Click here to view the candidate bios.>Click here to vote today!<The following categories of SPA members are eligible to vote in the Board of Directors 2022 election: Active, International, and Transitional members. Your member login is needed to access the election ballot. Deadline to vote is September 1, 2022!
Dr. John Fiadjoe – Boston Children’s HospitalBoard of Directors (8 candidates for 4 open seats)
- Dr. Aditee Ambardekar – University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas
- Dr. Nathalia Jimenez – Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Washington
- Dr. Priti Dalal – Penn State Health
- Dr. Emmett Whittaker – University of Vermont Children’s Hospital
- Dr. Jina Sinskey – University of California San Francisco
- Dr. Matthew Muffly – Stanford Healthcare
- Dr. Brad Taicher – Duke University
- Dr. Jamie Schwartz – Johns Hopkins University
CLICK HERE to view the candidate profiles and videos.
All of these candidates have one overriding characteristic in abundance that the Nominations Committee looks for – sustained involvement and/or leadership in Society activities. Leadership at this level requires demonstrated interest, involvement, and a willingness to take on projects and deliver the goods. It is no coincidence that our Rising Stars are told by SPA leadership every year to “Show up, speak up, volunteer, and follow through.”
This year the Nominations Committee discussed the issue of transparency and how we select future SPA leaders, as this was mentioned by members responding to the SPA Diversity survey last year. I’d like to briefly explain. Any SPA member can self-nominate or be nominated for any position. However, the primary requirement above all else is that aforementioned demonstrated interest, sustained involvement and/or leadership in SPA activities. Many nominees for the Board have been involved in Committee or SIG leadership or Meeting planning; nominees for the Secretary-Treasurer position have been similarly involved but usually to a greater degree and for longer. Diversity in all forms is also very important, but it does not supersede significant involvement and service within the Society. We considered all nominees based on these characteristics, and also excluded any nominee who has or is soon to have a significant leadership role in our Sections (PALC, PAPDA, CCAS, or SPPM) or the AAP-SOA to avoid simultaneous multiple Board positions within these entities.
One aspect of diversity that we are working to improve is institutional. Candidates from larger departments with 40-100 faculty who are SPA members are far more likely to be elected when compared to candidates from smaller institutions with 10-40 faculty members because the number of SPA members who vote is so low (10-15% of total membership). We discussed ways to ameliorate this ‘large institution bias’ and came up with some strategies that we can implement now as well as others that we plan to put in place before the next election cycle, as these will require a modification to the SPA bylaws. For now, here are some of the measures we have implemented for this election.
- Appeal to members – PLEASE VOTE SO YOUR VOICE IS HEARD! IT ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES!
- Incentive to vote – Every SPA member who votes will be entered into a draw and 3 randomly selected members will receive FREE SPA REGISTRATION for the next Spring Meeting in Austin, or the cash equivalent (approximately $600).
- New Candidate Video Bios – In addition to their biography, to make it more personal, candidates have provided a one-minute ‘selfie’ video describing the motivation for their candidacy, which will convey more than just a resume and a biography.
In the future, we anticipate moving the election forwards so the slate can be presented to our members at the Spring Meeting, thus hopefully securing voter turnout of around 30% at the meeting itself, based on the typical number of attendees.
So PLEASE take a few minutes to cast your vote for the future leaders of your Society. All the members selected for this election have the requisite experience and qualifications and would be excellent as SPA leaders. Working together, we can elect leaders with the best ideas and qualifications, no matter who they are, or where they work.
I want to congratulate all the candidates, and to thank all the members of the Nominations Committee for their work in bringing this slate to the membership. They include Dr. Jim Fehr (President-Elect), Dr. Peggy McNaull (Secretary-Treasurer), Dr. Tom Long (PALC), Dr. Rita Agrawal (SPPM), Dr. Wanda Miller-Hance (CCAS), Dr. Doyle Lim (PAPDA), Dr. Mary Ellen McCann (SPA), and Dr. Judit Szolnoki (SPA).
I’ll leave you to think about this quote from Thomas Jefferson. “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”
