Dear DAMA Chapter Presidents, Chapter Officers and Members,
Last month's unexpected board resignations announcement has caught our community by surprise.
I have consulted with our long time legal council Larry Leonardson, and in accordance with my fiduciary responsibility to DAMA International, I have:
1. Assumed the position of DAMA-I President in order to run the elections process.
2. Appointed Susan Earley as VP Finances
3. Appointed Loretta Smith as VP Operations
Additionally, the Board elected Karen Lopez to Lifetime Advisor.
These appointments are effective as of June 1 2018, and will be in place to keep the organization running while an election is held and a newly elected Board is installed in July 2018. These individuals will be supported by our existing CDMP Fellows: Chris Bradley, Deborah Henderson, and Cathy Nolan. They will also be supported by a few select committees to be formed of the many members and chapter officers who have offered to assist in the transition.
I am grateful that the Board continued to function as volunteers in an operational capacity to help the transition process. I owe a debit of gratitude to the outgoing Board and have personally thanked them for their many years of service to our organization.
Please also note that other options had been considered, such as holding a short term election for transitional board directors. This was discussed Thursday, April 26 with numerous chapter presidents and other participants. The participants in this discussion concurred that the option to appoint the above 3 board director positions was the most appropriate choice, and therefore supported this appointment decision as well as a decision to proceed as per the DAMA I election plan formalized with the participation of four Outgoing Board/Chapter Presidents on 22 April 18.
I want to thank everyone who has reached out to me and others and offered to assist. There is a need and I will be getting back to you while the election progresses. There is work to do to get our organization back on track, but we are committed to doing this openly and deliberately. Our first goal is initiating the elections process and we are working on this diligently and methodically. Please stay tuned for more upcoming developments.
Peter Aiken
President, DAMA-International