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Membership Committee
Members: Nikolas Decker, Chair; Gary Thompson

The Membership Committee continues to call and welcome all new members to the organization.
This year, the Committee has been working with the Bylaws Committee to fine tune the details
of the proposed retired membership category. In addition, they have been reviewing our current
benefits program and looking into adding additional benefits for our members during the 2021-
2022 dues year.

NSPS Committee
Members: Patricia Brooks, Chair (State Director); Richard Brooks, Brian Skalman

Our New York Director, Patti Brooks, regularly attends NSPS Business meetings to represent
NYSAPLS. She serves on NSPS’ Membership, Bylaws and Education Committees, as the
secretary of their PAC and was recently elected to serve on the NSPS Executive Committee. She
keeps our Board of Directors updated with reports at each bi-monthly meeting. Richard Brooks
has taken the CST program to a whole new level in New York. Brian Skalman serves as our state’s
Trig-Star Coordinator.

Strategic Planning Committee
Members: Adolf Jonietz, Chair; Gregory de Bruin, Kenneth Stigner, Jason Tommell
Our Strategic Planning Committee was directed to post-pone our Strategic Planning Retreat
originally scheduled for November 2020. They have recently confirmed new dates in 2021
(September 23-25) and are gearing up to prepare and plan the retreat alongside our facilitator,
Susan Weinrich, Senior Vice President, Organizational and Community Development at the
New York Council of Nonprofits.

Young Professionals Committee
Members: Timothy Massi, Chair; Keith Burley, Nicholas Ford, Jason Graf, Michael Lewis,
Ashley Metz, Matthew Palmer, Jason Peterson

The Young Professionals Committee held NYSAPLS’ first Women’s Summit at the 2021 virtual
Conference. The committee is currently working on developing a series of FREE panel Q&A
sessions that would allow members to discuss various topics that come up within the profession.
The first session “The Road to Licensure” was held on May 14th. Watch for more exciting programs
to be announced throughout the year.

Adhoc Minimum Standards Committee
Members: Roy Garfinkel, Chair; Scott Allen, Saeid Jalilvand, Jason Larson, James Vianna, Daniel Weaver

The Adhoc Minimum Standards Committee shared the draft document with NYSBELSG for
their review and comments. In an effort to keep an open dialogue with members, the NYSAPLS
Minimum Technical Standards reached out to the regional leadership to encourage setting up
meetings with the committee to address member questions, concerns and keep the membership
informed on the ongoing process.

14 EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 57 • NO 4 / 2021 • JULY/AUGUST