Picture this- Who do you see on the IAP2 USA Board?

Voting opens November 21, 2022 - voting deadline is December 6, 2022

Ballots will be distributed via email on November 21.

We have some incredible candidates for you to choose from and we hope that you will take the time to get to know them a little bit better. The following is a quick snapshot of the 2023-2025 Board candidates.

How to vote:

You will be sent an online ballot via IAP2 email on November 21, 2022. You must be a current IAP2 USA member to vote. Simply log into the website to renew or update your membership. If you are unsure of your status or would like assistance with your membership contact info@iap2usa.org

Voting opens: November 21, 2022. Deadline to vote: December 6, 2022

Nine candidates are standing for election to the IAP2 USA Board. When you receive your email ballot you will be asked to vote for five candidates  If you need additional assistance with voting or do not receive a ballot on November 21, please contact info@iap2usa.org.

Note: There are no U.S. Representative to the IAP2 International Board openings this year. 

Candidates:

  • Ryan Adamson
  • Danita Akendengue-Ogandaga
  • Jay Anderson
  • Lucero Aréchiga
  • Rebekah Grmela
  • April Hasson
  • Kendall Martin
  • Mahina Martin
  • Justin Schneider

IAP2 USA Board Candidates


Ryan Adamson

Consultant, Community Engagement Specialist

WSP USA, Inc.

California










Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board.  

I bring more than eight years of experience as a communications and public involvement consultant serving public and private sector clients on transportation, infrastructure, land use planning and climate change projects. My work includes projects in both the United States and Canada bringing a broad understanding of the current state of engagement. My cross-border experience informs my perspective on opportunities for growth of IAP2 in the US, particularly in the west coast.

I am proud of my efforts to champion diversity, equity and inclusion within my work environments and beyond. At WSP Canada, I served as the Membership Officer for VIBE, the organization’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) representing LGBTQ2+ employees and allies. During this tenure, I developed opportunities to increase membership and awareness of the ERG amongst employees. I now serve as a member of the IAP2 USA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee seeking to help fulfill IAP2’s commitment to equity.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make? 

I believe the public participation industry has been slow to adapt to the evolving needs of communities. This is particularly true of the need to address structural racism and discrimination. The IAP2 USA Board needs to challenge members to address public cynicism and mistrust through unconventional methods. Our practice is too committed to the procedural nature of public participation which suppresses our human desire to connect, relate and empathize.

My vision for service on the IAP2 USA Board relates to the slow pace of evolution that has occurred to meet the demands of a society grappling with rapid technological change and systemic inequities. We must modernize our practice. For example, investment into the user experience, user needs, and human-centric approaches. We must examine what other industries are doing right and think beyond our industry to challenge conventions.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

The IAP2 USA Board needs to work with and on behalf of membership to break down thought silos and address the risk of creating an echo chamber that is associated with professionalizing a practice focused on the abstract concept of the public good. While the organization may thrive off of dues and training fees, we must understand our organization’s value to our broader communities. When communities understand the value of good engagement, they will demand it.

We should reexamine the organization’s corporate façade and how it presents itself as a nonprofit organization. We must engage future generations and equity priority communities. For example, IAP2 should seek opportunities to partner with educational institutions and community-based organizations to instill the values of civic participation. IAP2 can continue to serve as an organization seeking to provide professionalization and standards of practice while building capacity amongst nonmember communities.



Danita Akendengue-Ogandaga

Burns & McDonnell

Senior Public Involvement Specialist

Georgia




Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board. 

Community organizing on the streets of Kinston, NC since seven, marching for justice when I did not even know how to verbalize my name. Learning the importance of connecting yourself to vision with understanding of policy to indeed gain strength to march. Serving in case management for food pantries to economic development organizations using art as a catalyst to assist neighborhood groups to activate their will through technical assistance  ultimately giving voice to root shock and disinvestment. Teaching at Carlow University’s School of Social Work before moving to Atlanta serving as a Public Information Manager and Grants Specialist from transportation to engineering design projects to managing a group of twenty six organizations dispatched throughout the City to create awareness for capital projects. I now serve as a Consultant with Burns and McDonnell working to create awareness for energy equity on the Grid Investment Program on behalf of Georgia Power.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make? 

In the face of systemic challenges, communication, notification, and coordination are important pillars to engagement and practitioners look to IAP2 as an industry resource. The  industry has had to pivot among political and social conditions that inform our work. Stakeholder engagement and public involvement do not mean the same things to everyone. Many times, we call this the nature of our work, but the actionable steps that inform it are customer service based. When a company or strategy shifts to proactive communications, there is often a shift to develop communication strategies rather than public involvement plans to inform, consult, collaborate, and empower the people that matter most. Taking the time to meet people where they are in their level of understanding is critical to create a solid foundation on the purpose of our work and then add other techniques and strategies to the toolkit.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

Once we have a defined understanding of the proprieties for IAP2 and messaging in these challenging times, I believe the Board will be pivotal in ensuring that this message is instructed down while providing space for the members to report up their work. I have witnessed the power of intersection when Board Members from this current year informed myself and the other practitioners’ work during the trainings. It was a powerful moment of release and humanity to say what would have worked then but what must work now. Data reporting is such a pivotal part of the work that is being done in public involvement and helping the membership inform their work with strategies, techniques, and most importantly context, will be essential to empowering them to pipeline into the efforts of IAP2.



Jay Anderson


Community Engagement & Public Participation

City of Colorado Springs


Colorado


Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board. 

I have served in a number of roles at the City of Colorado Springs, from Budget to IT to Sustainability. Over the past 12 years I have always focused on the point where the City's work intersects with the community's experience. If elected, I will bring this focus on user experience to the board. In my work, I obsess over the community members' experience of their city government. If I am invited to serve on this board, I will similarly focus on the member's experience of IAP2 USA. I want to make sure that we as members, and the IAP2 USA organization live up to our Core Values and Code of Ethics.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make? 

I care deeply about the practice of public participation, and I am applying for a seat on the board in order to help direct IAP2 USA's future development. IAP2 USA is poised to develop into the robust standard-bearing organization we all need it to be. As those on the IAP2 USA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee would attest, I usually contribute first by listening with intentionality and then by leveraging *just the right amount* of technology to facilitate the processes that need to happen to address the board's needs. I would like the opportunity to help our field and our communities by serving on the Board.


Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

I recognize that my lived and learned experience, and that of the other board members, are not universal to everyone that IAP2 USA serves. The work of the board is to engage with our practitioner communities to ensure that the breadth and diversity of IAP2's constituents are represented in the decision making of the organization. The work also includes explaining the Board's directions to members and participants, learning from the impacts of those decisions, and building IAP2-USA into an organization that we can be proud of-- one that continues to learn, adapt, and lead in public participation.


Lucero Aréchiga

Lucero Aréchiga


Public Information Specialist 

City of  Austin


Texas


Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board. 

I have been a communications leader for more than15 years, ten of those years as a business development director in the healthcare industry and 5 as a Senior Public Information Officer in the field of Code Enforcement. Additionally, I have been a private consultant for small to large-scale companies providing business strategy insights and brand placement consultations. Through these various roles, I have had the opportunity to develop marketing campaigns, community engagement plans, and process development schematics that have brought success to the organizations I've supported. What I can bring to the board is a broad perspective on organizational goals, with a focus on achieving change and measurable improvements.


Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

The IAP2 Board is recognized amongst communication leaders as a standardized resource for educational content and a shared community of practice. My vision for this organization is to elevate the profile of Community Engagement practitioners more broadly. To raise awareness beyond the realms of communicators and more into communities to help connect residents to the individuals that are conduits for their voice. There is a lot of potential for organizations and municipalities to learn more about the role of community engagement, the importance of the role, and the recognition of the critical need for conversations around language access, accessibility, and equity.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

I work diligently to connect with people in a meaningful way and provide a (safe) space to share ideas, concerns, and align them with the individuals, tools or resources to improve a process. By doing this, I have solidified professional partnerships and friendships in my community, which creates a valuable network of individuals who share a growth and inclusive mindset. Relationship building is a life-long journey, and I continue to amplify messaging to audiences who need to hear it most. As an IAP2 Board member, I would contribute to the knowledge base and hope to improve reach to serve communities that need it most. 

I appreciate your consideration.


Rebekah Grmela


Founder + Principal

The P2 Club, Right + Good Consulting


Pennsylvania



Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board. 

I am a strategist and an implementer through and through and bring these strengths to each leadership role I support. At this point in time, I have had experience successfully launching two for-profit organizations (focused on managing and advising nonprofits), as well as leading as a former board member and Director of
Communications at a statewide 501c3 organization. Because of this experience, the key strengths I would bring to the IAP2 USA board include expertise around:
 Communications and engagement strategy  Content and marketing campaigns and implementation
 Partnership development  Event production and organization  Program creation and evaluation
 Operations, systems and succession planning  Change Management; implementing new tools and systems

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

I am dedicated to the future of public participation in the United States, board member or not of IAP2 USA. I believe that I can better mobilize that vision by supporting this cause’s principal professional organization in a leadership capacity. The industry of “P2” is not yet recognized for what it is in the community – an opportunity to bring together professional practitioners, community organizers, nonprofit leaders, private company marketers, government PIOs and more, together under a shared umbrella of understanding. As our communities continue to become more political and polarized, I think that IAP2 USA can help play a role in building safe and respected spaces for all to feel welcome to share dialogue and lead authentically and effectively. We are not truly engaging with others without empowering all voices, and I would love to be a part of that mission. I expect to make extensive contributions over my term, as my entire professional career and mission is aligned with this same mission. I am motivated on many levels to be an active board member.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

I have extensive experience working with Board leadership at nonprofit organizations, though usually in a consultant or staff capacity. Often, the priorities of Board leadership shift away from member concerns and are instead over time redirected to organizational management. While making sure IAP2 USA is a healthy and viable organization is a key priority, I expect our IAP2 Board to be active as well as govern, and conduct valuable listening sessions with key stakeholders. It is my practice to lead with listening, and understanding the full spectrum of concerns within new, potential and existing members would be key to feel fully authentic in my contributions as a board member. Many organizational priorities also shift when new leadership joins, and it is a priority for me to build continuity and succession planning into my time on the board to create more organizational sustainability. 



April Hassan


Program Manager  

JLA PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 


Oregon



Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board.

As a Program Manager at JLA Public Involvement based in Oregon and SW Washington, I collaborate with public stakeholders and project teams on transportation, land-use, and public infrastructure projects. I bring a background in grant-writing and nonprofit program management and have served or currently serve on several nonprofit boards of directors, including the IAP2 Cascade Chapter, our neighborhood elementary school's Community Union, Rose City Rollers roller derby league, and am member of ninety-nine girlfriends, a NW-based women’s grantmaking organization. I bring a spirit of collaboration to all roles I serve in, with a focus on ensuring equitable engagement.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

Public participation in processes and outcomes affecting ourselves and others is vital. IAP2 has the ability to strengthen the process of how, when and how much stakeholders shape and inform the process and outcome of decisions. My hope as an IAP2 USA Board member is to learn more as a practitioner, engage in more equitable and inclusive strategies, mentor others, and strengthen the field of public participation in the U.S.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

The Board of Directors should practice what we preach in terms of seeking to empower and collaborate with IAP2 USA members. As a member of the board, I would listen to member needs, ideas, and goals for improvement, as well as continue utilizing tried-and-true strategies, while also acting on new and emerging ideas to invigorate the field. Members bring a wealth of experience, both professionally and personally, that adds invaluable input to IAP2.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

Kendall

Kendall Martin


Director of Communications

Alliance San Diego


California


Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board.

I currently work on multiple national and local issues related to centering the power of the community to create a more inclusive democracy. The centerpiece of my work involves implementing a voter education campaign to encourage low-propensity voters to exercise their power and cast their vote to create the change that benefits all of us. Taking the time to show up in the community just to promote a plan or a program is rarely the most effective strategy. Sometimes we just need to show up and be present. Sometimes we just need to connect with people, share our joy and acknowledge our fears and our pain. Building real relationships with our community helps us to build real trust. 

I currently serve as the Secretary on the IAP2 USA Board and want to use my second term to advance the IAP2 USA Strategic Plan, build relationships with like-minded organizations with the same compassion, patience, humility and joy that I have experienced throughout my career.

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

The future of public participation in the United States remains uncertain. Public participation practitioners need to use this moment in history to reassess our values in these politically charged times. Our political and social systems should work for all. I think our near-future involves us sharing knowledge about how decision-making really works versus how it should work. 

I will continue to work with other board members, chapter members and the community organizations with whom we partner to ensure that the idea of public participation is action-oriented and not strictly academic. I think it starts with the board finding ways to make a difference at the local level. Encouraging our members to use social media to produce content related to civic engagement in multiple languages is just one way to demonstrate IAP2’s values and commitment to holding ourselves and our systems of government accountable.I recognize that leadership involves both a rational and emotional intelligence that builds trust and respect. 

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

Delivering value to our members and ultimately to the community that we serve is my highest professional priority. Ensuring greater transparency, access, accountability and resourceful creativity in the board’s decision-making only adds value to the experience of all involved.

My value as a board member is to network, facilitate and be as accessible as possible. I think my experience working with another association taught me something important. Members of any organization not only receive transactional value from the education, training and materials of the association but also receive personal value from fostering meaningful relationships with other members. 

I think an effective board member must use their position to accomplish two major objectives:

  1. Build tangible relationships that lead to solving real problems

  2. Deliver useful resources to members at the local level

I appreciate that the IAP2 USA Board is an action-oriented body seeking to accomplish both.



Mahina Martin


Director, Government & Community Affairs


Hawaiian Electric Company

Hawaii


Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board.

In the last ten years I’ve been humbly honored to receive awards for community service from Hawaiian Electric (Kokua Champion 2015), Rotary Club of Kahului (Mike Lyons Palaka Award 2018), Sierra Club (Onipaa Award 2013), County of Maui (Employee of the Year, Department of Management 2008) and in 2018, a team I’m a member of with Hawaiian Electric became a national finalist in the Smart Electric Power Alliance’s Visionary of the Year in Community Engagement Awards for our work on Molokai Island – an island with an extraordinary number of economically disadvantaged residents, the majority of native Hawaiian descent. These notable recognitions are from different sectors – private, government and community, and all are deeply appreciated. They highlight my commitment to helping others succeed. I find that my most significant accomplishment relevant to serving on a valuable Board such as IAP2’s is my experience in working with rural, minority and native Hawaiian communities to build success beginning with inclusion which is the common thread in the accomplishments I’ve achieved professionally and as a member of my community. 

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

These are difficult times in neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Families, schools and governments are facing issues and public temperament that have increasingly become concerning. I believe that bringing the discussion about public engagement needs and elevating the value it brings will contribute to the wellness of communities across the states. By continuing to strengthen the profession IAP2 plays a significant leadership role across the country and has the ability to impact how the private and public sectors find ways to achieve what their customers and communities need. While IAP2 clearly supports individual success through trainings and resources, the organization has the potential to be a national voice of collaboration and inclusion in many instances.  I would be able to contribute the experience of working in Hawaii, the most isolated populated islands in the world. Islands with very distinct cultures and island communities in the middle of the Pacific Ocean struggling with limited resources, a booming tourism industry, and a native Hawaiian people historically not included in policy decisions or project implementation. As a former nonprofit executive director, a past government official and a current public affairs employee in a corporation I’m hopeful my mix of experiences and viewpoints can be helpful.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.

Training, resources, and gatherings are essential to the success of members, and I believe IAP2 does that well. I see as an opportunity providing additional support to practitioners in highlighting their efforts and the profession itself. By helping to build a broader appreciation for the work in a member’s town or city, it will add credibility to their efforts and create an interest in the profession and in IAP2 as an organization. For example, presenters at the conference would receive publicity of their selection in their hometown news, and a trained speakers bureau could be available to feature the topic of public participation at trade conferences (it’s a subject many are curious about and fearful of as well!). 

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make?

These are difficult times in neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Evident by the challenges families, schools and governments are facing with issues and public temperament that have increasingly become concerning. I believe that bringing the discussion about public engagement needs and elevating the value it brings will contribute to the wellness of communities across the states. By continuing to strengthen the profession IAP2 plays a significant leadership role across the country and has the ability to impact how the private and public sectors find ways to achieve what their customers and communities need. While IAP2 clearly supports individual success through trainings and resources, the organization has the potential to be a national voice of collaboration and inclusion in many instances.  I would be able to contribute the experience of working in Hawaii, the most isolated populated islands in the world. Islands with very distinct cultures and island communities in the middle of the Pacific Ocean struggling with limited resources, a booming tourism industry, and a native Hawaiian people historically not included in policy decisions or project implementation. As a former nonprofit executive director, a past government official and a current public affairs employee in a corporation I’m hopeful my mix of experiences and viewpoints can be helpful.


Justin Schneider

Community Engagement Consultant, Parks and Recreation

City of Austin

Texas

Please describe your experience, skills and strengths that you would bring to the Board.

Experience

  • 20 years of professional experience advocating for shared decision-making
  • 4 years employing “IAP2 Way” for City of Austin Parks and Recreation
  • Licensed attorney, navigating intersection of P2 and legal requirements
  • Seeking IAP2 training licensure (anticipated completion November 2022)

Skills and Strengths

  • Listening to and reframing conversations to seek consensus
  • Ability to receive criticism and reflect (but not too much, please)
  • Calm in difficult situations, ability to provide levity
  • Easy to get along with but willing to address conflict with respect

Please describe your own vision for the IAP2 USA Board. What contributions do you expect to make? 

As a white, cis-gendered male, I see my role on the board as temporary, focusing on mentoring and raising up future board members who represent the equity-centered foundation of IAP2. In my own work, I seek to mentor and raise up community members from Austin who will advocate for increased participation and influence for their communities and others. I hope to support equity efforts of the board. As a future licensed trainer, I anticipate supporting the training and regionalization efforts for our training. Finally, as I move forward getting the Lonestar Chapter back on board, I hope to explore how we do chapters and ways to support communities of practice through each region within the U.S.

Please explain how you expect the IAP2 USA Board to work with and on behalf of membership.
Our members are our public. I hope we can model incorporating the IAP2 framework, such as the Practice Framework, into our practices as the board: The iterative process of “Learn, Design, Plan, Implement, repeat” will be necessary to be a fluid organization that is flexible for the times yet provides a solid framework for hearing the voices who are members or could be. As mentioned above, I hope to mentor and support future board members who are focused on an equity-centered approach. Overall, the way we advocate for members and partner with them should be similar to our people-centered foundation, reminding ourselves that without the people there is no organization.


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