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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
NICOLE GREESON, MS, CIH, is associate director of the occupational and environmental safety office at Duke University and Health System. Send feedback to The Synergist.
Where We’re Going: AIHA’s New Strategic Plan
BY NICOLE GREESON, AIHA PRESIDENT
In my last column, I shared some of the successes that AIHA had achieved against the goals outlined in our strategic plan. The plan governed AIHA’s activities for the years 2022 through 2024. It’s now time to turn our attention to the new plan that sets our direction for 2025 through 2027, which the Board of Directors approved earlier this year.
The Board conducts strategic planning every three years. This process involves months of work, with the Board and AIHA staff playing key roles. But the main driver is our Strategic Planning Task Force, a group of members chosen through an open application process. I’m grateful to the task force for their hard work and dedication.
The task force’s deliberations were guided by the results of a survey of the membership conducted earlier this year. The resulting strategic plan governs not just AIHA but entities such as AIHA Laboratory Accreditation Programs, AIHA Proficiency Analytical Testing Programs, AIHA Registry Programs, and the Product Stewardship Society.
The new plan shares some similarities with its predecessor. For example, both plans express our commitment to the vision statement that has guided us for several years: “A world where all workers and their communities are healthy and safe.” Another similarity is that the new plan, like its predecessor, is structured around five domains. The domains themselves have evolved, and the goals identified in each domain reflect our current priorities and expectations. The following introduction to our new strategic plan emphasizes the major objectives in each domain.

PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
This domain expresses AIHA’s commitment to developing and disseminating cutting-edge educational and career-enrichment resources to support OEHS professionals. Our objectives for this domain ensure that education remains our core focus. These objectives express our commitment to identifying OEHS professionals’ educational needs, developing educational materials that appeal to different adult learning styles, and providing a wide range of educational and informational resources. Advancing the Profession This domain encompasses everything AIHA does to promote excellence in OEHS practice, research, and applied science. Our goals in this domain are to identify, develop, and improve recommended OEHS practices; advance competency in laboratory accreditation, proficiency testing, product stewardship, and the areas covered by our registry programs; and build OEHS capacity in regions where there is a clear need for it.
The plan expresses our commitment to the vision statement that has guided us for several years: “A world where all workers and their communities are healthy and safe.”
Member and Volunteer Engagement This domain acknowledges the centrality of members and volunteers to AIHA’s success. We are committed to nurturing and empowering OEHS professionals by growing and enhancing the value of membership and offering fulfilling volunteer opportunities. Our goals in this domain are to expand our value proposition to attract a diverse and inclusive community, improve the volunteer and member experience, and expand opportunities for nonmembers to participate in AIHA activities and events that could serve as a pathway to membership.
Impact and Awareness This domain covers everything AIHA does to promote the practice of OEHS, particularly by partnering with allied organizations and nurturing growth. Our goals in this domain are to build a sustained pipeline of members and future OEHS professionals, advance public policies that protect workers and their communities, and increase awareness of the value and impact of the profession. Organizational Excellence This inward-facing domain applies to the AIHA staff and expresses our commitment to maintaining the highest standards in all areas of organizational performance. Our goals in this domain are to maintain strong financial performance, attract and nurture top-quality staff, and invest in IT systems that sustain positive membership experiences. Our Journey When you’re on a journey, you need a good map to arrive in the right place at the right time. But a map, while essential, can’t do the traveling for us. Any journey involves overcoming obstacles and other challenges, and it requires dedicated teamwork. Our roadmap, the new strategic plan, is available on the AIHA website. I invite you to review it and to consider helping us reach our goals. Opportunities to volunteer are also posted on AIHA's website.