NACE Excellence Awards
Advancement of the Vision & Future of NACE
The NACE Governance Task Force
For their work reviewing the NACE governance structure, gathering member input, benchmarking with other associations, and developing recommendations for board review and action, the members of the NACE Governance Task Force have been awarded the 2006 NACE Excellence Award in the category of Advancement of the Vision and Future of NACE.
The members of the NACE Governance Task Force are Tim Luzader, director of the center for career opportunities at Purdue University; Dan Guaglianone, executive director of recruiting and staffing at Merck & Co.; and Marilyn Mackes, executive director of NACE, who served as the staff liaison for this team.
“Using visionary leadership and strategic thinking, the team provided the Board of Directors with information and options for setting a new direction for NACE,” explains Vanessa Strauss, NACE past president and senior advisor to the director and deputy director, Division of Administration for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, who nominated the members of the NACE Governance Task Force for the award. “They dealt with many tough issues, considered varying perspectives, and during the entire process, it was evident that the group was exploring the best solutions to advance the profession and association."
Each member of the NACE Governance Task Force was given a specific research assignment, and then participated in several conference calls and a face-to-face meeting in order to prepare recommendations to the NACE Board of Directors.
“Many personal and professional hours were spent gathering benchmarking data, pulling together current and historical documents, and developing options to present to the NACE Board,” Strauss notes. “Each member rose to the occasion and not only met the short deadline, but presented options to the NACE Board that were consistent with the current strategic direction of the association.”
The plan that the task force developed reflects what NACE members have said is important:
- That NACE needs to be dedicated to the advancement and transfer of knowledge for the profession.
- That NACE should be developing opportunities for content growth in a range of areas pertinent to its members’ needs.
- That NACE operates in an environment “without boundaries;” in other words, with the advancement of technology and the increasing growth of global connections, geographic boundaries are less relevant today in meeting content needs.
- That NACE’s operations and elected leadership should be aligned and focused on delivering on the content-focused expectations of its members.
- That NACE will be strengthened by developing relationships with associations that share the content and knowledge interests of its members.
“The NACE Board of Directors approved a governance model that, for the first time, fully allows NACE members to elect all of the officers and directors to the Board and provides the flexibility to draw from content experts as leaders of the association,” Mackes explains. “These benefits directly support NACE's commitment to serving its members.”
Completing the plan wasn’t easy. According to Luzader, one of the biggest challenges the task force faced was breaking from the past in an effort to set the best course for the future.
“Sticking to tradition would have been the easiest and most comfortable thing for us to do,” he says. “Departure from tradition will always be difficult and we overcame a great challenge by doing so. We accomplished it as a task force, and as a NACE Board, by having the courage and resolve to act. We were driven by insights gained through our strategic planning initiative, from the support and understanding of many NACE members, and by what we felt strongly was in the best interest of our profession.”
Guaglianone says the members of the task force constantly reminded each other to “take the blinders off and look at the governance structure in a new way.” The final product, Guaglianone explains, will allow NACE to operate optimally in a climate that demands flexibility.
“This new strategic plan really sets the path for the future,” he says. “It will make NACE more nimble, more global, and better able to change with the changing times.”
