by Elizabeth Kirts, MPH, ICCE, IBCLC, RLC

I have never been one to make New Year’s Resolutions. For me, the New Year is a continuation of the life I have been given. I view life as a spiral and not a line. For other people, it’s a great chance to reset and make new goals. Regardless of how you approach it, we are starting a new year. This will be my last year as the President of ICEA and as a board member. When I was elected to the board as the Public Policy Chair, I never dreamed I would be given the opportunity to be President. It has been an honor to serve all of you through my various roles on the board. Each time we make a decision, we take into consideration the impact on all or our certified professionals and members. You are what make ICEA so wonderful. Having one year left, I plan to make the most of my remaining time on the board. And I’m excited because we have an outstanding group of people in all the board positions. We also have committee members working with us to include a variety of perspectives. If you haven’t considered a committee position or have wondered if you qualify, I urge you to consider joining. There is great reward in giving time to support each other. Our board met in July to do Strategic Planning. This was two days where we brainstormed and came up with what would be most critical for ICEA. Strategic Planning doesn’t end with writing it out. That is only the beginning. We are now meeting in small groups to complete the plan. You will soon be seeing some big changes to our website which will have a ripple effect to everything we do. You will also be received (or maybe already received) a survey. We want to know what we can do to meet your needs and take ICEA to the next level. Watch the newsletter as we will highlight changes we are making. One of the changes that was announced many months ago was the updated requirement for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) training for certification and recertification. You will need 4 hours of training in DEI. As this is new, we have heard about concerns in meeting the requirement. We will not prescribe what training you have to take because each of you work in an area with different needs for DEI. The goal is to increase self-awareness and personal bias. Jenna in our office has a list of trainings that we have vetted and will be automatically accepted. You are welcome to take one of those trainings. Some are free, some have a fee. At our last virtual conference, several of the presentations would meet that requirement. Or you may have done a local training that you want to use. All we ask is that if it’s not on the pre-approved list of trainings that you contact us to get the hours approved prior to recertification. As we continue to work hard to serve you, we appreciate all you are doing to teach and support all of the families who are going through the life changing event of becoming parents. Sometimes we get caught up in the day to day and forget how the small things we do for individuals can lead to big things down the line. Thank you!