By: Lisa Milliken, MA, CCC-SLP, FNAP, CDP, RAC-CT, President-Elect

In June 2022, our Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Executive Board (EB) met and worked through a careful strategic planning process with Sherry Sancibrian as our facilitator. She guided us through a series of discussions, brainstorming, and talking points to help us eventually come to a consensus of what we all agreed upon as our most important focus to achieve over the next three years. This included great input and discussion points provided by our EB members, who represent different settings and experience levels throughout our professions. Ultimately, our common goals were to best support each of our members. As a result of this comprehensive working process, all notes, discussions, and priorities were summarized. The EB then approved the strategic plan on October 13, 2022, and presented it to the Executive Council on October 14, 2022. Following this approval, the Executive Board and our state office then worked to establish goals within those strategic plan objectives for each committee to show us how we can move forward with the strategic plan.

Our current 2023-2025 strategic plan is in place and includes four pillars.

Pillar: Education
Organizational Objectives:

• Deliver high-quality and innovative, in-person education annually at the TSHA Annual Convention.
• Create high-quality, advanced, year-round, CE opportunities through on-demand and/or live educational offerings.
• Expand the knowledge base and skill sets of members related to self-advocacy through the creation of toolkits and educational offerings specific to the variety of work settings within TSHA’s membership.
• Create continuing educational opportunities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Pillar: Member Engagement and Belonging
Organizational Objectives:

• Utilize innovative marketing techniques and social media to communicate TSHA’s value proposition and empower members to tell our story.
• Grow a healthy and diverse membership by attracting new student members and active members while engaging existing ones.
• Build a network and resources within TSHA to support speech-language pathologists and audiologists in attaining leadership skills, professional recognition, career advancement, and career fulfillment.
• Develop and operationalize an organizational structure, communications, and culture that supports diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within TSHA.
• Build communities that provide opportunities to connect, collaborate, and advance the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology in the state of Texas.

Pillar: Advocacy
Organizational Objectives:

• Advocate on behalf of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in Texas with a focus on issues identified annually for TSHA’s legislative platform.
• Increase the professional recognition of speech-language pathologists and audiologists to varied audiences including but not limited to school boards, hospital administrators, physicians, and legislators.
• Empower members, with resource guides and training, to self-advocate for appropriate workloads, improved compensation, and professional recognition.
• Create tools and resources that members can use to encourage individuals with diverse identities to enter the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology in Texas.
• Address regulations within the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (HHSC), and support the maintenance of licensure for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists in the state of Texas.

Pillar: Operational Excellence
Organizational Objectives:

• Modernize and centralize our online infrastructure to enable efficient workflow and access to resources, templates, and guides for TSHA volunteers and staff.
• Optimize the use of professional staff services (State Office staff and contractors) to enhance the operations of the organization.
• Maintain strong investment and reserve portfolios to ensure a strong future for TSHA
• Explore new revenue opportunities for TSHA, with a focus on non-dues revenue.
• Strengthen TSHA’s communications and marketing efforts to members and shareholders.

With this plan in place, vice presidents (VPs) met with their committee and task force chairs to present the strategic plan, seek feedback, and incorporate recommended changes.  

The chairs then established goals for each of our 35 committees and task force teams. Once the final committee goals were approved, committees were asked to establish a work plan with their VPs on how they would accomplish those goals with their respective  members for 2023, utilizing the strategic plan as their guide. As we are now past the half-year point of 2023, we have seen great initiatives from each committee. The committees are working to complete their set goals and reporting on them on a quarterly basis.

We hope that our members also see our desire to be transparent with all our actions, as we are committed to being open and supportive of each member’s professional directives based on their own unique setting and experience level as an audiology or speech-language pathology professional.