From MPA's President Tabitha Grier-Reed, Ph.D., L.P.: Year-End Reflections

This is my last President’s Letter, and like the President before me, I am feeling grateful and thankful. I came into this year with a goal to establish stability through increased accountability and transparency in MPA. Major projects to this end included:

  • Updating the Policies and Procedures (especially those related to leadership and finances) and making these widely available.
  • Clarifying decision-making processes and the roles of the Governing Council and Executive Committee.
  • Creating two additional committee structures endowed with the ability to improve both accountability and transparency for MPA leaders and staff.  These include the Financial Consultation Committee chaired by Bruce Bobbitt responsible for internal annual reviews of financial transactions and the Leadership Development and Nominating Committee chaired by the Immediate Past President responsible for recruiting volunteers in MPA and orienting leaders to what is required of them.

This has been a productive year, and I want to say thank you to all of the people who helped to make my presidency a fruitful and harmonious one. Special thanks to those with whom I worked particularly closely: Secretary Mera Kachgal, 2013 Annual Convention Committee Chair Kate Jalma, Annual Convention Committee Member Tom Skovholt, and Public Education Coordinator Jenna Bemis. I would also like to say thank you to Dan Christensen who was a wonderful Past-President: supportive, reliable, good-humored, and grounded. And, I would like to recognize and thank Rhea Sullivan our Administrative Director who joined us in March and made all the difference for MPA — helping us attain fiscal solvency and a high level of customer service.

Reflections on the 2013 President’s Conference

I would like to say thank you to everyone who made the 2013 President’s Conference happen. Thank you to Martha Aby with her pre-conference workshop on “Cultural Influences Impacting Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendations.”  Thank you to Senator Julie Rosen the MPA Legislator of the Year and to my keynote speaker Jessica Henderson Daniel who both took time to recognize the tremendous sacrifice of our veterans at the conference on Veteran’s Day. Thank you to our veterans. I want to give a very special thank you to Rhea Sullivan who stepped up, with training from Jessica Bartrum, to plan and coordinate this event. I also want to give a heartfelt thanks to Salina Renninger who was instrumental in bringing the conference together from conception to execution. In addition, I want to thank the Education and Training Committee for their guidance, and I want to thank our sponsors: University of St. Thomas, The Trust, Orion Associates, Stratis Health, and Brakins Consulting and Psychological Services. Thank you, Beryl, for helping me to accommodate our keynote. Finally, thanks to all of you who attended. I didn’t originally plan to have a President’s Conference, but in the end gathering around “Culture, Individual Differences, and the Multiple Dimensions of Multicultural Counseling and Therapy” was an excellent final chapter to my presidential year.


MPA President Tabitha Grier-Reed


MPA President Tabitha Grier-Reed, left, presents MPA 
Legislator of the Year award to Senator Julie Rosen (center)
with Patrick Lobejko (right).


Martha Aby, left, works with conference attendees on a case study.


Keynote Speaker Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel addresses
the conference attendees.

2014 Strategic Planning

Continuing to build upon the 4 pillars of operations and organizational structure, fiscal solvency, leadership and governance, and member engagement will make MPA a healthy and sustainable organization into the future. Although 2013 focused heavily on leadership and governance, operations and organizational structure, and fiscal solvency, based on the Strategic Retreat in October, for next year all signs point to considerably more energy focused on member engagement. At the retreat, three major areas of focus emerged that included: increasing member engagement, attracting and meeting the needs of psychologists across generations, and finding opportunities to collaborate with other professional organizations and leverage resources. Stay tuned as MPA welcomes its new President Steve Vincent and President-Elect Scott Palmer. Look for the 2014 Strategic Implementation Plan early next year.

Kudos

  • Kudos to Scott Palmer, Ph.D., 2014 President-Elect of MPA. Scott Palmer is Director of the Behavioral Health Clinic at St. Cloud Hospital. Scott has been a Minnesota psychologist for almost 28 years and believes that psychologists are vital to the health and well-being of our communities.
  • Kudos to Scott Slattery, Ph.D., L.P. who is stepping down as Treasurer, but who has been elected as a General Member on the Governing Council. Scott will also serve as the Governing Council member on the Financial Consultation Committee.
  • Kudos to Steve Girardeau, Psy.D., L.P. elected as a General Member to the Governing Council. Steve is the Director of Clinical Services of Mental Health Systems, and desires to create a world where mental health services have true parity with physical health services.
  • Kudos to Maryanne Lassegard, Ph.D., L.P. also elected as General Member to the Governing Council. Maryanne has had experience in private practice as well as a Behavioral Health Clinic and believes that it is vital that psychologists take a proactive part in defining and promoting our role in the developing healthcare system.
  • Kudos to Mera Kachgal and Scott Slattery who successfully authored a $5,000 Emergency CAPP Grant.
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