OneNAFA: Building Our Future Together

As a NAFA member, you belong to a community of professionals that share mutual goals, interests, and commitments. As our industry continues to advance at a rapid pace—along with the evolution of technology support systems, a growing diversified membership, and emergence of education programs from non-profit and for-profit sectors—the evolution of NAFA is critical to expand our member value.

Regional Restructure to Enhance the NAFA Member Experience

The Board of Directors voted to restructure the current chapter membership model to a regional governance model designed to enhance the member experience. Over the past few years, NAFA leadership, staff and groups of members have shaped a high-level plan to develop a regional structure determining what it looks like and how the regions will be dispersed geographically.

What does this mean for you?

This new structure provides increased opportunities for members to get together locally to develop relationships and learn with and from each other. This was all done through the lens of helping all NAFA members make the most of their membership regardless of where they work as well as reducing the organizational load borne by volunteers—allowing them to spend their time focused on creating productive learning and networking opportunities for members in their area. Thoughtful consideration went into determining each location including where members are located throughout North America, proximity to metropolitan areas and an even distribution of existing chapter members.

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As this new regional model rolls out in 2023, each region will be governed by a Regional Council. The Regional Councils will consist of a team of peers from various areas of the region who will work together to identify the priorities for meeting the needs of the members in their region as well as setting the course for activities, allocating funds, and serving as a contact to the national organization.

In addition to the Regional Councils, NAFA Local Networking Groups (LNGs) will be maintained (ie, existing groups such as NAFA Chicago, NAFA New Jersey, etc.) and new LNGs built to facilitate the development and operation of a local presence for NAFA. These LNGs consist of a group of peers in a convenient geographic area where they can connect and build affiliations. New LNGs will be organized and authorized under the NAFA Regional Council. Assistance with activity coordination, administrative needs, and funding requests will also be handled by the Council.

It’s important to note that local get-togethers will still be an essential part of the member experience. With this new model, you also have access to a broader array of content ideas, best practices and speakers as well as the potential for live-streamed content from around the region in addition to hyperlocal gatherings.

View the full OneNAFA Regional Restructure Guide for detailed information around these opportunities including expectations, protocols, best practices, roles, and responsibilities.

Will current chapters stop operating?

The chapters will be reshaped into local planning groups. The administrative burdens of operating a local group will be alleviated. The best part about this change is you can continue doing all of the things you loved doing with your current chapter. If you want to throw that holiday party or meet in your city for a lunch-and-learn, you can still do that. This change is about offering more capabilities, not taking away existing ones.

What happens to the chapter funds?

Chapter funds aren’t going away and aren’t going to be diverted in any way toward national NAFA efforts. Funds will be held in individual region sub-accounts where they will be allocated to support the local initiatives and activities.

Will leadership opportunities still be available for local volunteer chapter leaders who want to stay involved?

If you are a current chapter leader, there will still be opportunities for you to be involved at a leadership level whether that is on the Regional Council, as part of a more locally-focused committee that the Council creates, or continuing on as a leader of a Local Networking Group. More information on specific volunteer opportunities is available in this guide.

NAFA members are encouraged to serve the industry and association by getting involved at the Regional or Local Networking Group level. Members can sign up to serve on a Regional Committee, Local Networking Group, or a future Regional Council (2023-2024 Councils have been finalized). Express your interest today!

Stay tuned for more information on implementation and how this will impact you. We are excited to move forward together as OneNAFA. We welcome your feedback and questions below as we embark on this journey together to improve your NAFA member experience.

If you would like to provide feedback on this stage of the regional governance model, we welcome your feedback below.