Dear fellow ISSTD Members,
Everyone will have received the email in the last week where ISSTD members and non-members are invited to submit applications for funding assistance. This funding assistance is provided in recognition of the financial hardship that many health professionals have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and otherwise – to enable them to continue to benefit from the rich training and member benefits that ISSTD offers.
There are two specific funds in ISSTD from which the above, recently advertised funding is provided: The Goodwin Educational Fund (which funds training activities for professionals) and the COVID-19 Support Fund (which funds membership discounts as a current campaign of the General Fund). ISSTD depends on and is grateful for every single financial donation from an ISSTD member or non-member, no matter how big or small. Every little bit contributes to enabling ISSTD to offer funding assistance from all of our available Funds. In summary, these are the different Funds: The Education & Research Fund is for professionals’ research or educational projects. The Caul Fund is for students’ research projects. The Goodwin Fund is for professionals’ education. The Fridley Fund is for student education. Then there is also the General Fund of which the COVID-19 Support Fund is a current campaign. For those who are able to, we invite you donate to any of the specific ISSTD Funds. Click here to see the restrictions on each Fund and to donate to the Fund of your choice.
For those who might be unable to donate money, donations of your time are just as valuable. The ISSTD committees are the backbone of all the resources that ISSTD offers. Serving on a committee helps to strengthen this backbone and to maintain and expand ISSTD’s offerings. Alternatively, if you are unable to commit to full committee participation, there are also small project volunteer opportunities where you can contribute something.
I want to emphasize another important value of serving on a committee, i.e., that one accumulates a history of committee involvement – something that is a requirement for being nominated and elected as a Board Director.
The Board is ISSTD’s primary decision-making body and the group that develops the Strategic Plan for the whole organization. We need representation of all ISSTD members on the Board, and the Board needs to reflect ISSTD members’ diversity – so that all members can trust the Board to make decisions that are in the best interests of the organization and all its members.
Nominations for the Board will open around September 2021. At that point members who have accumulated a history of committee involvement may be nominated by two other members to run in the election.
I encourage all members who have not done so, to take the step to offer some of your time to serve on a committee. It is also possible to move to a different committee after a period on one committee, to find the place that gels the best with your personal circumstances and skills set. To see the current committee opportunities and small project volunteer opportunities, click here.
Thank you for your kind consideration of these requests, and I hope that you will enjoy a peaceful last few weeks of the year.
Best wishes,
Christa Krüger, ISSTD President, Pretoria, South Africa