Board Message

On Friday June 5, the board met in an all-day retreat at Smith College to review the comments from the membership and begin the creation of the next five-year strategic plan. At the meeting, the board reviewed the organization's Mission Statement and created the following vision statement to inform the planning process:

NEA advances archival knowledge and best practices; builds and fosters collaborative communities; advocates for archival principles and practices; and is thus broadly recognized as a source of innovation and expertise.

This statement was based directly on the responses we have collected from the membership over the two months following the spring meeting in Cambridge. Next, we assessed the institution's current status by looking at its strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats and a profile of the membership.

Based on the vision statement and the assessment of the organization, we drafted a series of goals and objectives. The goals and objectives are still in early draft form. Over the next few months, the board will work to refine them. In the early fall, we will share them, still in draft form, with the membership via the listservs and the website and will encourage responses via neaplanning@gmail.com . We have also built in an extra half-hour to the fall meeting lunch period to allow members to respond--and offer suggested changes--to the goals and objectives.

Following the fall meeting, the board will meet again to refine and finalize the goals based on comments received from the membership. At this final planning retreat, the board will also evaluate the financial and human resources needed to complete the goals and will assess the feasibility of each goal. Finally, the board will develop an action plan for implementing the strategic plan. The plan in final form will be posted to the listservs and the website and will be presented at the annual business meeting in the spring.

Many thanks,

  • Peter Carini, President
  • Elizabeth Slomba, VP/President -Elect
  • Kathryn Hammond Baker, Past President
  • Danielle Kovacs, Secretary
  • Andy Wentink, Treasurer
  • Karen Adler Abramson, Member-at-Large
  • Ellen Doon, Member-at-Large
  • Joanie Gearin, Member-at-Large
  • Melissa Watterworth, Member-at-Large