Happy New Year to you, amazing YALSA members!
Have you made any professional resolutions for 2014? Perhaps to learn a new skills outside of the purview of your day to day work? Maybe to help advance the profession? If so, please consider volunteering for a strategic committee! These committees are a fantastic way to see all the work that YALSA does to advance teen services, build up your skills, and learn something new. But don’t just take my word for it! See what other people have to say:
Switching to a strategic committee allowed me to meet more YALSA members, freed up some time at conference [and at home], and enabled me to have a bigger picture of what all YALSA does. And I will tell anyone that the most fun strategic committee in YALSA, is the Financial Advancement Committee. There’s lots to do, there’s a specific goal, and you can make it as much fun as you want. – Pam Spencer Holley
I’ve been pleasantly delighted each time to learn more about the tasks of each committee and through that, the organization and broader profession as well. It’s also been exciting to explore newfound strengths and challenge areas and to think about how those relate back to my everyday work life. As a new member in a system that did not formally support Teen Services, strategic committee work was an invaluable experience to be able to network with and learn, as well as to support and engage others by sharing information about the amazing resources that YALSA has to offer. – Shannon Peterson
Managing The Hub and chairing the Hub Advisory Board really helped me develop myself as a leader — so much so that I was able to use that experience and everything I’d learned in the role to successfully sell myself in an interview for my first supervising position. Through my work with YALSA, I was able to grow professionally in ways that my job at the time wasn’t allowing for, and it definitely contributed to my career in a powerful way! – Gretchen Kolderup
YALSA strategic committee work is actually a lot of fun. While of course you have virtual meetings, where you get work done, you also meet a lot of great people and end up building relationships with those you might not have had a chance to get to know without being a part of this kind of work. The people I most often go to when trying to figure out a teen services related problem or to get feedback on an idea are those I first met as a part of YALSA strategic committee work. – Linda Braun
Take a look at YALSA’s Get Involved page to sign up, and check out the committee faq to find out some of the basic details.
You can see a complete list of the committees here!
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, too!
Thanks for all the great work that you do for YALSA!
