Letter from Leadership: Our Year in Review
December 20, 2022Dear Members and Friends,
Welcome to the end of yet another year!! While 2022 remained very challenging for so many, like the two prior years, this year heightened the need for all of us to take the time to reflect on and note ‘who and what’ are truly most important in our lives. We here at the National Human Services Assembly are reaching out to you now to give you several reasons why we intend to be on your list!
What follows are some of our 2022 highlights:
- This year has been one of both stabilization and growth for the National Human Services Assembly because of the collaborative efforts of our committed board, dedicated staff, and enthusiastic members and partners throughout the sector. Working together, our efforts enabled us to continue presenting ourselves as a leading convener of experts and practitioners that support hundreds of thousands of human service professionals and the communities they serve.
- We hosted over ten opportunities for sector stakeholders to meet virtually and tackle critical issues such as diversification of the sector’s leadership, strategies for building the capacity of service providers, and bolstering frontline workers who are key for delivering services and goods to those most in need.
- Additionally, we assisted thousands of nonprofits throughout the year in saving millions of dollars toward their missions through PurchasingPoint®!
In 2023, we plan to expand our footprint in these areas and more, including mobilizing sector leaders around critical public policy issues and best practices that can increase and improve services across our country.
Also looking ahead, we are extremely excited that 2023 marks the 100th Anniversary of the National Human Services Assembly! Plans are taking shape for a year-long recognition of the National Assembly’s historical work as we position the organization for another 100 years of leadership.
One area we are committed to expanding is in providing opportunities for more human service and related organizations to join us as we continue to build a solid foundation for the sector to thrive. We firmly agree with our late dear colleague and friend Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA and one of the most highly-respected experts in the field of contemporary leadership development, who said that, “Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do.” Standing behind our ongoing commitment to equity, cultural diversity, inclusion, and justice, in 2023 the National Human Services Assembly will be even more intentional in how we show up. We will be focusing our membership efforts on more proactively seeking out and including all who share these values, are invested in positively impacting their communities, and are ready to serve by also leading others to both ‘be and do’ the same.
Representing the board and staff, we have made personal commitments to bring innovative minds and the most ardent contributors to co-create the tables that represent our diverse membership and communities for mobilizing and deploying collaborative strategies. We are confident that 2023 will be a time in which many of our goals are realized, especially those designed to help our members and providers in the sector adequately fund their work, increase wages and human resource supports for frontline staff, effectively communicate successes with stakeholders, and find new and superior talent to lead their own charges.
To our already engaged group of members, we thank you so much for your contributions this year, and we look forward to what we can achieve together in 2023! For those not yet members, please consider joining the National Human Services Assembly as we deepen our efforts to get into what our visionary Congressman John Lewis called “Good Trouble,” a call to action that was reiterated to us by HHS Secretary Becerra at our 2021 Annual Meeting. Let us work together to further strengthen human services in our communities!!
With wishes for a healthy, peaceful, and joyous season of holidays, sending our best regards always,
