I’d like to tell you about a very special leader I know who sits on our board of directors (BOD) and who always has your best interests always at heart. Her name is Jane Fairchild and she works for Xerox. For a number of years, she has served on our ASTD board in the role of an educator. As our Vice President of Professional Development, she is responsible for developing and delivering GV-ASTD sponsored educational opportunities to the greater Rochester community. Under Jane’s leadership our chapter has provided workshops, stand-alone programs, and several on-going series with multiple sessions. Each program offers a stimulating, exciting topic that challenges attendees to think beyond their beliefs about adult learning.

Jane does this in a very intentional way. Each year she uses the ASTD Competency Model as a guide to ensure that each program is aligned with the latest capabilities required for our industry. When topics have been selected, either from your feedback or from current trends, she then sees to it that each speaker is vetted for their ability to educate and bring in new and stimulating material. The results are high quality, high value programs at a reasonable rate. Jane’s goal is to create the opportunity for you to acquire expertise that distinguishes you from others in the community. I guess you could say that she is continuously raising the competency bar in a very intentional way. She focuses on providing development opportunities that sup-port you in the many roles each one of you play in your organization, giving you that chance to expand your knowledge and skills. Jane under-stands members’ development needs better than anyone else I have known because she listens to the feedback you provide.