By: Michelle Mendietta, MS, CCC-SLP, TSHA Past President

On behalf of the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Executive Board (EB), we want to connect and celebrate as we step into 2023!

Coming out of 2022, we have proven our resilience, dedication, and commitment to our members. In 2023, we will work together and help each other to achieve our goals, build new relationships, and push ourselves to our greatest potential.

TSHA has accomplished a great deal in 2022! I think it’s important to pause and celebrate our successes because our efforts in 2022 will bring even more value to our membership in the years to come. Our membership is important to the well-being of our association, and we want to thank you for choosing us. We are a highly recognized state association because of you!

Our EB, Executive Council, and volunteers are dedicated to the success of our association and are constantly working toward greatness. We invite you to get involved, join a committee, or consider applying for a leadership position. We stayed focused on our goals, engaged openly, collaborated well, met challenges with confidence and persistence, and made important changes to ready the association for the future.

Here is a snapshot of a few of our accomplishments in 2022:

• We re-launched our in-person Convention in Fort Worth
• We returned to a fall in-person EB meeting to build relationships
• We hired a new executive director who has been amazing in getting TSHA organized (Thanks, Katie Strang!)
• We hosted more online CE courses in 2022
• We worked on our strategic plan to help chart our path going forward

We are empowered to pause for a moment and celebrate these successes! So much of this work was about reconnecting with each other, refining our programs, and supporting infrastructure to focus on member needs. We are ready to bring you some great new things in 2023!

If you haven’t done so already, please make plans to join us at our 67^th Annual Convention, which is themed “Amplify” and will be held February 23-25 in Austin. There are more than 90 presentations scheduled this year. We look forward to seeing you at the TSHA 2023 Convention!

As my term as past president ends, I want to say that it has been an honor to serve as your president and past president over these past few years. My job has been aided immensely by an amazing EB. We are blessed with one of the most successful state associations in the U.S., and we have been going strong for more than 60-plus years. Whenever you happen to meet one of the members of the EB, please take a moment to thank them for their dedicated work in maintaining this vibrant and successful association. Lastly, I am thankful for our president, Robyn Martin, the EB, and the committees for the work they did to keep the forward momentum of our association going during these challenging times.

We would like to welcome two incoming officers to the Executive Board: Vice President of Member Engagement Sadaf Ali and Vice President of Professional Services Suzanne Bonifert. Also, let’s welcome back Vice President of Audiology Michelle Pho. Michelle eagerly ran for a second VP term, and we are excited to have her remain on the EB. Best of luck as well to President-Elect Lisa Milliken as she moves into her new role.

We look forward to completing this year with you by reflecting on the achievements of our past and planning for our future! Thank you for being a part of TSHA!

President’s 2022 Committee Chairs
Past President’s Powerhouse: Martha McGlothlin
Financial Advisory Committee (FAC): Cherry Wright
Publications: Jan Lougeay
State Advocates for Reimbursement Network (STAR): Caitlyn Perryman
State Advocates for Medicare Policy Network (StAMP): Lisa Milliken and Mendi Lancaster
State Education Advocacy Leader (SEAL): Whitney Dittman
Nominations and Elections: Carolyn Perry
Honors and Awards: Gina Glover
Past Vice President’s Village: Brittany Dendle
TSHA Leadership Academy Chair: Rebecca Linke
Graduate Student Representatives: Matthew Randal and Alyssa Schulz

More Executive Board News

• The current TSHA budget is available for review upon request.