NCMA Membership, as your newly elected president, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of the people who have provided guidance and leadership for our organization in the past. Each of our past presidents brought a different perspective and vision with them and have all proven to have different strengths. One thing each of them had in common was their dedication to the principle that the interests of this country can best be served by a strong Navy. They cared deeply about the Naval Civilian Managers Association and our contributions to the Navy, our commands, our communities and our members.
As I take on the responsibilities of this office, I look forward to an exciting and active year. As the Navy and the country “unmask”, I plan to make this a year of “re”; that is re-engage, re-focus and re-build. I want to reengage our membership, our commands and our communities. By the end of this first year, I want all of our members to be able to answer the question “what is National doing for us?” I want to refocus on our mission by working to strengthen civilian leadership skills, community involvement, and our relationship-building. I want to refocus on our four Priorities of 1) Developing Leaders, 2) Chapter Growth/Development, 3) Increasing our reach in our command and communities and 4) Strengthening our Influence. Finally, I want to rebuild those areas in our organization that were put on hold or slowed due to the pandemic. Now is the time to start to rebuild the relationships between National and our chapters, to rebuild the networking between chapters and to rebuild our standing committees. I sincerely believe that our local chapters and our National board can “inspire today’s leaders for tomorrow’s Navy.” I have some new ideas and ambitious plans and I along with the other board members are excited to get started.
However, before we get started, I want to extend my thanks to our past president, Gil Espinoza. It was a challenging year but Gil believed in the organization. He always had a smile, even if it was through a mask. Gil now moves into the position of Past President and I look forward to working with him in the future. He is a true believer in mentorship and I know he will be available to all of us to guide us and inspire us. Thank you Gil, for your service and support.
A new term means goodbyes to other past members. I truly wish to express my gratitude to our past Secretary, Mr. Grant Bosshardt, and his wife Sally. Grant actually retired last year, however, in the midst of the pandemic, it was too difficult to turnover to a new secretary. We suspended the bylaws so Grant could complete his term of office until a new secretary could be appointed. There was no requirement for him to do this but his commitment and belief in this organization was so strong that he agreed to remain as Secretary until the term was completed. His wife Sally, though not a naval civilian, was also a big supporter of NCMA. She attended all the symposiums with Grant and did an exquisite job of decorating our banquet hall each year and I know she helped put many a binder together for the symposium. Thank you Grant and Sally. You are both incredible people and you will be missed.
Our treasurer, Brian Rainaud, has somehow managed to keep our books organized through a pandemic, two missed symposiums and a myriad of other issues. This was his fourth year of serving as our treasurer and we could not convince him to stay for two more. Thank you Brian for doing our taxes, paying our bills and balancing the checkbook. I am glad there are people like you who enjoy doing those types of things. You too will be missed.
Finally, I come to our most recent past president, Jimmy Broom. Jimmy has been on the national board as long as I can remember and it truly won’t be the same without him. His easygoing ways and his unique sense of humor inspired and amused us for many years. As well as serving in many positions over the years, he was also our social coordinator and made arrangements for anything from a night out at the National’s baseball park, to trips to some very interesting places to eat. He accomplished so much for this organization and deeply cared about it and its members. He truly embodied our motto of “Inspiring Today’s Leaders for Tomorrow’s Navy”. Jimmy, you and your family will be missed.
I wish all of our outgoing board members the best of success and I encourage any of you that retire (or have retired) to remain as an Emeritus Members of the National Board. Thank you to all.
Debbie Morris
National NCMA President
