Message from the CEO

ASA’s CEO letter to members and friends

During the progression of Phase 1 of reopening ASA HQ, I’ve had the pleasure of working from the office this past month. It was a great feeling to be back at my desk and knowing we are on the path of getting our staff together again.

As we start our new fiscal year, developments continue within ASA. Building and maintaining long term cooperative relationships, particularly through the exchange of professional knowledge and development is a critical component of ASA’s mission. It has also been a major contributor in the growth and global recognition of the Society’s brand and reputation for excellence.

I’ve been working diligently on establishing more partnerships for ASA and I’m proud to announce that the American Society of Appraisers has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC). Through this strategic partnership, we will continue to develop our business valuation professionals even further on a global basis.

In addition, this past month we’ve also signed an MOU with Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). ASA values its past history of joint educational programing with NIESV, and the working together to share valuation industry standards and research. The signing of the MOU will continue this and expand further by exploring future opportunities. Key objectives outlined in the MOU will focus on the areas of curriculum cooperation, recognition, continuous professional development, conferences, events and webinars and thought leadership.

In other news, I’ve been appointed to The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) Diversity Taskforce. This is the perfect opportunity to not only share what ASA has been doing to support the initiative, but it allows us to make a greater impact on the profession as a whole. I am looking forward to raising awareness, offer guidance to the organization and its members, and to participate in purposeful dialogues and activities. The task force’s work will help advance the organization’s goals to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in the membership and leadership, which is a great opportunity to show our profession that The American Society of Appraisers is aligned with this mission.

I was also asked to participate in recent Corporate Jet Investor Global 2020 virtual event on behalf of ASA to represent MTS aircraft valuation program. I had the honor to join 850 other leaders in business aviation across the globe to discuss the benefits of being a member of ASA in addition to discussing with the other panelist the current environment our members are working in. We’ve since then added class ME201- Aviation Specific Class  in October to accommodate this rapid growing industry.

Distance education is rapidly changing due to changes in technology and the recent migration to synchronous distance education because of the coronavirus pandemic. I am scheduled to participate in The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) Forum: The Future of Distance Education webinar where the AQB will listen to discussions from Professional Society Education Providers, Proprietary Education Providers, and Regulators/Certifiers to learn more, and whether there are needed edits to the distance education requirements in the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria.

This month has been filled with some major advancements and promise for the future. I have nothing but high hopes for ASA as we continue our progression of making the American Society of Appraisers known as the most preeminent organization for professional appraisers worldwide.

Check out ASAE’s article, ‘Quarantine Lessons: What Associations Can Learn About Connection and Innovation’ where I spoke about what ASA has done to weather the storm for its members.

In case you missed it, I also participated in a webinar with John Forbes, Principal at Balanced Growth Consulting on the topic of Professional Associations and the New Normal.  We discussed how to navigate successfully through these unprecedented times through lessons learned throughout our careers with managing member-based organizations.

To read more about my travels and other important news visit my Message from the CEO column on ASA’s Blog, or follow me on Twitter @johnniewhiteCEO and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/johnnniewhiteceo for more ASA updates.