CEO Comments

A Goodbye, a Thank You, and a Welcome

Though transitions are an expected and inevitable part of life, few occur without a bitter sweet element. And so it is with the decision of Liz Wise, NASBP’s Director, Professional Development, who announced that she was retiring from NASBP on February 17 to have more time to spend with her recently retired husband, Walt, and to pursue their shared passions for travel and for adventure. Always an avid hiker, Liz related to me that she and Walt harbored desires to be outdoors, to hike mountains and mountain ranges, and to enjoy each other’s company in these pursuits, and they did not want the stealthy passage of time to rob them of such ambitions. Usually, I am not struck speechless, but I think a few minutes may have passed before I said anything to Liz. After all, what can one say to such understandable sentiments? I am very pleased for Liz and Walt to seize their opportunity and wish them the best in their life adventures. I also wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Liz for her professionalism and for her considerable service to NASBP and to the students benefiting from NASBP’s educational offerings. Liz has worked closely with the faculty of the Surety School and, indeed, with the leaders and volunteers of the Professional Development Committee to position our educational programs for growth and continued impact. Under her leadership, NASBP launched the ethics online course and has just finished development of a new joint ventures online course, which will be offered later this year. She has made numerous refinements to our internal processes and records, enabling us to operate more efficiently and cost effectively. I wish to thank her personally, as I see a bright future for NASBP’s educational initiatives in no small part due to Liz’s efforts. Liz has agreed to serve as a consultant during the transition period to ensure knowledge transfer. Working with leadership, I will commence the search to find Liz’s successor immediately.

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Liz’s exit does not leave the Professional Development Department staff bare, however. NASBP has hired a new employee, Danielle Hard, pictured here, to serve as the new Assistant Director,Professional Development. Danielle recently moved to the DC area and is just finishing a Masters of Arts degree in International Education. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. She brings experience as a writer and an educator, having worked previously as a proposal writer, writing consultant, English tutor, and English secondary language instructor. I suspect that she will be calm and collected in crisis, as she spent two years in the capacity of a district emergency services specialist for the Alabama Red Cross Gulf Coast Chapter. Danielle had the opportunity to observe our surety school first hand this past January. Her portfolio of responsibilities will include the production and coordination of Virtual Seminars, several of which she has served already as the host “voice.” I am very excited to have Danielle’s experience and skills on board. If you get the chance at the upcoming Annual Meeting or elsewhere, please extend a warm NASBP welcome to Danielle at dhard@nasbp.org or 202.464.1174.