2020 Association Board already mulling changes
Some members of the Association and Foundation Board meet at the 2019 Symposium to hash out ideas. Left to right: Fred Lash, Chris Whiting, Sharon Fox, Annita Best, Tom Kerr, Paul Mancuso, Keith Oliver.
The 2020 Board of Directors for the USMCCCA has hit the ground running, considering a myriad of topics to make our Association more in tune with our active duty component.
Shortly after our first election in recent memory, the board met to get the new members oriented and new President Dan Clare appointed board members to serve on various committees. Vice President Shawn Rhodes was tasked with coming up with a business plan and Director Sharon Fox proposed an initiative to highlight our members and their accomplishments, asking each board member to come up with three names to feature on social media. As she has worked extensively with brands on marketing and social media, Fox is up on best practices for social media and will head up that area. Director Bryan McDonnell will assist with getting content from the active duty commands to feature on our social networking sites.
Director Paul Mancuso, elected last year, came into his own this year with a great initiative to further the recognition of our active duty brethren. He wants to see a quarterly award program to honor the Marines in the trenches. At the second meeting, a conference call confab, Mancuso further refined this idea by proposing that the award be given for a video, photo or other media product, rather than duplicate the Marine of the Quarter program already used in active commands. He would like to see the submissions be done online and will flesh out the details for the board’s next meeting.
Mancuso also wants to see the USMCCCA current members mentor and assist the Marines leaving active duty. His proposal included an online message board for exchange of information and other initiatives.
Chris Whiting and Rhodes were already working on updating the Association Bylaws and that process continues. The next step is soliciting input from the other board members, the Foundation Board and a few “tribal elders”.
The board discussed the need to update the membership roster and plans have already begun to meet again with the CommStrat and Operations Marines and the Marine Corps Recruiting Command Marines.
Chris Whiting was also appointed Nominations Chair. If you would like to take a seat on this dynamic young Board of Directors next year, or have someone in mind who you would like to nominate, contact Whiting at nominations@usmccca.org. Nominations are open for all officers (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) and three directors. If you would like to help fundraise, contact hq@usmccca.org.