Schedule of Events

While the concept of “chapter engagement” might not seem like the most groundbreaking approach to chapter sustainability and growth, we’re doing it all wrong! Unlock what systems and approaches truly build engagement. Only through engagement do programming and events create impact. In this session, we’ll breakdown the untapped methods and tools at our disposal to create high value chapter experiences.

Julie Couret Executive Coach

Your accounting policies and procedures are the responsibility of every person involved with your chapter’s financial transactions. In this session, you’ll examine how to establish and maintain financial controls, no matter what the size of your chapter. You’ll review critical issues surrounding your chapter’s finances and discuss creating or updating your official financial policy.

Objectives:

• Create, review and fine-tune your chapter’s written financial policy.
• Examine the cybersecurity risks to your chapter and how to mitigate them.
• Recognize how to manage chapter financials and incorporate key financial controls.
• Identify potential risks inherent in your chapter’s financial structure.

Travis C. Armstrong, CLM, CPA Chief Operating Officer English Lucas Priest & Owsley, LLP

Amanda R. Koplos, CLM, CPA Executive Director Shuffield Lowman & Wilson, PA

Retirement? It happens to the best of us! But it doesn’t necessarily mean the loss of a valued ALA member. In this session, you’ll look at options and opportunities for retired members and Past Presidents who want to continue to participate in ALA at the chapter and international levels. You’ll take away resources and strategies that you can implement right away to keep retired members engaged.

Objectives:

• Assess ALA demographics and identify strategies for retaining and engaging members nearing retirement and beyond.
• Discuss ALA International’s “Retired” member classification in detail, including the benefits.
• Explain and sample Retired member and Past President benefits at the chapter level from around the country.
• Identify opportunities within ALA to engage retired members and Past Presidents to promote intergenerational relationships.

Kathryn S. Vidal, CLM, SHRM-CP We're Boss	Melissa Hirst, MSLA Chief Operating Officer Altitude Community Law PC
Sharon L. Stewart	Carrie Valenzuela, MBA Branch Officer Manager Meagher & Geer, PLLP

As a new chapter leader, are you listening to the voices that prop you up or the voices that tear you down? The imposter syndrome and similar negative thoughts and feelings can be debilitating and keep you from succeeding. In this session, you’ll delve into real-life examples of leaders who allowed the negative in without realizing it. Come discover what you can do to shut off those voices, set those boundaries and positively control your reactions and emotions.

Objectives:

• Identify ways that negative thoughts and actions appear and their impact.
• Create steps to take when the negatives attempt to take over.
• Practice coaching and mentoring skills to assist others on your team.
• Choose accountability methods for yourself and those you serve.

Debra L. Elsbury, CLM Firm Administrator Threlkeld Stevenson

This interactive lab session will explore chapter and business partner relationships. Every chapter is different (and so is every business partner). Therefore, every relationship will be different, too ― one size does not fit all! Chapter leaders and business partners alike are encouraged to join this session to pull on their lab coats and fire up their Bunsen burners to help create the most effective business partner program that fits your chapter.

Objectives:

• Explore, exchange and compare existing business partner programs to extract their best elements.
• Develop solutions and determine hypotheses based upon shared methods and best practices.
• Identify and define opportunities for improvement based upon experiment conclusions.
• Develop written, practical, concrete plans for follow up and next steps based upon specific chapter challenges and shared examples.

Michelle D. Cohen Director of Human Resources & Office Manager Schneck Law Group LLC	Karen B. Scher Marketing Events Manager Affinity Consulting Group
DeAnna L. Vaughan, CLM, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Manager, Office Operations White & Case LLP	Laurence Winters, MBA Chief Community Officer SurePoint Technologies

You’re invited to take part in a collaborative and research-packed discussion on applying diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) strategies to achieve a more diverse Board and leadership within your local chapter. You’ll gain tools you can bring back to your chapter and begin using right away, even if you’re new to your role. You’ll leave with a powerful plan for increasing diversity among your local Board and within your chapter’s leadership.

Objectives:

• Recognize and understand the actual and perceived internal and external implications of setting purposeful and strategic goals of diversity within your chapter.  
• Assess key components of a diversity plan and integral factors to consider when bringing new members into leadership at the chapter level.
• Discover how to remove barriers underrepresented members face and demonstrate a commitment to DEIA by adding more diversity.

JaNae D. Martin Legal Administrator Helmers + Associates

What if your chapter lost half of its Board members ― what would you do? In this session, you’ll learn how one chapter rebuilt its Board, and what they learned about effective Board transitions in the process. You’ll consider how incoming Board members might not have the institutional knowledge of their predecessors, but do they need to when they bring critical, new perspectives? Join this session and learn how to throw out old assumptions and start over to address the needs of your chapter today.

Objectives:

• Learn the steps to take in the event of an unexpected loss of Board volunteers.
• Identify key information that must be part of the Board transition process.
• Examine and rethink your requirements, processes and goals ― even your chapter bylaws aren’t sacrosanct!
• Discuss strategies to fulfill your fiduciary duties and reinvigorate your chapter.

Maria S. Mason, CLM Business Director Greenberg Traurig, LLP	Eden Sara Minucci, CLM, SHRM-CP Partner, Legal Operations Clear Guidance Partners
C. Dominica McGinnis Chief Executive Officer and Executive Coach BridgeField Group

Do networking events intimidate you? Do you shy away from social events? Does a business partner expo hall make you break out in a cold sweat? In this session, you’ll explore how to overcome that feeling of intimidation, gain an understanding of why those situations feel scary and learn how to develop your networking skills. The concrete tools you’ll take away will help you become comfortable with networking and meeting new people and will have a wide-reaching impact on your chapter.

Objectives:

• Understand what makes small talk intimidating.
• Extend and stretch yourself to develop your networking skills.
• Experiment with practical ways to make the uncomfortable more comfortable.
• Explain how your networking positively impacts your chapter's success.

Allison E. Worley, CLM, MBA Senior Manager – Legal Support Services Husch Blackwell LLP

Here are 10 quality education strategies and resources that won’t break the bank. This session is designed to encourage participants to brainstorm and share ideas while being inspired by the top 10 ideas presented.

Objectives:

• Identify ways to successfully locate available ALA educational resources.
• Develop ways to identify legal management education within the local legal associations.
• Examine and capture ways to find educational sessions within the local community.

Rose A. Jaworecki Legal Office Administrator Thompson Hine, LLP	Kathryn S. Vidal, CLM, SHRM-CP We’re Boss
Tina M. White, CLM Firm Services Manager Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P

To support and communicate the Foundation of ALA's mission and work, you must be familiar with it. Join this session to learn what your Foundation does, including its mission, vision and program activities. Be prepared for an informational and interactive learning experience that addresses the future vision and scope of your Foundation.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate your understanding of the purpose of the Foundation, including its mission and vision.
• Review and become familiar with the current activities and programs the Foundation sponsors to carry out its mission.
• Define the vital role that chapters and members play in supporting their Foundation.
• Generate ideas for enhancing the work of the Foundation by collaborating with other leaders.

Brian P. Gilman, CLM Chief Operating Officer Smith Debnam

Explore how spheres of influences can contribute to your chapter’s success. In this session, you’ll take a deep dive and matter-of-fact approach to understanding the benefits of networking and communication. You’ll explore the qualities of a successful chapter leader. You’ll engage in discussions centered around techniques for hosting successful educational programs, ideas for helping maintain reliable business partner sponsorships and ways to engage members to ensure succession of key chapter leadership roles.

Objectives:

• Employ techniques to help your chapter benefit from its sphere of influence.
• Set up positive, actionable steps that will help you engage members.
• Demonstrate how effective leadership benefits the members and elevates the chapter.
• Identify formats of cost-effective, high-quality educational programs.
• Discuss the traits of successful business partner sponsorship programs.

Dan J. McCormack, CLM, MBA, ACC Chief Executive Officer Dan McCormack & Associates LLC

Christopher J O'Sullivan, CLM Chief Financial Officer and Firm Administrator Gesmer Updegrove LLP

Your behavior, speech and decisions and how you carry yourself as a leader all derive from your perceptions and attitudes. Take a whirlwind tour of the mind and find one attitude you can shift to become more effective in your role. During this exercise, you’ll look at examples of perceptions that don’t serve you followed by key leadership attitudes for success.

Objectives:

• Give examples of the way your perceptions can determine your performance.
• Point out how perceptions connect to the attitudes and ways of being the leader.
• Choose to shift your performance to improve your ability to lead.

Krystal Champlin-Gerage Certified Executive Coach, Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner Chief Executive Officer and Law Firm Practice Management Consultant RJH Consulting

With each succession, your chapter’s documents — hard or soft copies — are at risk of being damaged, stolen or lost. What can you do to improve your document retention practices? In this session, you’ll gain information, resources and policies for keeping your chapter’s documents accessible, secure and safely stored.

Objectives:

• Examine a sample document retention policy for a nonprofit corporation and discuss how state laws may differ.
• Analyze best practices document management and succession transition.
• Identify information security and data protection and produce a checklist.

Elyssa A. Goldstein, CLM, PHR, SHRM-CP Firm Administrator Rebenack, Aronow & Mascolo, LLP

Karie D. Rivkin, CLM Chief Financial Officer Eichelbaum Wardell Hansen Powell & Munoz, PC

This town-hall-type session provides a forum in which chapter leaders can have conversations with and ask questions of the Association’s Executive Committee. Participants can submit questions anonymously via email or text to [email protected] by 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 21, or ask questions live during the session.

Facilitated by the ALA Executive Committee, which is comprised of ALA President Geoffrey Williams, CLM, MBA, MDiv, ALA President-Elect Amanda Koplos, CLM, CPA, Immediate Past President Sarah Evenson, JD, MBA and ALA Executive Director Eryn Carter, CAE.

Geoffrey M. Williams, CLM, MBA, M.Div. Chief Operating Officer Cunningham Bounds, LLC	Amanda R. Koplos, CLM, CPA Executive Director Shuffield Lowman & Wilson, PA
Sarah Evenson, JD, MBA Office Administrator Barnes & Thornburg, LLP	Eryn Carter, CAE Executive Director Association of Legal Administrators

Are you just starting out with a LinkedIn account? Or looking to take your social media to the next level? Join this session to learn about the #JaxALA social media journey. You’ll gain tips and tricks to help your chapter survive and thrive in the world of social media and the business of law. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge of personal, business and chapter social media content.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate how to think outside the box through expanding technology, partnering with other community associations and building business law partnerships.
• Define, leverage and grow your brand by highlighting job board, salary survey and other specific benefits.
• Identify tips and tricks for expanding your network, making new connections and applying new ideas to your firm brand, chapter presence and your own life.

Erin A. Juzapavicus, JD Legal Administrator Milam Howard Nicandri & Gillam, P.A.	Jessica L. VanTroost Strategic Operations Administrator McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC
Rachel Borchers, MBA Executive Director Taylor Day, PA

Get ready to focus on your chapter’s diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) mission statement and all the areas it touches. This is a working session so bring your chapter’s current mission statement. What if you don’t have one? Then bring your desire to write one.

Objectives:

• Produce a mission statement with purpose.
• Recognize how to create synchronicity and allow your chapter’s mission statement to be the conductor of your chapter’s orchestra.
• Prepare to sing the notes of success for your leaders to measure.

Judith A. Hissong, CLM, PCC President Nesso Strategies	Terri D. Moore-Natal, SPHR Director of Administration Holzer Patel Drennan
Carrie Valenzuela, MBA Branch Office Manager Meagher & Geer, PLLP

Welcome to the fishbowl, where fishing for ideas is a guaranteed catch! We hear you: The struggle is real. We’ll discuss the challenges that chapters of all sizes experience including engagement, succession, business partner shifts, programming and more! Bring your questions and your answers. The format for this session is the highly interactive fishbowl conversation.

Geoffrey M. Williams, CLM, MBA, M.Div. Chief Operating Officer Cunningham Bounds, LLC

Building and maintaining a level of trust, along with an understanding of subject-matter expertise, can allow you to foster a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with a business partner. This panel-discussion format session will focus on the impact business partners can make in your chapter, identify best practices for elevating relationships with our business partners and provide an open forum for questions and discussion.

Alan Wilson National Program Director GLJ Benefit Consultants (GLJBC)

Laurence Winters, MBA Chief Community Officer SurePoint Technologies

Moderator:

Sarah Evenson, JD, MBA Office Administrator Barnes & Thornburg, LLP

Chapters can become an island when creating and managing their education, business partners and committees. How can you avoid this? Tune into this session where you’ll learn about the many resources ALA offers to help chapters work smarter rather than harder. Why spend your valuable time recreating the wheel? Tap into ALA resources while maintaining your chapter's autonomy.

Objectives:

• Point out details of ALA offerings not covered in the website overview.
• Define and dig into ALA education and certification offerings.
• Select ALA resources, including firm, chapter and community promotion.
• Breakdown ALA publications, events and scholarship opportunities on an Association and business partner level.
• Identify ways to implement ALA resources based on your chapter size and experiences.

Holly K. Pulido Chief Operations Officer Slack Davis Sanger, LLP

Professional development is a broad and sometimes overwhelming topic. ALA’s PDAC 9-member panel of professional development experts is here to help you discern what is trending right now, what is developing soon and what you may want to consider. Join in as we pull back the curtain on how PDAC can be a resource to help you find what you need — fast. Plus, learn about this committee’s impact on ALA's mission to be a premier resource for law firm leaders.

Objectives:

• Identify trending topics in professional development and how they may impact your firm.
• Discuss who PDAC is, how it brings value to you and your firm and how to connect with the team.
• Plan to obtain key resources to help you navigate what’s on the horizon, so you keep your firm at the forefront of the industry.

Roberta A. Bauer Regional Office Administrator Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart, PC Pittsburgh, PA

Jaime Morris Business Operations & Marketing Manager Meyer Capel, PC

Don’t miss this overview of the CLM Approved Provider Program for chapter leaders, including the application/approval process and benefits. You’ll also learn how to assign CLM credits for your chapter’s educational sessions. 

Objectives:

• Define the CLM Approved Provider Program.
• Explain in detail the application/approval process.
• Discuss the benefits of the program for ALA chapters.
• Construct a plan for assigning CLM credits for your chapter’s educational sessions.

Elyssa A. Goldstein, CLM, PHR, SHRM-CP Firm Administrator Rebenack, Aronow & Mascolo, LLP

Karie D. Rivkin, CLM Chief Financial Officer Eichelbaum Wardell Hansen Powell & Munoz, PC

Take a closer look at the ALA Membership Ambassador Program, the initiative launched by the Membership Development Committee in 2020 to welcome new members, connect them to peers and and help them navigate the resources and benefits of membership. You’ll discover why the program has been wildly successful in its first three years with more than 450 new members participating so far. You’ll also explore the Membership Ambassador Program at the Association level and how to establish similar programs at the chapter level.

Objectives:

• Define the goals and objectives of ALA’s Membership Ambassador Program and how the program operates.
• Discuss how to establish an Ambassador Program within chapters, including the resources, processes and training needed to make a program successful. 
• Examine how to measure the success of your chapter’s program.

Stacey L. Ransleben, CLM Director of Office Operations Thompson & Horton LLP

Jessica L. VanTroost Strategic Operations Administrator McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC

Discover strategies and ways to increase membership, engage inactive members and retain members. You’ll learn how during the pandemic, chapters lost members, were not able to meet in person and had to deal with budget reductions impacting firms’ willingness to pay for professional services memberships. Chapters had to pivot. In this session, you’ll explore tips and tricks the Columbus Chapter implemented to increase their membership by 44% in 2022. What worked? What failed? Find out here.

Objectives:

• Formulate tools and strategies to increase membership, including social media campaigns, memberships drives, capitalizing on business partner connections and taking advantage of ALA’s organizational pricing.
• Discover how to engage inactive members through a buddy system, surveys and meeting content.
• Define how to encourage board participation, even though people may be more protective of their personal time and work/life balance.

Brandi Hann Office Administrator Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP

Lori Muetzel Office Administrator of Columbus and Cincinnati Offices Roetzel & Andress, LPA

Welcome to ALA Online Communities and new opportunities for members, committees and chapters to network.You’ll learn how communication and collaboration are valued as members share ideas, get answers to questions and connect with members worldwide. You’ll leave with a deep understanding of the breadth of information they offer that can help members across the globe. There is something for everyone!

Objectives:

• Identify and join the ALA Online Communities.
• Set up a chapters page and use it like a website.
• Examine the document repository for chapters and its benefits.
• Describe how to search the ALA Online Communities.

Holly K. Pulido Chief Operations Officer Slack Davis Sanger, LLP

Stacey L. Ransleben, CLM Director of Office Operations Thompson & Horton LLP

Dima Ghawi’s story of personal transformation encourages audiences to confront and conquer internal limitations. As she recounts her own struggles and triumphs, her vulnerability and insight sparks light for attendees’ own journey of self-discovery.

Ghawi dares individuals to examine their own internal limitations, such as the pursuit of perfection and the fear of failure or being judged. She then equips audience members with the tools and courage it takes to shatter those limitations and emerge as empowered individuals. The audience will also learn the importance of self-awareness and how effective personal leadership starts from within.

Objectives:

• Identify how conscious professionals lead to better teamwork, enhanced communication and an improvement in the overall organizational culture.
• Define how internal limitations inhibit individuals from performing at their best and advancing professionally. 
• Create greater employee engagement and team morale by encouraging risk-taking and increasing individual self-awareness.
• Discover how shattering internal limitations creates more confident and conscious leaders.
• Recognize how increasing courage in organizations also increases creativity and innovation, improving the bottom-line results.

Dima Ghawi Leadership Speaker and Coach

ALA holds its chapters to high standards. As a chapter leader, how can you ensure that your chapter upholds those standards for the benefit of your members? Find out in this session as you review information shared during the Essentials of Chapter Leadership session Pathways to Excellence: A Playbook for Your Chapter and take a deeper dive into ALA’s requirements.

Objectives:

• Model ALA’s Chapter Performance Objectives and how to achieve them.
• Review and adopt the ALA Timeline for Chapter Leaders into your chapter’s calendar.
• Identify the resources available and use them to meet and exceed minimum requirements.
• Select seemingly daunting tasks and make them simple and manageable.
• Outline a strategy to ensure your chapter receives the Presidents’ Award of Excellence.  

Jerry G. McPeake, MSLA Chief Operating Officer Minor & Brown, P.C.

Speaking in front of a group is no easy task … well, unless you are ready! Let’s talk about presentation skills that are useful in running meetings, communicating ideas, and in networking too. We will discuss content, communication styles, strengths, and what to do about those nerves.

Objectives:

• Leave with an easy path for creating your next program.
• Understand PowerPoint’s role in your presentation.
• Look out for pitfalls in your rehearsal (yes, REHEARSE!).
• Explore your presence as the key to success.

Judith A. Hissong, CLM, PCC President Nesso Strategies

Board meetings can be boring, long and ineffective if not conducted properly, but with a few tweaks and some general guidelines, you can hold more effective meetings that are interesting and an efficient use of your chapter volunteers’ time. In this session, we will discuss the correct approach to planning, conducting and participating in effective board meetings by doing simple tasks such as sending meeting notices, creating effective agendas, running the meeting efficiently, using Robert’s Rules of Order, allowing everyone to participate and circulating timely minutes.

Objectives:

• Identify ways to make your meetings run smoothly in the allotted timeframe.
• Show how to create powerful agendas.
• Explain Robert’s Rules of Order and its importance.
• Understand that everyone should be heard and has the space to speak.
• Discuss professional disagreements and their importance.

Nicholas T. Manty Marketing Manager Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Michael E. Keatts Regional Office Administrator Bowman and Brooke LLP

In the words of Michael Jackson, “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make that change.” Change starts with you as a Chapter leader. With the right approach, you can make modifications to your Chapter’s programs – from small changes to the BIG ones – that will impact the Chapter’s value to members and business partners. In this interactive workshop, we will discuss possible changes that may be considered for Chapters to succeed.

Objectives:

• Recognize the key elements of change management
• Generate ideas for changes that Chapters may consider to add value to their membership

Kara M. Brostron, CLM Director of Operations Lashly & Baer, P.C.

Julie S. Logan, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Director of Strategic Workforce Planning & Development Thompson Coburn, LLP

Officer Evenson is on the case! Join us for an engaging and informative session that will help chapter leaders stay on the right side of the “law.” Maintaining your chapter’s bylaws, avoiding antitrust infractions and navigating conflicts of interest don’t have to be tough. Let the Executive Committee help you shed some light on the potential legal pitfalls your chapter may encounter. There might just be a surprise or two for those who want to avoid being like G.O.B. uttering, “I’ve made a huge mistake!”

Objectives:

• Understand the Antitrust laws that govern ALA and help your chapter maintain compliance.
• Delve into the significance of bylaws as the essential governing documents of your chapter.
• Learn how to recognize and manage potential, perceived and actual conflicts of interest within the organization.  

Eryn Carter, CAE Executive Director Association of Legal Administrators	Sarah Evenson, JD, MBA Office Administrator Barnes & Thornburg, LLP
Amanda R. Koplos, CLM, CPA Executive Director Shuffield Lowman & Wilson, PA	Geoffrey M. Williams, CLM, MBA, M.Div. Chief Operating Officer Cunningham Bounds, LLC

In this thought-provoking session, we’ll explore the impact of burnout and stress on an individual’s mental health. Through honest conversations and practical insights, participants will learn how to shatter the stigma surrounding mental health by fostering a culture of understanding, empathy and support. Join us and explore practical strategies to promote mental well-being in your personal and professional life.

Objectives:

• End the mental health stigma by learning the "do's" and "don'ts" of addressing mental health.
• Identify signs and symptoms that might indicate when an employee needs help.
• Determine barriers that contribute to why individuals may not seek services or support.
• Promote early intervention by increasing access to mental health resources.

Erin Callinan, MSW Founder Beneath the Brave Mental Health First Aid Instructor