I am honored to have been elected to serve a second term as president of SFPA. 2020 was a roller coaster, at times it was on fire with the wheels of the coaster falling off, but it was continually a wild ride. I truly enjoyed working as your president last year and I am excited to carry on. (Don't tell anyone, but I think I will miss it greatly next year.)
I am lucky enough to have an amazing board of directors to help me guide SFPA from 2020 to 2021. There are some great things happening in 2021 that I will discuss in a later news release, but for right now, I would like to take a moment to welcome the new SFPA board members, thank existing board members for continuing on, and to wish a fond farewell to outgoing board members.
My vice-president for 2021 is Katie Oliver. She was a board member last year and was a strong force in getting our social media back up to 2020 standards. I can't wait to see how she helps transform SFPA in 2021.
The vice-president from 2020 was Kibibi Shaw. Kibibi has stepped down from the board to pursue her law degree and other amazing adventures. She was the glue holding our sustaining members together and will be missed, but we know she will become an amazing legal advocate.
Continuing on as treasurer for 2021 is Erin Keller. Erin is the spreadsheet to my jumbled but colorful pie chart. Between her and Trish, I'm more organized than I need to be. She keeps me grounded and I'm lucky to have her on my team.
Also continuing on is Trish Watson as secretary. Trish has a great sense of humor and helps the board realize that everything isn't all serious at all times. She is a welcome pause and I am grateful to have her round out my executive committee.
Staying on the board of directors from 2020:
Greg Johnson, brings a different perspective to the board. He helps us focus not on just the current working paralegals, but the students and the non-working paralegals looking for work or for education.
Gloria Torres, provides a wealth of knowledge from her work on previous boards, and she is passionate about championing the paralegal profession. We also couldn't get through our meetings without her quick wit and seriously funny mom-jokes.
Kimberly Heller, has a true passion for helping others. She has some great ideas for SFPA in 2021 and I'm excited to see them come to life.
New to the board of directors for 2021:
Lauren Jensen, a wealth of knowledge in all things compliance. To say that I am happy to have her on my team is an under statement.
Lucindy Harrison. I had the pleasure of working with Lucindy during the 2019 board. She is kind and the first to step up to volunteer or help out with a project.
Richard Steele, also brings the board a fresh perspective as a new paralegal. The fact that he was a CPA is just an added bonus.
I'd like to wish the departing board members a fond farewell. Eric Logsdon, Malcom Campbell, Cyn Reese and Michael Schiraldi. Thank you for volunteering your time to SFPA. We could not have made 2020 work without you and I wish you all of the best in your future endeavors.
Finally, I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to Michael Schiraldi. Even though he stepped down from the board to focus on his teaching, he is still assisting SFPA on a daily basis. To say that SFPA would not be functioning without him working behind the scenes is far from an exaggeration. He agreed to assist for a few more months until we take the training wheels off. Thank you Mr. Schiraldi.
I learned a lot in 2020. I hope to learn a lot more in 2021. I just hope to leave SFPA in a better place than I found it, and I hope the person after me does the same.
-Amy Jo McGuigan, SFPA President 2020, 2021
