Well, this summer sure flew by! As a mom who sent off her first set of kids to college it was a big summer of transition and lots of love. I hope that you all had summers that offered some relaxation, recharging or at least a bit of reprieve from our record heat.

One of the highlights of the summer was our annual retreat, Setting the Standard for a Winning Year. I would like to thank our retreat Co-Chairs Claire Lessinger and Trimeka Benjamin as well as the full committee: Jessica Costello, Susan Dellinger, Yvonne Fry, Kari Goetz, Molly James, Ann Madsen, Merritt Martin, Marian McCulloch and Renee Vaughn for all the work put into such a fantastic and connected weekend.

Not only did we learn a lot, we played, we enjoyed connecting and spending quality time together. Most importantly, we relished the remarkable women that make Athena so great.

In my remarks on the final day, I reflected on the elements of our organization that make us so special and the things close to my heart as we head into the year: Anchoring in the strength of our past, the power of the present moment we have, and the pull of a dynamic future ahead. All things we have to carefully balance as we make decisions and care for this great organization. (you can view my talk here and see the recap of the weekend here)

We already kicked off the year with a successful leadership meeting, reviewing the results of our membership pulse survey and discussing goals for the year. These goals include: leveraging technology to improve communications and engagement, membership engagement and recruitment, high-quality monthly programming aligning with our position statements, elevating the profile of Athena in our community, elevating our advocacy efforts, and leadership development. You can view the specifics of these goals here. We will keep you updated throughout the year on our progress. If you would like to see the detailed results of our survey, view my video here.

One action we took at our first board meeting in response to the thoughtful feedback from our survey: create an adhoc position: Emerita Chair. This is to ensure that we are listening to and meeting the needs of our Emerita members. More to come on this as we create the position description and find a great leader for this new role.

Finally, I am so excited about this week’s Career Assistance Grants celebration. I am sad to share that I will not be with you in person as I will be out of the country. Each year, I set a new challenge for myself. This year, I am running the Jungfrau Marathon from Interlaken, Switzerland to the top of the Jungfrau, 26.2 miles and over 6,500 feet of elevation gain. I am very excited about this challenge and sad that it was planned long ago and will make me miss this special day. I want to thank the co-chairs Carolyn Kurtz and Belinda Wilson and committee members: Rachelle Bedke, Susan Bucklew, Moira Burke, Deborrah Cannizzaro, L’Tanya Evans, Susanna Fenhagen, Zoe Gustafson, Denise Jordan, Paddy Moses, Bemetra Simmons, Mimi Stamps, and Joan Zinober for their work making this the success that it will be.

Thank you for all that you do for Athena! I want to encourage all of you to get involved, be present and support our collective efforts. Reconnect with our position statements, join a committee, attend our monthly luncheons, join us at bonus events, the options are plentiful and terrific. This is where the magic happens, and I am grateful to be part of something so special.

To extraordinary women, stronger together!

Jessica Muroff