Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1398793
2 I PSAI Association Insight, August 4, 2021 (continued on page 4) So that is how we are spending my last six weeks at the PSAI. The Board has been gracious enough to allow me to be helpful in figuring out some of the next steps in taking the PSAI from an "ordinary, decent egg" into a majestic thing that can help portable sanitation rise to new levels of respect, influence, and accomplishment. In accordance with the approved Succession Plan in the PSAI's approved Governance and Operating Manual, the Board has formed a Search Committee and is in the process of interviewing Association Management Companies (AMCs). AMCs are entities that exist for just this type of situation. AMCs help organizations think in new ways, maximize resources, and grow to the next level. In your company, when you want to grow, you might take on some debt to add equipment. You might bring in a new partner or investor. In the association world, using an AMC is a way of investing in the future of the organization to take it to the next level. Whatever is in place by September 17 will have been carefully thought out with that goal in mind. Todd and Emily, your very capable staff, will continue to serve the PSAI going forward; from a member standpoint, little will change except the "face" of the staff leader. The Board will keep you informed as decisions are made regarding an AMC relationship, the goals of that relationship, and who the new staff "face" at When I first became acquainted with the PSAI in the fall of 2013, I knew nothing of portable sanitation. At the time the PSAI was at a turning point, and so was I. The Board offered to hire me, and I agreed to be the new Executive Director— neither of us truly being sure where this decision would take us. Over the course of the past eight years I have learned more than I could have imagined. In many ways, I've had my faith in humanity restored while doing my best to help the portable sanitation industry achieve new levels of professionalism and success. 1 For someone like me, having spent decades in environments where everyone stays clean all day and hangs their college papers on the wall, the process of working with the people in the portable sanitation industry to make a better tomorrow made my tomorrows better. I'll never be the same because I've known you. "So," you may be wondering, "If everything is so great, why are you leaving? Why did you decide to fly?" I didn't decide to fly. I decided to step aside—because the "egg" in this scenario isn't me. It's the PSAI. Over the past many months, the PSAI Board and I have been engaging in our usual long-term visioning for the Association and the influence we hope that it can have on ensuring that clean, safe sanitation is available for all through the success of strong member companies. This year, for the first time, we were at a place where the things we want to do—in fact, need to do, if we wish to accomplish our mission—required more skills and resources than I can offer. As I searched about for ways to address that deficit, considering things like outsourcing, education, adding additional staff, and so on, all the roads led back to one place. With me in the role of Executive Director, the options were far more limited than if I stepped aside and helped the Board rethink how to use those resources to take the Association to the next level. Time to Fly (continued from page 1) 1 If you are curious about what's been accomplished over the past few years, visit www.psai.org/about-the-portable-sanitation-industry