It is my pleasure to serve as the chair of the 2025 I.C.E. Board of Directors during an exciting chapter for the organization. I have been committed to credentialing my entire professional life — I have been a credentialed professional for over 38 years, having obtained my nursing license in 1987. I have proudly maintained that license for every one of those 38 years. I’ve also held voluntary professional certifications and was a volunteer item writer for several years. I transitioned into the professional association and credentialing industry in 2013, having served as a volunteer for several years. While my commitment to credentialing did not change with that career move, it certainly deepened. As did my expertise in credentialing development and oversight.

Early in my role as deputy executive director of a global professional association and certification board, I recognized that credentialing needed to evolve to meet the needs of changing professions. At that association, our credentials were role-based, but we were hearing from individuals that the roles were shifting, and that roles were being added to the profession, changing the core competencies of the roles we certified.

As a result, we explored alternative ways to credential these professionals. We decided that we needed a foundational, non-role-based generalist certification that focused on the skills, knowledge, abilities or competencies required of everyone practicing in the profession. From there, we built microcredentials that were domain-based areas of expertise, thus allowing professionals to build their own portfolio of credentials depending on the career progression and career development goals. It was a very innovative approach at the time, and it was based on our understanding of a changing and shifting professional landscape. Interestingly, that is when my other passion took hold.

How could I, as an association and credentialing leader, anticipate the future of the professional workforce I was serving, to ensure I was building the programs and products they needed to continue to be successful, competent professionals in the future?

That question led me to a doctorate program in human and organizational leadership at George Washington University. During that program, I studied strategic thinking in volatile, complex, ambiguous and uncertain environments because I wanted to prepare for the future. I remain very interested in the practice of foresight, so I am currently enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Houston, studying strategic foresight.

Part of the reason I’m so interested in the practice of foresight is the opportunity it affords us to play a part in shaping the future. Professional futurists will tell you there is not one future. There are several possible futures, and the further out the timeline you are forecasting, the less certain the future will be. As described by the Association of Professional Futurists, there are several possible futures and, of these possible futures, a few are more probable. Of note, though, is the concept of preferred futures. These are the futures that are most desirable.

As a leader, my goal is to influence the possibility of my preferred future being realized. I would rather chart the path of the future than be a bystander to the future. I think almost all of you in the I.C.E. community would agree. I believe I.C.E. is ahead of the curve in developing a culture of foresight that benefits the entire credentialing profession. I look forward to continuing this journey of foresight competency and capacity building with you and charting the future of the credentialing profession.

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