of practice and earn valuable CAE credit for renewal. Watch for updates!
