NEHA is a volunteer organization.

Like most nongovernmental organizations, NEHA is a volunteer organization. As members we perform numerous functions for the organization as volunteers. Volunteers range from the board of directors (which includes the fi ve elected offi cers and the nine regional vice presidents), to the affi liate presidents, technical advisors, peer reviewers and technical editors, past presidents, and numerous other committees and groups who perform various tasks or functions for NEHA. Many of us have been called upon to volunteer for some committee or work on some project, from developing the new Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) exam to deciding who our new executive director will be. As members we feel an obligation, and in most cases, a feeling of contribution to NEHA to ensure its continuation as the go-to organization for our profession. All of us somehow found our way to NEHA; we believe we can contribute and encourage others to join and work with us to make NEHA the premier organization for environmental health. Many of us were elected by either the total membership, by our regional membership, by our state affi liate, or by being invited or asked by the president to be a technical advisor or to serve on some committee. Our members are volunteers in every sense of the word. The board of directors has responsibilities that include fi nancial and operational (as the executive director reports to the board). The board also is responsible for communicating with the membership. This year we have had the enormous task of fi nding a new executive director, which takes time and fi nancial resources. Our task is nearing completion and we know NEHA will have the very best executive director to lead us into the 21st century. One of the board’s tasks related to this was a detailed review of NEHA and its operations. We found the NEHA staff to be a wonderful group of intelligent and hardworking individuals who perform their jobs, work with our members, interact with outside agencies, and maintain thousands of registrations in several areas of environmental health. Our job as board members is made easier by their dedication and loyalty to all of us who are members of NEHA. Our affi liate presidents are the leaders on the ground and contribute so much to the membership with their activities during the year including their annual meetings and their attendance at NEHA’s Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition to give us an update on what is happening in the trenches. They are the foundation upon which NEHA was created and the state organizations in which we are individual members. We hope many of them will move up to regional vice presidents or offi cers of NEHA in the future. Perhaps the groups we see or converse with frequently at NEHA’s AEC are the technical advisors. These volunteers are experts in their chosen fi eld and give NEHA the ability to utilize their knowledge and expertise to assemble a slate of speakers for our AEC. They work with the NEHA staff to recruit speakers to present papers and posters and will moderate the educational sessions. Our educational sessions are some of the best presentations and posters with the latest information on a variety of subjects that are of vital interest to many members. After the AEC they will provide a written report to NEHA’s educational coordinator that summarizes the presentations, handouts, audiovisuals, and speakers’ technical and presentation skills. Another group of volunteers that makes a big impact on NEHA are the Journal’s peer reviewers and technical editors. Without this large group of individuals the Journal would not be able to publish the high-quality and scientifi cally sound articles that it does. All articles submitted to the Journal for publication consideration are sent to two peer reviewers and one technical editor for review. The peer reviewers provide feedback on the We feel an obligation, and in most cases, a feeling of contribution to NEHA to ensure its continuation as the go-to organization for our profession.