Message From Our President
- Jean McLendon
I have important news from your board’s March meeting. The Satir Growth Model is affecting positive change all over the world. We have about 250 members from over 30 countries and formal connections with over 20 Satir Institutes/Sister Organizations. We are truly an extended global family. Virginia’s generous inheritance has allowed Avanta to pay its bills and to seed many worthwhile initiatives. We can be proud of our history.
Avanta has survived its founding mother by 18 years. Like 18-year-old young adults, Avanta faced many developmental and transitional challenges. There were many cross roads and choice points along the way. At each juncture your staff and board made the best decisions they could at that moment in time just as we are doing now.
We come now to a place where the reality is that we can no longer afford a central office with an Executive Director or salaried employee. Margarita and Louise will be missed terribly. They have kept the home fires burning while many of us were away building Institutes and doing other things. No two other people have had the future of Avanta on their minds like they have day after day and year after year. They will be missed in more ways than we can imagine.
Given these realities the board felt it was critical to take a hard and serious look at Avanta. We explored a number of options including giving Avanta a respectful burial and allocating the remaining money to some deserving programs, of which there are many. We concluded unanimously that Avanta has important work yet to do. See Bulletin for Board’s three primary reasons for Avanta to live and messages on this topic from 12 Institutes.
Building Avanta’s competence and maturity for tomorrow requires that your board add specific operations to its current role of governance. Each board member has accepted leadership for a specific functional area requiring hands on work. (Refer to list in bulletin) We need you to ‘stay informed and take action’. Read this bulletin. Learn about the new Satir Wall of Peace and Justice, Life Time Memberships, the 2006 Living Treasures, the Celebration Conference, the 2007 Prague Conference, our new book "Applications of the Satir Growth Model" and much more. Next, visit and browse around your web. http://www.avanta.net Let us know what you think and how to make it better.
Together we can grow an Avanta that can support the networking of our global family for generations to come. We believe that the rewards from our efforts can be astounding.
Warmest regards,
Jean McLendon, President & Speaking for your Board