During strategic planning meetings in May, the National Pest Management Association was considering ways it could both engage more of its members and diversify its leadership pipeline. Although 80 percent of its membership is composed of small companies, those businesses weren’t represented in NPMA’s leadership.

CEO Dominique Stumpf, CAE, attributes that lack of representation to a number of things, including those members not having an awareness of NPMA or not having the time and financial resources to get involved with the group. NPMA hopes to overcome these challenges through the launch of its Executive Leadership Program (ELP.)

“NPMA’s success is contingent on our ability to work in the best interests of our membership and hearing from different voices plays an important role in our understanding of what is important to them,” Stumpf said in a press release. “However, limited resources often make it difficult for aspiring leaders to become involved in the association. Through the ELP, NPMA will provide the necessary resources so that candidates can participate in a planned curriculum that prepares them for association leadership.”

The ELP will come at it “from two angles,” Stumpf said, by getting more members involved and diversifying the leadership.

“The thought was when we get these folks who are from small companies, who are from diverse backgrounds, who are women or veterans—they can bring new ideas to the table at the national level but also at their local level,” said NPMA VP of Communications, Marketing, and Membership Janay Rickwalder, CAE. “They can be ambassadors that promote the objectives of the NMPA.”

Individual can apply for the two-year program until December 9. NPMA will then choose up to 10 professionals, who will join a committee, participate in monthly conference calls, learn more about NPMA’s history and future objectives, receive skills training, and get paired up with a mentor. In addition, they’ll receive registration and travel expenses to NPMA’s national conferences and meetings.

In addition, Rickwalder said that the national association is working with its state associations to help identify rising stars at the local level who NPMA may not be aware of.

“What we’re hoping is that over the course of this program, that we can get new voices, new faces, new involvement, and hopefully expand upon our reach within those communities,” Rickwalder said.

(iStock/Thinkstock)