WID President Recaps 2000, Looks to 2001.

• Author: Smith, Judy L.

As we complete the first quarter of 2001, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year. I trust each of you had a wonderful holiday season. The board did its best to launch the season on November 29, during our holiday reception.

To recap 2000, the board's main focus was to "renew the core." This focus provided the board an opportunity to perform a "self-examination." In 2000, we used inputs from the Women In Defense (WID) member survey and created a draft strategic plan. This year, we have scheduled another session to finalize and approve the plan. We will post the finalized plan on our Web site early in the second quarter.

As in the past, our highest priority remains to be responsive and to engage our membership by offering programs to meet your needs. Although this sounds simple, it has been at times very consuming. Therefore, we focused on fine tuning our membership and program processes. It is our hope that this emphasis will be realized in the upcoming fiscal year as evidenced by new and exciting programs, as well as an even more engaged membership.

Other thrusts in 2000/2001 have been to create chapter formation guidance, increase the number of board members, and establish a Senior Advisory Committee. The chapter guidance has been created and is in final board review. Our plan is to publish the approved guidance on the Web site before the end of this month.

Expansion in membership--up 20 percent in 2000/2001--and programs presents the opportunity to...