NAFA Wants Your Opinion On Membership Qualifications, Board Structure

NAFA recently announced it is seeking input on changes being considered to the Association’s membership qualifications and board structure that would enable a wider audience to join and become leaders of the Association. Chief among the changes being discussed by NAFA is a broadening of the definition of who qualifies to be a member of the Association, which is already the largest fleet-related association in the world.

Be informed about these proposed changes! You may view a recording of the April 8 webinar by visiting http://www.nafa.org/bylaws-2016/ and see if your questions are answered within a posted Frequently Asked Questions document found at: http://www.nafa.org/download.php?f=791. You may provide input to NAFA by sending an email to bylaws@nafa.org.

NAFA Chief Executive Officer Phillip E. Russo, CAE, explained the changes being discussed would require a change in NAFA’s bylaws, which would require a vote by NAFA Members.  "We are starting this conversation now so NAFA Members have ample time to ask questions, voice concerns, and provide input to the Board.  That is going to take time.  If there is going to be a vote to change the NAFA bylaws, it likely would not be until later this year, at the earliest." 

Russo also explained some of the rationale behind the idea of expanding membership qualifications, stating, "Back in 2008, NAFA began using ‘NAFA Fleet Management Association’ as its doing-business-as (dba) name because we knew we were more than a national association of fleet administrators; we were an association for the entire fleet management profession.  Expanding membership qualifications to include everyone that practices fleet management, regardless of their employer, is a natural progression of that realization."

NAFA leaders are also discussing changing the structure of the Association’s governing Board to increase leadership opportunities and decrease the length of time required to serve on the Board.

NAFA President Alfson explained that today the NAFA Board of Trustees has only one Affiliate seat, out of 13, representing all of NAFA’s supplier community.  She also noted that the typical NAFA Board member has logged more than five years of service to NAFA before they serve on the Board, after which they typically serve on the Board from five to ten years.

"The demands of today’s work and home environment no longer permit someone to commit 10 to 15 years of his or her life to be a volunteer leader of NAFA, or any organization," Alfson stated.  "And, the next generation of fleet professionals is not interested in making that long of a commitment.  NAFA must re-engineer itself now to be ready for the future, which is not far away." 

Alfson also pointed out the Board has discussed adding more seats for Affiliates, to give them greater representation, but also instituting safeguards to ensure the association is always an organization dedicated to fleet management professionals.  

"We have talked about allowing up to five Affiliates on the Board, from the current single seat, which would still give fleet managers an eight to five majority.  We have also discussed limiting Board representation to one person from any single company or related company."

The Board has also discussed creating new eligibility criteria for Board members that would enlarge the pool of candidates from which national leaders were selected. 

"I encourage everyone to become informed about this important issue," Russo stated.  "Please watch the webinar.  Please ask questions.  Please give us your input.  This is, after all, your association and you should help shape its future."