Get to know me!
Get to know me!
Get to know me!
Get to know me!
I have over 30 years of management and leadership experience. Most of my experience has been at Mayo Clinic, a 501(c)(3) organization (non-profit), the same non-profit status as USA Dance. I have served as the president of my local USA Dance chapter and served on other non-profit boards including as a founding board member for Health Care Compliance Association (now the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics) where I served nine-years including one year as president. I recently finished a 4-year term as secretary on the Heart of Dance Board, a non-profit licensee of Dancing Classrooms.
I have the experience, time, and energy to provide the leadership USA Dance needs. I respectfully ask for your support.
I have included an up-to-date resume should you like more detail on my work experiences and volunteer activities.
Through my experiences, I have learned that the best results come from a collaborative, consensus management style. This has been my approach to leadership. It requires open and candid communication. It also requires the ability to openly discuss and debate issues to find the best solutions. Whenever I have been challenged with a difficult decision, I asked myself, "Is this in the best interests of USA Dance?" For me, this question removes, or at least lessens, the special interests and almost always leads to a better understanding and decision for our organization.
As a membership organization, the vision for USA Dance is best determined by its members. I don't think an individual or even a Board should define a vision in isolation without first understanding the members' perspectives. If I am elected your president, one of the first tasks would be to engage members in the visioning process. USA Dance has been a membership organization for over 50 years. I don't pretend to think that I have all the answers or aspirations for this organization. I do know that things have to change. We need more membership engagement at all levels and within all membership categories of USA Dance.
We are going through a very tough time with COVID. We cannot wait for this to pass to ensure the longevity of USA Dance. Our dancing community needs to define and execute our vision for us to be successful.
Jill and I started dancing about 20 years ago. After a few years of lessons and social dancing, we were persuaded to enter a competition. We now dance socially and competitively. We enjoy each very much.
We have been able to attend many wonderful competition to meet new friends and renew acquaintances. Here we are at Gumbo. A wonderful competition and the only one I know that serves great gumbo!
We compete in rhythm, smooth, and standard. This is more a test of our endurance and attempting to stay mentally fit than attempting to excel in any one style. This picture was taken at the San Antonio conpetition.
We attended the TIdewater Chapter New Year's Eve Gala last year. What a wonderful event. I know many chapters put on gala's and I would encourage everyone to attend as many of these as they can. Many volunteers spend many hours preparing for and hosting these great events.
Halloween dances are a favorite of ours since we get to demonstrate our real personas!
Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers for all their efforts that allow us all to enjoy the social, heath and mental benefits of dancing. Let's continue to work together to make these opportunities available to more dancers who just don't know yet what great dancers they can become!