(L to R) Amy Penny - Manager of Membership and Communications,
Katie Bodiford - Executive Director, and Nicole Byrne - Manager of Councils and Meetings
Today marks one year since I joined National Women in Roofing as Executive Director. I remember when a friend of mine sent me the job listing. I had been in the construction and building supply industry for years but had worked on several initiatives that focused on being a women in a male-dominated industry. Could it be that this role would weave all of those pieces together?
It certainly did.
This has been an incredible year of growth for NWIR- in many ways. I came on board as their first full-time Executive Director. We transitioned away from our association management company and then hired two full-time staff. We built a brand new website from scratch, switched to a new member database and built a new online community. To say it's been a whirlwind is like saying "it's a little windy" when a tornado is in your back yard, but I am thrilled to see the positive impact all of these changes are bringing to our association.
First and foremost, you have a full-time staff here to serve you. We're here to help you navigate the new website, get connected with a local council, sign up for events, provide recruitment tools, help you find a mentor...whatever the need is to make your member experience a positive one. Both Amy and Nicole are professional, delightful to work with and, most importantly, they genuinely care about our members. It comes through in everything they do.
But, it goes deeper than that. I am proud to say that your staff and the leadership team at NWIR are bought in. They believe in our mission and are 150% invested in not only the health of our organization but of the members themselves. Do we have differences that sometimes need to be ironed out? Of course. NWIR is made up of individuals all with different dreams, desires and goals. But I also think back to what my mother shared with me about relationships many moons ago. She said "a successful relationship is not looking inward at each other, but outward in the same direction." That should be our goal as an organization. We're all in this together and, after spending a full year in this role as of today, I can assure you I like what I see ahead of us.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Executive Director this past year. I'm honored by the trust you've placed in me and I can't wait to see where we take this thing together.
Onward and upward,
Katie
Katie Bodiford, CAE
Executive Director
National Women in Roofing