Page 14 - May-June 2017 Vol. 35 No.1

KANSAS CITY, APWA By Ronnie Hammonds

Council of Chapters and
Chapter Leaders Training

The American Public Works Association held its annual APWA Executive Director Scott Grayson greeting everyone and getting
Council of Chapters winter meeting and Bi-Annual everyone ready for the next two days of the conference.
Chapter Leaders Training Feb. 16-17. As the TCAPWA Keynote speaker of the Leadership Conference Cynthia D’Amour hosting a
Chapter Delegate, I attended the Council of Chapters session titled “Make Being a Chapter Leader Irresistible.”
portion of the training, and Phillip Jones, Vice President Session titled “Advocacy Matters” being held during the Leadership
TCAPWA, and Cody Osborne, Middle Branch Director Conference.
TCAPWA, attended the Chapter Leaders Training.

The Council of Chapters consists of delegates from each
Chapter of the APWA and CPWA. It is broken into several
segments with regional meetings, committee meetings and
then a general overall talk about what is happening with
APWA. The Council of Chapters also serves as advisors and
a communication link between National and the Chapters.
Our region and Chapter is well represented on the board of
directors with our own Bo Mills of Germantown serving as
president-elect and Keith Pugh of North Carolina serving
as the board member of Region III.

The Chapter Leaders Training focuses on education
and training for new chapter leaders on the opportunities
and help available to the chapters and their leaders from
APWA. This is a great learning tool for up-and-coming
leaders.

Some of the topics from the Chapter Leaders Training
were: A-Z What You Need to Know as a Chapter Leader,
Get More Volunteers NOW, “Y” Me? Successfully Leading
the Millennials, Technology Is Your Chapter’s Friend,
and Social Media and Media Relations. Also, there were
seminars on accreditation and credentialing.

The regional meetings are one of the most important
parts of both the Council of Chapters and Chapter Leader
Training. During these you meet and network with your
peers from your region. This allows you to learn what
other chapters are doing well and what is not going
smoothly. As examples, South Carolina recently started a
speaker’s bureau that helps get their message out to various
organizations. The Mid-Atlantic Branch is having its first
group graduate from their Public Works Institute. They also
send out a weekly Chapter email to interested members. I
was able to talk about the role that our Young Professionals
are taking in the Chapter.

During the general session, Scott Grayson talked
about his first year as executive director of the APWA.
Membership in APWA is on a slow growth cycle. The
organization is in sound financial shape. At this time the
board of directors had a draft version of the new APWA
Strategic Plan. Since then the plan has been adopted
and will be featured in an upcoming spot in the APWA
Reporter.

It was an honor for me to represent our chapter at the
Council of Chapters. Our chapter is doing a lot of good
things and seems to be at the forefront of the organization.

14 TPW May/June 2017