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Chapter Leader Community (CLC)

Board of Directors

ATD Chapter Leader Conference (ALC)

New York City: ALC Takeaways for Chapter Improvement and Planning
SUMMARY: The New York Chapter wanted an easy way to capture remarkable ideas from as many sessions as possible and share what they learned from the ATD Chapter Leader Conference (ALC) with the entire board. Before the conference, the board strategizes on which sessions they want to attend to ensure there is no overlap in sessions. During the conference, board members input takeaways from each session into the organized spreadsheet. After the conference, the chapter held a review session to go over the spreadsheet and this allowed each board role to determine if any of the ideas can be incorporated into the next year’s planning and goals.

YEAR: 2021

HAWAII CHAPTER: Formula for Transforming Your Chapter = Strategic Planning + ALC Learning + Continuous Improvement Practices
SUMMARY: By combining a practical strategic planning framework, lessons learned at ALC 2017, and continuous improvement practices, the chapter increased board engagement, improved the member experience, increased program attendance and membership growth, and received national recognition. The chapter leveraged the Kano Model, a theory for product development and customer satisfaction, to establish consensus on the state of the chapter and identify areas for improvement. Over the course of a year, the chapter experienced a 58 percent increase in membership, a nearly 20 percent reduction in no-shows at events, improved financial stability, and stronger strategic partnerships.

YEAR: 2019

NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Process for ALC Sponsorship
SUMMARY: With more chapter leaders wanting to attend the ATD Chapter Leaders Conference (ALC), the chapter needed to determine a way to support its chapter leader development while staying within budget. As a result, the chapter created a process for chapter leaders to generate their own funding to attend. Interested chapter leaders were encouraged to ask their employer if it would be willing to cover all or a portion of the costs associated with conference registration and attendance. To further support the ask, the chapter created a template letter for the chapter leader. Should the employer not be able to cover some or all of the costs, the chapter leader can then apply to use chapter funds to support attendance. However, all chapter leaders applying to use chapter funds must also have submitted a proposal to facilitate a session at the conference whether accepted or not. Because session facilitators receive complimentary registration, this requirement is a great way to get exposure for the chapter and also further cut costs. Through this process, the chapter doubled the amount of chapter leaders it previously sent to the conference leading to more informed and engaged board members.

YEAR: 2018

CENTRAL INDIANA CHAPTER: Making Connections at ALC
SUMMARY: In 2017, the focus of the Indiana Chapter was to connect, learn, and grow. In staying true to its vision, the chapter wanted to ensure its new board members attending the ATD Chapter Leaders Conference (ALC) would take the opportunity to connect, learn, and grow from their peers. The president purchased stickers of the 50 states. The president provided each chapter leader with a set of stickers with directions to meet as many people as they could from different states and learn their names, roles, and their chapters’ focus. Following ALC, the chapter president awarded the leader with the most stickers distributed with a $5 Starbucks gift card. The Indiana Chapter walked away with new ideas and connections to help make the chapter’s vision a reality.

YEAR: 2018

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN CHAPTER: Key Takeaway From Chapter Leader's Conference
SUMMARY: The chapter’s current president attended the ATD Chapter Leaders Conference (ALC) as president-elect with the goal of learning how other chapters operate. The chapter leader attended a session covering board structure, and learned about a specific chapter’s board that was comprised of VPs who had voting rights and non-voting, director-level positions who reported to board members. The chapter desired to focus more on membership, programs, and communication, but felt this was too much for the board to handle it on its own. By creating these new director positions, the chapter created new volunteer opportunities, developed a leadership pipeline, and reduced the workload of the chapter board.

YEAR: 2016

Board Meetings

CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER: Board Action Planning and Accountability

SUMMARY: The Central Florida Chapter designed and implemented a new board member update and meeting template to streamline board meetings, promote action planning, and increase accountability within the board. By centering the template around events, action items, responsible parties, and areas for support, the chapter could better capture the board’s work while tracking progress toward chapter goals. Furthermore, using Google Slides allowed the board to standardize their meeting structure and work collaboratively while providing the flexibility to include notes, images, and data as part of the meeting agenda. As a result, the chapter has increased the board meetings’ efficiency and better tracked ongoing projects and chapter metrics.

YEAR: 2023

NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER: Board Meeting Position Status Report Templates

SUMMARY: To promote accountability and build a stronger board, the ATD New York City Chapter Board created three templates to guide board meetings. The Status Report Template documents any updates and relevant information about each role and enabled the board to move information out of the monthly board meetings. The Board Notes Template provides the detail behind the information included in the meeting minutes and serves as the working document behind all board business. The Meeting Minutes Template captures the outcomes of the discussions and is made accessible to interested chapter members. The templates helped the chapter board eliminate duplicated work, identify new synergies, more accurately reflect what each position does, and serve as a better reference for future boards.

YEAR: 2018

VALLEY OF THE SUN CHAPTER: Board Meeting Minutes Collaboration through Google Docs

SUMMARY: To increase ownership of the meeting minutes for all board members, the board shifted the responsibility from the secretary role to all members of the board. Using a consistent template set up in Google Documents, the board members added in their information in advance of the meeting. While meetings are held virtually, all board members can view the document simultaneously on the call. The change has decreased the hours spent on crafting the meeting minutes and increased transparency as meeting minutes are available sooner to members.

YEAR: 2018

NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Board Education

SUMMARY: In 2016, the chapter’s executive council began incorporating a monthly “Education Nugget” into board meetings to keep the group informed. Topics vary from month-to-month and include information about the chapter, ATD, and general leadership topics. Board members are learning more each month and realizing that there is a large benefit to being a leader of an ATD chapter.

YEAR: 2017

CHATTANOOGA CHAPTER: Keeping Board Members Engaged and Up-To-Date With Monthly Calls with the President

SUMMARY: To ensure that board members stayed engaged between meetings, the chapter president set up monthly calls with each board member in addition to the monthly board meetings. This process helped ensure all deadlines were met and allowed the president to understand what questions individual board members had. The calls provided each board member with an outlet if they had questions or concerns that they did not want to ask with the full group.

YEAR: 2017

GREATER ATLANTA CHAPTER: Efficient Board Meeting Scheduling

SUMMARY: To make board meetings accessible to people in a wide geographic area, the Greater Atlanta Chapter Board of Directors efficiently scheduled its meetings to align with the chapter’s programming schedule. On even months, the board holds meetings prior to chapter meetings and on odd months, meetings are held online since there is not a chapter meeting. This schedule has helped significantly cut down on the amount of time spent traveling to and from a stand-alone meeting.

YEAR: 2017

MARYLAND CHAPTER: Engaging Through Open Board Meetings

SUMMARY: To encourage more engagement from chapter members, the board opened its meetings to members. The chapter moved its monthly board meeting to a weekend day and extended the time allotted. The board sent out invitations to members to attend. This open invitation allowed members to see what happens behind the scenes and encouraged volunteerism. From the initiative, the chapter filled two board positions with members that attended the board meeting.

YEAR: 2017

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN CHAPTER: Changing Venues and Improving the Community

SUMMARY: The chapter moved its programming and board meeting venue from a local hotel to a local nonprofit organization, the Goodwill, in order to reduce its costs from approximately $4,000 to $1,000 per year. By reallocating these costs, the chapter is better positioned to achieve its 2016 focus of bringing its members more valuable learning programs with a strategic focus that involves both local and national talent. Additionally, the new location provides the community with an increased awareness of the Goodwill’s mission, and has resulted in members bringing items to donate to the chapter’s events.

YEAR: 2016

DETROIT CHAPTER: Chapter Meeting Host

SUMMARY: In the past, the chapter president played the role of host at each chapter meeting. The chapter meeting host is charged with reviewing chapter business, introducing the speaker, selecting winners of gift drawings, and providing closing remarks. In order to showcase specific different board member roles to attendees, the chapter chose to rotate this responsibility among each of the board members. By rotating this responsibility, chapter members are exposed to the individual members of the chapter's leadership team, and board members are excited for the opportunity to host a meeting.

YEAR: 2015

Board Member Onboarding

Metro DC: Board Member Technology Onboarding

SUMMARY: One of the Metro DC Chapter’s 2020 goals was to establish a formal onboarding process for incoming board members. Through this effort, the chapter created a self-paced and comprehensive technology onboarding section of toolkits. The toolkits are also used as a repository of technology information that can be referenced throughout the year. The toolkits cover securing a board account, setting up a Google account, setting up a Slack account, getting to know Wild Apricot, and accessing other technology tools (such as Zoom, Google Meet, Google Forms, Google Analytics, Doodle Poll, etc.). Twenty board members were onboarding using the self-paced structure and 80 percent of board members strongly agreed and 20 percent agreed that “the course has helped prepare me for the board service.”
Metro DC - SOS Submission Form
Metro DC - Sample Google Account Guidelines
Metro DC - Sample technology Onboarding
YEAR: 2021

ORANGE COUNTY: New Board Member Orientation Experience

SUMMARY: The chapter designed and developed a total of 26 microlearning modules to onboard new board members. The topics were determined by interviewing current and incoming board members. The modules were grouped into four sections to be completed in sequential order by incoming board members. However, navigation was left open so any board member could easily access a specific topic if they needed a refresher on ATD and/or chapter knowledge. The onboarding delivered through microlearning will help the chapter reduce meeting times by 50 percent and the cost of year-end meetings by 75 percent, while increasing the effectiveness of arriving at strategic conclusions by 90 percent and board member onboarding engagement and socialization by 95 percent.

YEAR: 2021

BATON ROUGE: Board Buddies

SUMMARY: The 2020 executive board had an equal mix of new board members and returning board members. The president paired board members and allowed the board buddies to connect, ask questions, and have an extra support system. The partnership between board members developed an additional level of support for new board members and helped create a cohesive executive board.

YEAR: 2020

DETROIT CHAPTER: Respect and Professionalism Policy and Protocol

SUMMARY: To serve as a guide for communications, behavior, and interactions among the board, the chapter developed a respect and professionalism policy and a virtual meetings protocol. The chapter’s work established a written policy that defines and describes respectful behavior expected of all board members and volunteers; described examples of disrespectful and unacceptable behavior; explained expectations of board members during board meetings, when conducting board business, and when handling written communications for board and chapter business; stated the ground rules and the protocol applicable to virtual board meetings; and provided a structured format for achieving efficiency and effectiveness in chapter leadership/operations. The documentation resulted in a more respectful atmosphere during board meetings, prevented a loss of 20 percent of board members due to other board members’ behaviors, and increased participation of the board by 30 percent.

YEAR: 2020


CENTRAL NEW YORK CHAPTER: Leadership Team Onboarding—On Your Own

SUMMARY: In need of strong onboarding for new chapter leaders, Central New York developed an asynchronous PowerPoint approach to be reviewed by new leaders on their own time. The deck requires about 20 to 30 minutes for review and includes slide notes to guide the learner through an overview of the chapter’s mission, history, membership base, key programs and related activities, and roles. The approach was supplemented with one-on-one meetings with the managing director to discuss each board member’s role, responsibilities, and expectations. As a result, the chapter achieved 100 percent participation and created a stronger leadership team.

YEAR: 2018

METRO DC CHAPTER: New Director Orientation

SUMMARY: To address the challenge of having to onboard new board members in a relatively short time, the chapter developed a formal board orientation. The program helped ensure that all board directors received consistent messaging about the chapter culture, norms, expectations, and that they could sufficiently navigate within the chapter's critical software applications.

YEAR: 2014

CENTRAL IOWA CHAPTER: Team Building

SUMMARY: This Central Iowa event was an opportunity for the entire board to learn about each other on a personal basis, meet the new board members, have fun, and learn a little more about the operational side of the board to jump start and energize all to get a head start with the 2011 year.

YEAR: 2011

Chapter Volunteer and Board Position Descriptions

GREATER LAS VEGAS CHAPTER: Roles and Responsibilities Connected to CARE

SUMMARY: In an effort to organize the chapter and run it like a business, the Greater Las Vegas Chapter identified its CARE responsibilities and broke them out by board member role. At the beginning of 2017, the board reviewed the CARE and joint membership requirements and came up with daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks for each board member role. The chapter developed a roles and responsibilities document for each chapter leader position to monitor, measure, and analyze monthly to ensure CARE achievement. To create the process, the chapter reviewed job descriptions on the Chapter Leader Community, customized them for the chapter, added foundational and additional joint membership activities, and highlighted the CARE items in orange so they stand out on the document and can be reviewed at each monthly board meeting. In terms of outcomes, the chapter achieved 100 percent CARE, received Super Star recognition for having a joint membership rate greater than 50 percent, and was awarded a Power Membership Award, second place in the small chapter category, for its joint membership rate of 68 percent in 2017.

YEAR: 2018

NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Creating a Director of Partnerships

SUMMARY: The Nebraska Chapter created the director of partnerships role to focus on developing targeted partnerships and maintaining relationships with sponsors. The position is nestled into the marketing communications area and serves to develop relationships and bring in new partnerships for the chapter and events. The chapter’s 2018 conference was the first large-scale event for which the chapter garnered partnerships, and it profited over $18,000, allowing the chapter to keep the cost down for attendees.

YEAR: 2018

BAY COLONIES CHAPTER: VP Strategy Role for Past President

SUMMARY: The chapter identified a need to leverage the ATD experience in the chapter. A chapter leadership role was created to focus on onboarding and coaching new board members, identifying network and liaison opportunities with ATD, planning and facilitating the annual strategic planning effort, supporting the annual CARE submission, and ensuring that the mission, vision and values are upheld. The position is perfectly suited for a former past president, who is interested in continuing in a leadership role with the chapter.

YEAR: 2016

SACRAMENTO CHAPTER: Creation of Volunteer Coordinator Position

SUMMARY: The chapter board asked one of its repeat volunteers to serve as volunteer coordinator. As the volunteer coordinator, the person is responsible for keeping a running list of volunteers, recruiting and organizing new volunteers, and sending thank you emails. The board created the new position and started introducing her at the monthly meetings. Since she has been in the position, she has become the face of the volunteer program and has added a personal touch that has gone a long way with the members. The position worked out so well that the person is now transitioning to a voting member of the board as the Director of Programs. Because of this effort, there has been an increase in volunteers, a steady rotation of volunteers, and an organized process in place. The membership is more engaged, and the chapter has gained more publicity.

YEAR: 2017

CENTRAL INDIANA CHAPTER: VP of Technology

SUMMARY: The chapter didn’t have a point person or someone that was in charge of their website and social media presence. Various board members were constantly updating the website which caused much confusion. To deal with this, the chapter created a new board position titled “VP of Technology.” The position serves a marketing role to recruit new members and to encourage current members to be more involved.

YEAR: 2010

CENTRAL IOWA CHAPTER: VP of Strategic Partnerships

SUMMARY: The chapter needed to significantly improve their marketing efforts both internally and externally. They also needed to find ways to increase their income stream and to raise brand visibility. These needs grew because no existing board position was identified as being accountable to address them. This gave them the need to create the VP of Strategic Partnerships board position.

YEAR: 2009

CHATTANOOGA CHAPTER: CORE Board Position

SUMMARY: By establishing a position on our Board of Directors we increased awareness of all components to effectively operate the Chapter. We discuss how we are meeting the standards and share that information at monthly meetings, raising awareness of the professional association.

YEAR: 2009

Board Recruitment

NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER: Using Instagram to Promote Board Roles

SUMMARY: To promote the chapter election process, introduce chapter members to board members, and target a broader audience for the chapter, the board used Instagram to create visibility. Board members had set questions to answer in addition to an open Q&A for viewers who had follow-up questions. These posts generated content for the chapter’s website and newsletter, and the use of the social media platform increased the chapter’s brand awareness within the New York City area.

YEAR: 2018

CHATTANOOGA CHAPTER: Vetting Process for Board Members

SUMMARY: To ensure the chapter was placing candidates into the right positions, the chapter used Survey Monkey to create an application. The chapter reviews the submissions and contacts references to get further information about the potential board member. Through the application process, the chapter ensures it provides information about the position itself so that applicants understand the role, which ultimately decreases mid-year turnover.

YEAR: 2017

CENTRAL IOWA CHAPTER: Volunteer Management

SUMMARY: The chapter formed a committee that was made up of a group of members who wanted to get actively involved in the chapter. Their main need was to seek out members to get involved with the Networking Committee and become involved with the organization through volunteering.

YEAR: 2009


SACRAMENTO CHAPTER: New Volunteer Recruiting

SUMMARY: The Sacramento chapter posted ads on Volunteer Match, JobCrank.com, and LinkedIn. The chapter received over 10 responses and many of those qualified to interview for open associate positions. Associate positions are assistants to directors with the intention of progression into the director’s role the following chapter year.

YEAR: 2009

Past President Engangment

NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Driving Engagement With the Past Presidents Council

SUMMARY: To ensure that tenured chapter leaders remain engaged, the Nebraska Chapter established a Past Presidents Council. The council meets quarterly to discuss the status of the chapter and has been a valuable source of strategic advice for current board members. In addition, the council has been directly responsible for conference and program planning efforts as well as continually improving the chapter’s succession plan.

YEAR: 2019

HOUSTON CHAPTER: Past President Engagement

SUMMARY: The chapter assigned the responsibilities of the sponsorship committee chair position to the past president with the intent of improving the relationship between and increasing the commitment of sponsors to the chapter. The shift provided consistency as relationships formed during the president’s tenure would continue to be nurtured. The chapter also designed the role so that the president elect would partner with the past president allowing for mentorship. As a result of the change, many past presidents remain engaged with the chapter and continue to volunteer for either the chapter or for ATD national committees.

YEAR: 2018

NIAGARA FRONTIER CHAPTER: President's Meeting

SUMMARY: The chapter's president-elect, president, and immediate past president began meeting a few days prior to the chapter's board meeting to discuss the meeting agenda, chapter and board issues, and any additional items of importance to the chapter president. The informal meetings provide an opportunity for the past president to serve as consigliore to the president, and for the president-elect to acclimate to the role of president prior to taking office.

YEAR: 2014

BATON ROUGE CHAPTER: The President's Council

SUMMARY: The ASTDBR President's Council was established on to begin meaningful, ongoing consultation and strategy sessions for dual purposes: (1) to keep Past-Presidents involved in the Chapter as active members and (2) to utilize their knowledge and expertise of Chapter management and Chapter history in leadership roles to support the current President and Board.

YEAR: 2009

Succession Planning

GREATER LAS VEGAS CHAPTER: Board Transition Made Easier via Pre-Planned Annual Events
To ease the transition between the outgoing and incoming board, the Greater Las Vegas Chapter hosts three annual events that take place in January, February, and March. These events are some of the chapter’s most popular and include the State of the Chapter Meeting, a member-run Unconference, and the chapter’s Tribute to Learning Award Celebration. By ensuring the incoming board has pre-planned programming for the first three months of its term, the chapter lessens the stress of the transition and sets incoming board members up for success as they adjust to their new roles.

YEAR: 2023


PUGET SOUND CHAPTER: Developing Succession Planning Fluency in The Board of Directors

SUMMARY: Succession planning has been an ongoing area of focus for the Puget Sound Chapter. In 2022, they decided to implement a succession planning tool to help their current board identify areas of opportunity, uncover blind spots, and leverage the strengths of their existing volunteer network. The exercise included significant self-reflection and encouraged board members to think strategically and take proactive measures to identify a successor. By gathering consistent information across each position and putting their thoughts in writing, the entire board was better able to understand the nuances of each position and strengthen their commitment to developing future leadership. Taking a more structured approach to succession planning has given the board a sustainable and repeatable process for selecting and supporting board members in years to come.
Puget Sound - SOS Submission Form
Puget Sound - Succession Planning Worksheet
YEAR: 2022


NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Setting Your Chapter Up for Success Through Timely Succession Planning

SUMMARY: The chapter recognized that effective and timely succession planning strongly supported its continued success. To further support the succession planning process, the chapter shifted its timeline for identifying, nominating, and voting for open board positions from the third quarter of the year to the second. This change strengthened knowledge management practices, empowered incoming board members to set goals for their terms, made it possible for more chapter leaders to attend ALC, and generally improved onboarding and leaders’ understanding of board acumen.

YEAR: 2019


CENTRAL OHIO CHAPTER: Overhauling the VP of Finance Role for Financial Literacy

SUMMARY: By adopting targeted recruiting strategies for the VP of Finance position, the chapter identified a qualified candidate with dual backgrounds in finance and talent development. The new VP has improved the chapter’s financial reporting procedures to better align with standard accounting processes, which has both increased the board’s awareness of the chapter’s financial position and improved its ability to make decisions. Strengthening the chapter’s financial reporting processes supports the chapter’s financial stability and longevity while improving its ability to achieve strategic goals.

YEAR: 2019


LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: Succession Planning Program

SUMMARY: The chapter developed a process to fill the role of manager for different committees working under a chapter officer with executive voting powers. All chapter volunteers were interviewed by a minimum of two chapter officers, including the president. Interviews were conducted by phone to assess skills and motivational fit. Selected candidates were then invited to the in-person board meeting to meet the rest of the board. For succession planning purposes, a manager can be promoted to director and a director to a vice president as the volunteer serves more terms on the board. This incentive educates and trains newer volunteers in a progressive manner, and recognizes those that continue their service on the board. The program has resulted in a targeted selection of volunteers that are ready to take on the responsibilities of their roles and better prepared to be successors.

YEAR: 2016


ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER: Finding a VP Finance/Treasurer

SUMMARY: The chapter found it challenging to fill the role of VP Finance/Treasurer among its membership. As a result, the chapter contacted the local association of CPAs to find an experienced finance professional, who had experience supporting adult learning organizations, to sign on to the position. The chapter found that having a board member with deep financial knowledge and experience has enabled it to create better financial reporting allowing the chapter to not only maintain but build upon its stable financial foundation.

YEAR: 2014


FORT LAUDERDALE CHAPTER: Board Appreciation

SUMMARY: The chapter board invited all current and future board members to a board appreciation dinner. The group began with a 45 minute dinner where they discussed current goal. Following dinner they participated in different team building activities to focus on open communication and proper hand off of responsibilities.

YEAR: 2010


MIDDLE TENNESSEE CHAPTER: Board Succession Planning

SUMMARY: The chapter created a succession planning process to ensure a full slate of officers to facilitate chapter leadership. A nominating committee was formed to actively find prospects and recruit new leaders to the board. As a result, a successful election was held in November 2009 and recognition was given to the new officers at the December chapter meeting.

YEAR: 2010


BATON ROUGE CHAPTER: Leadership Succession Planning

SUMMARY: Over the past few years, the Baton Rouge chapter leaders have focused a great deal of attention on volunteer engagement which in turn grew the leadership pipeline. The Leadership Succession Planning Guide was created to assist chapter leadership with knowledge and commitment transfer.

YEAR: 2009


PUGET SOUND CHAPTER: New Board Succession Management Process

SUMMARY: For several years interest in Board positions has not been strong enough to allow us to present a competitive slate of candidates to our members for a full-chapter vote. Targeted recruitment of our successors by Board members produced inconsistent results. This allowed us to create a new process we hoped would identify, recruit and fit potential candidates to open Board positions to more successfully meet chapter needs and individual skills and preferences.

YEAR: 2009

Strategic Planning

GREATER ATLANTA CHAPTER: Using a Collaboration Tool for Reflection and Strategic Planning

SUMMARY: In mid-2022, the Greater Atlanta Chapter board dedicated their monthly meeting to reflecting on the first half of the year and outlining changes they wanted to make in the future. With an entirely new board, it was particularly important to take the time to reflect on the chapter’s successes, challenges, and potential risks to plan strategically for the future. This technique allowed the board to celebrate the work they had done, address immediate issues, and set expectations moving forward. The use of Miro, a free collaborative tool, allowed all board members to contribute their ideas to the discussion simultaneously and created a living, editable representation of the board’s thoughts and conclusions. As a result of their meeting, the chapter was able to streamline their communication processes and establish a stronger volunteer engagement strategy to improve volunteer retention and succession planning.

YEAR: 2022


SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN CHAPTER: Data-Driven Chapter Governance (Including Wild Apricot, Power BI, and Business Intelligence Dashboards)

SUMMARY: To strengthen the chapter’s operational strategy and governance, the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter constructed a series of business intelligence dashboards to track chapter data. The board uses Wild Apricot and Power BI to pull data that allows it to identify strategic opportunities, set goals, and define metrics for success. As a result, the chapter has developed a new data-driven approach to decision making, improved chapter operations in a number of fields, and discovered new areas for further exploration and growth.

YEAR: 2022

LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: Biannual Strategic Planning Process

SUMMARY: The Los Angeles Chapter needed a comprehensive strategic planning process to establish goals for chapter programming, event planning, social media, marketing, and volunteer recruitment. The chapter, spearheaded by Kavita Gupta, developed a biannual strategic planning process and detailed strategic plan template to further chapter goals. The board, including incoming members, met in person in the fall to create action plans for the following year and again in the new year to refine their plans and follow up on execution. In the year following the implementation of their new planning process, the chapter saw a 50 percent increase in chapter meeting attendance, a 10 percent increase in membership, and significant cost reductions. The in-person process also fostered feelings of camaraderie amongst the board members and allowed them to streamline the leadership transition between incoming and outgoing board members.

YEAR: 2022

North Dakota: Using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis to Align Chapter Strategy to CARE

SUMMARY: The North Dakota Chapter needed actionable and measurable goals for its high-level ideas to continue growing. The board completed a S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the six areas of CARE for each board position to identify areas of weaknesses and opportunities. The chapter then used their findings to create work groups to determine an actionable and measurable strategy that aligns with CARE.

YEAR: 2021

RESEARCH TRIANGLE AREA: Templates for strategic planning with CARE

SUMMARY: The chapter created a strategic planning template and tracker which incorporated CARE Plus. Each board member contributed to their respective areas of the chapter’s two-year operating plan using the strategic planning template. The template was tied to the budget process so every goal in the plan is specifically linked with an income or expense. To help track the board’s progress throughout the year, the president elect created a CARE Plus Tracker spreadsheet that expanded on and incorporated multiple existing ATD CARE Plus templates. Due to the templates and organization of the process, the budget and strategic plan were completed in a timely manner and decreased the approval time by 50 percent. Tracking their progress throughout the year helped the board fill out its CARE survey accurately and efficiently.

YEAR: 2021

CENTRAL OHIO CHAPTER: Board Goal and Accountability Plan

SUMMARY: Through the adoption of a board goal and accountability plan, the chapter board successfully focused its efforts, prioritized initiatives, and added value for chapter members. To avoid repeating the same strategic goals from year to year, chapter leaders carefully reviewed the membership survey to determine long-term goals by position. The board reviewed the goals at each board meeting and at its mid-year planning session to establish accountability. This initiative increased board engagement and enabled the chapter to achieve all of its strategic goals.

YEAR: 2019

CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER: Building Up From the Ashes

SUMMARY: After spending several years struggling to recruit new volunteer leaders and keep members engaged, the Central Massachusetts Chapter was on the brink of dissolution. The chapter sent out an urgent communication about volunteer needs that yielded seven new board members. Following a comprehensive onboarding program, the new chapter leaders attended a planning meeting during which they selected their desired board roles and identified strategic goals for the chapter. As a result of this new energy and leadership on the board, the chapter has attracted new members, increased its joint membership percentage, improved event marketing, and made events profitable.

YEAR: 2019

AUSTIN CHAPTER: Getting Strategic With Your Organization

SUMMARY: The chapter transformed its leadership team from a flat organization to one that functions more smoothly and fosters succession planning. The Austin Chapter transitioned from 13 board members to a group of 23 chapter leaders to improve efficiency. By being transparent with membership and explaining the changes at several meetings, the chapter filled multiple director positions. The path helps members build leadership experience and transitions them through escalating roles—from member to volunteer to director to president elect to president. The pipeline also helped pace the leadership, allowing the chapter to have engaged directors by lowering the rate of burnout.

YEAR: 2018

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER: After Action Review Process/Evaluation for Process Improvement

SUMMARY: The chapter created and implemented an evaluation process for events. Once each event or activity was complete, four key questions are posed and discussed: 1) What was supposed to happen? 2) What did happen? 3) Why did it happen? 4) What we can do to improve for the next time? Since implementing this evaluation process, the chapter has seen its events and activities improve beyond the data they were getting through its surveys. Event attendees provided general feedback on surveys, but their comments did not address the event’s planning and coordination. The after-review process identified a strategy for how the board or the coordinators can provide a better event by strengthening the process.

YEAR: 2018

ROCHESTER CHAPTER: Adding Membership Value With a Small and Mighty Team

SUMMARY: After attending the ATD Chapter Leaders Conference (ALC), a member of the board brought back a strategic planning tool. The board used this tool to review the chapter’s current practices and identified areas for improvement. The team looked at everything the chapter was producing through a lens of how it adds value for the members, promotes community engagement, and increases the chapter’s operational focus. The board underwent this process in a strategy meeting, which helped the board become more organized and design ways to communicate more effectively with the chapter members.

YEAR: 2017

NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER: Chapter Goal Template & Dashboard

SUMMARY: To keep annual goals, initiatives, and activities on target, the chapter created a goal setting template and monthly dashboard to track results. At the chapter’s board retreat in January, these tools fostered discussions on how to strengthen and grow the chapter. The documents have been used to develop the monthly board meeting agenda and are reviewed at the start of each meeting. Outcomes of the discussions led to the delivery of several half-day and full-day programs. Operating the Chapter like a business allowed the board to develop teamwork, stay focused on our goals and achieve results. These tools allowed for that process to happen by providing focus, accountability and insight as to our successes and when course corrections needed to be made. The Chapter experienced a significant increase so far this year in membership (+11%), corporate membership (+66%), member retention (+14%), power membership (+28%) and the chapter achieved its goal of 35% for the first time since 2013 with an increase in revenue (+11%). Discussions around the goals outlined led to the creation and delivery of additional events in the area of coaching, generating both increased member engagement and revenue.

YEAR: 2017

CENTRAL INDIANA CHAPTER: Recruit > Engage > Retain: Strategic Planning Retreat Agenda

SUMMARY: To ensure that the yearly board retreat allowed for actionable items, the agenda centered on three topics: recruit new members, engage new members, and retain members. Any topic that arose that did not support the three goals was put aside. By concentrating on only the three goals, the board was able to focus all attention on building accountability and built in methods to measure its progress and success. Because of the retreat agenda’s structure, the board progressed towards or completed all goals by June, allowing the board to focus on secondary goals sooner.

YEAR: 2017

KENTUCKIANA CHAPTER: Continuing the Rejuvenation by Developing a Three Year Strategic Plan

SUMMARY: Just a few short years ago, the Kentuckiana Chapter was on the brink of calling it quits. After a couple years in the rebuilding period, the executive team wanted to continue the excitement of the hard work. To keep up the momentum, the chapter brought in a national strategist to facilitate a full-day strategic planning session for the entire board. At the end of the session, a new mission, vision, and three-year strategic plan was developed. The board outlined specific behaviors, beliefs, and its Five P’s for Success: passion, people, powerful programs, partnerships, and promotion. The team left the session energized for a successful year and ambitiously pursuing the same goal.

YEAR: 2017

DALLAS CHAPTER: Strategic Planning and Implementation

SUMMARY: The Dallas Chapter took a strategic approach to restructuring and implemented a new model of its leadership, the board, and the chapter to increase engagement both within the chapter and with corporations in the local area. The chapter desired to recruit more volunteers to not overwork the current team. The chapter also believed that leadership in the field needed more of a platform to be recognized for their programs, best practices, and corporate efforts locally. The board took ATD’s framework and structured the chapter’s programs around the ATD Competency Model. The chapter designed each quarter of the year to align with four core principles: organizational development, talent management, innovation learning solutions, and managing learning programs and teams. As a result, the chapter set a record of more than 400 people at events (previous average was 180), grew in membership and revenue for the chapter, increased corporate participation and engagement, and recruited up to 22 sponsors.

YEAR: 2017

DETROIT CHAPTER: Strategic Plan Process

SUMMARY: The chapter developed and executed a strategic planning process. This process resulted in a completed strategic plan with four distinct and defined key result areas and corresponding goals, a membership communication piece, focus areas and goals for each Vice President, specific criteria and review processes of how the chapter is lead and meeting its mission statement.

YEAR: 2016

HOUSTON CHAPTER: Launching a Leadership Council

SUMMARY: The Houston Chapter created a leadership council consisting of senior leaders within the learning and development community, who work as advisors in setting strategy for the local chapter.

YEAR: 2014

CASCADIA CHAPTER: Becoming a Welcoming Organization

SUMMARY: The Cascadia Chapter started an initiative to become a more welcoming organization. With the help of outside facilitators, the board identified key areas for chapter improvement. The chapter focused on the key areas and has seen increased membership and program attendance, and more volunteers getting involved at the board level.

YEAR: 2012

CENTRAL INDIANA CHAPTER: Board Development: Chapter Mission

SUMMARY: Through an interactive process as a board, the chapters use the majority of their 2010 Board retreat to update their mission and vision to reflect the current state of the chapter; they used this time to develop a set of values to support their ways of working together.

YEAR: 2010

CENTRAL INDIANA CHAPTER: VP of Technology

SUMMARY: The chapter didn’t have a point person or someone that was in charge of their website and social media presence. Various board members were constantly updating the website which caused much confusion. To deal with this, the chapter created a new board position titled “VP of Technology.” The position serves a marketing role to recruit new members and to encourage current members to be more involved.

YEAR: 2010

SACRAMENTO CHAPTER: Chapter Five Year Strategic Plan

SUMMARY: The Sacramento chapter employed a formal structure to identify core value propositions representing the chapter members and defined an action plan for the next five years. The chapter board formerly operated on lackluster long-range goals without the benefit of vetting through the membership or achievable objectives toward success.

YEAR: 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE CHAPTER: Strategic Planning

SUMMARY: This board retreat and strategic planning event allowed the new and existing board members to build relationships and identifying goals and initiatives for the coming year.

YEAR: 2008

RIVER CITIES CHAPTER: Chapter on the Rise

SUMMARY: In December of 2008, the entire board of directors for River Cities Chapter changed. During a time of continuing decline in local ASTD participation, a new management team was born. Since then, meeting space was donated, time and resources for web development was volunteered, and personal donations were made to get the chapter up and running again. Membership has increased and program attendance is increasing each month.

YEAR: 2008

NEBRASKA CHAPTER: Running it like a Business

SUMMARY: ASTD is no longer just a training organization, but a business that strategically supports workplace learning across the globe. In this SOS, ASTD Nebraska describes how they spent the last three years developing strategic goals, realigning for financial commitment, and tapping into their volunteer base through long-term strategic planning to be able to provide a stronger organization.

YEAR: 2007

SAN DIEGO CHAPTER: Strategic Planning and Transitioning

SUMMARY: The San Diego chapter’s submission provides tools used for developing a solid strategic plan using the chapter’s planning model.

YEAR: 2006

EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER: Build and Maintain Your Board on Solid Foundations

SUMMARY: The Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter restructured the chapter board, developing new job Descriptions, leadership development as part of a yearly action plan, and a five year strategic plan.

YEAR: 2006

SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN CHAPTER: ASTD-SCWC Extreme Makeover: Using Appreciative Inquiry for Strategic Planning

SUMMARY: The South Central Wisconsin Chapter developed a strategic planning effort that used appreciative inquiry to engage all members in planning future programs and services. Appreciative inquiry uses dialogue about positive past experiences in order to build wishes for the future, rather than focusing on problems that need to be solved. As a result, it is an extremely energizing process.

YEAR: 2004