A Message from Your SWANA President

By: Brenda Haney, SWANA President

As we begin fiscal year 2021 and look ahead to the year to come, we have all had to change our plans, our work environment, our organizations and as we look to the future, we know more changes are coming. The good news is that SWANA has been very focused on change over the last couple of years. These changes have been made with a look to the future of all things SWANA – logos, events, membership types, board governance. We have been forced to make several changes over the past few months and more changes are coming in the months ahead.

Change can be uncomfortable for people, but it can also be reinvigorating. As we look ahead and know that changes are coming, I think this presents us an opportunity to re-envision or re-focus on the future of SWANA. This work will begin in earnest as we start our strategic planning efforts later this year.

We are an organization of members and, as we move forward, we need to be certain that all our members are represented. As a woman in this organization for 20+ years, I have been fortunate to have seen so many incredibly talented women come before me in leadership roles and also as engaged and involved members that I can always reach out to and count on. So, I say to all of you women out there – you are an incredibly integral part of who we are now and where we are going, so get involved and stay involved!

I know how incredibly diverse our workforce is but, to be honest, our overall leadership is not nearly diverse enough. SWANA has an expansive project in the works that is specifically to address diversity and inclusion, but I am interested in knowing what your thoughts are now with respect to race, diversity and SWANA. My department is more diverse than the community we serve, and this diversity is represented in our leadership, but how do we ensure that this exists in all places? How do we, who truly care, ensure that our thoughts and sentiment about those who represent “diversity” are heard and become actionable and that any activities around this effort become permanent imprints on the fabric of our association, our profession, but mostly on us as human beings?

It has been said many times recently, but these are truly extraordinary times. It is my personal belief that ordinary people do extraordinary things every day. As we look ahead at the changes coming, I ask that you lean in and embrace these changes. That we recognize we are better and stronger when we have more voices heard. This year will definitely be different, but I like different and I hope you do as well. I hope that the programming, events, resources, etc. that SWANA brings to you – our members – serve you well as we continue to work to be THE ASSOCIATION for ALL solid waste professionals.