What do you see as the most important aspect of the role for which you are standing?

Communication, including responsiveness to members, is the most important aspect of the Director of Administration’s main responsibilities — tending to the publications, members’ inquiries, volunteers, and the International office.

While “communication” sounds rather vague, it implies

• Replying quickly to messages and requests with concrete and useful information.
• Initiating and participating in discussions with the leaders and general membership about topics and issues facing Mensa.
• Writing clear policies and procedures and then proactively educating leaders and members about changes and details.
• Maintaining a supportive and respectful relationship with staff. 
• Creating content for publications and social media outlets.
• Finding and sharing best practices, and ideas, and solutions between national Mensas.
• Actively assisting committee leaders and encouraging the volunteers who make the day-to-day magic of Mensa happen.

Leadership is the second key aspect. With more than 20 years’ experience leading Mensan committees and projects, I look forward to putting my accumulated knowledge to work for the betterment of Mensa International.

Why have you volunteered for this role and what in particular qualifies you for it?

Mensa has been a significant part of more than half my life, and I feel a deep desire to help others find the enduring value of our organization. Having served for decades at the local and national levels, it’s time to offer my skills and time to the larger global membership.

Visions and strategic plans need to be broken down into specific, practical steps and implementation. As a former teacher, I’ve honed skills necessary to identify and organize the incremental steps required to transform grand-but-generic goals into concrete results and implemented actions. 

IBD decisions should be based on hard data, tempered by an appreciation of cultural differences. I’ve led large research projects on group financing, communication, governance, and volunteerism and know that facts do not always support assumptions. I understand that a single, ethnocentric approach will not fit the needs and constraints of all Mensas.

ExComm officers are often responsible for making decisions and initiating policies. During my many years serving on the boards of Chicago Area Mensa and American Mensa, I’ve gained experience crafting motions and sweeping policies that were solid and flexible enough to have remained in effect for decades.

Authoritarian leadership is not appropriate for Mensa. In a volunteer organization such as ours, we are all equal members; leaders should be willing and able to participate as hands-on members of teams. As Chair of the News Team, I’ve actively shared the background tasks of organizing, researching, interviewing, and producing content for more than 150 Workplace articles and posts.

I am innovative, experienced, open-minded, responsive, dependable, organized, and able to commit to dedicating as much time to the role of Director of Administration as I would to a full-time career. 

What do you see as the most important issues facing Mensa International at the present time and in the next few years?

Mensa International needs to be seen as a benefit —a value-adding component of the Mensa experience— not just a vague oversight entity that spends 7% of the members’ dues.

We all joined to find acceptance, camaraderie, and ways to use our joint intelligence to benefit others. Most members find those experiences through their national Mensas. To support and supplement those experiences, the IBD and ExComm should develop and implement the best possible services and procedures to meet the needs and desires of all members, with on-going respectful consideration of the cultural, governance, and economic differences between national Mensas.

In particular:

• Technology and data-gathering should be better leveraged to increase member engagement.
• Membership should be increased by expanding and facilitating testing opportunities, energizing MI’s use of social media, and supporting developing NMs.
• Retention should be improved by providing additional participation opportunities.
• Volunteers should to be more efficiently identified, trained, supported, and celebrated.
• Funding should be better supplemented by non-dues revenue.
• Spending should be equitable; all NMs should to be provided with what they need to succeed, regardless of size. 

What do you wish to achieve during your term of office?

Volunteerism

• Revise the volunteer recruitment, selection, training, and review processes.
• Recognize more volunteers by revitalizing and possibly expanding the awards program and other opportunities for appreciation.

Communication

• Guide process of upgrading the MI website.
• Modernize cross-linking of all MI communications channels and platforms.
• Keep Mensa News and newsletter vibrant and informative.
• Support MWJ content-generation and distribution.
• Ensure that all members know about and have easy access to the many sources of Mensa • International news and content.
• Continue creating content on Workplace and actively assist administrators.
• Facilitate sharing accurate membership data and information from all national Mensas.
• Connect with communications officers from all NMs to share content and improve processes for cross-national access to NMs’ websites, publications, and social media.
• Appraise MI’s social media presence and strategy and identify ways to energize it.

Leadership

• Promote sharing leadership opportunities and materials between national Mensas.
• Host virtual events to facilitate live interaction between officers and volunteers.
• Educate leaders and members about strategic plans, policies, and procedures. 

Administration

• Support efforts to bring adaptive testing project and CRM implementation to fruition.
• Stay involved with N&L Committee projects, including development of graphic clarification of current rules and proposals for updated or additional rules.
• Provide guidance and support for Photocup and Poetry competitions.
• Continue hands-on support for Gifted Youth Committee as needed.
• Streamline, expand, and promote I-SIGs program
• Review and possibly refine what MI content is mandatory for NMs to communicate (including translating) to their membership.
• Develop a GDPR-compliant directory of contact information for NMs’ officers to make it easier for volunteers to connect with others in similar roles.
• Decrease the number of emails “lost” by the current mailman system.
• Serve as a project manager and facilitator to organize and delineate large projects into manageable steps.
• Tend to the ongoing responsibilities of preparing report documents and agenda content, keeping MI Directory up to date, supporting office staff, handling volunteer applications and interviews, managing data collection, surveying, and participating in motion-crafting
• Find ways to quicken the glacial pace of getting things approved and implemented.