Back from the AEC and in search of the new NEHA executive director.

I have just returned from NEHA’s 78th Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was one of our most successful AECs with over 1,000 attendees. The AEC’s President’s Banquet was attended by one of the largest crowds in recent memory. Additional tables were needed to seat everyone. The excitement of the crowd was amplifi ed by members of NEHA and the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) talking with old friends and meeting new ones. The week of the AEC was full of new attendees, great technical presentations, students doing posters or presentations, mentoring of new members, and welcoming our NEHA members, guests, and joint attendees from around the world. The 2014 AEC was held in conjunction with IFEH and the International Faculty Forum. The IFEH attendees were from many countries including England, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Uganda, Australia, Jamaica, Malawi, Portugal, Canada, and New Zealand. It was truly an international meeting with our NEHA President Alicia Enriquez attending the IFEH Congress on Saturday and Sunday and IFEH President Peter Davey attending our meetings on Monday and Tuesday. NEHA and IFEH had technical presentations throughout the week. It was interesting to observe the attendees talking about many of the same things. We really are one world of environmental health. I believe having a joint conference with IFEH gave our AEC a new dimension and an excitement that was evident throughout the week. A fl ag exchange ceremony occurred at the end of the President’s Banquet between the countries of the current IFEH Congress meeting and the next Congress meeting in 2016. IFEH has ceremonial traditions that we found interesting and educational. I think a good time was had by all who attended our joint AEC/IFEH conference. Many new friendships were forged and old ones renewed. I was fortunate to be a part of welcoming both old and new friends in attendance. We anticipate the NEHA 2015 AEC being held in Orlando, Florida, to be even better. As you are aware our executive director has resigned and has left NEHA effective July 31, 2014. Effective August 1, 2014, NEHA will operate with an interim management team of seasoned managers. The interim management team, which is comprised of Rance Baker, Jill Cruickshank, and Larry Marcum, has been in place for several months and has assumed the duties of the executive director for continued continuity of the organization. Each of these managers has been with NEHA for many years and each is familiar with the principal areas of entrepreneurial zone projects, operations, and government affairs. They will continue with their current duties and have begun to integrate the executive director duties associated with their areas of expertise. Rance Baker has been chosen as the point person to work with the board to relay information and answer any questions raised by the board. We know they will all do a great job until our new executive director is on board. At the spring 2014 NEHA board of director’s meeting, a selection committee of fi ve people composed of one NEHA staff member, three board members, and one outside industrial member were appointed. Their mission is to 1) determine characteristics needed in a new executive director, 2) select a search fi rm to seek qualifi ed candidates, 3) defi ne job tasks for the new executive director , 4) present three to fi ve candidates to the board for selection, and 5) hire a new executive director. Our fi rst meeting via conference call was to draft a request for proposal (RFP) to send to a selection of executive search fi rms. We established a projected budget (voted on by the board at the July 2014 meeting) for the entire process and developed a timeline for completion of our tasks. Before the next meeting we added two new members to the selection committee: one additional board member and one environmental health science practitioner. At our next meeting we reviewed and revised the RFP, inserting dates congruent with our timeline. A list of search fi rms was identifi ed and researched and fi ve We really are one world of environmental health.