Page 4 - Sojourner Newsletter-Winter 2025_FINAL

4 THE SOJOURNER

NATIONAL SECRETARY’S DESK

As I write this report (December 10), we are one month away from our annual Mid-Winter
Meeting (MWM), and I am hoping to see many of you there. It should be an interesting and
informative event. We will be hearing from our National President on what lies ahead for
the next 6 months, receiving information from the Relocation Committee on where the
National Office (aka HQ) will be relocated, and many other reports from various
committees.

As we approach the end of the calendar year, I want to take a moment to reflect on our
accomplishments thus far in 2024:
In the spotlight: Optimization
HQ established a mid-term trajectory that ensured a positive operating leverage (budget revenue vs expense) for
recurring or consumption-based budget line items and support for critical growth-related projects.
In the spotlight: Administrational

Under the direction of our National President, we did some much needed “housekeeping” the first part of this
Sojourner year to include classifying 15 Chapters as “In-Memoriam” status. Brother Carl Diamond, NP, also traveled to
Alaska in his mission to revitalize Chapters who could be saved, and we should all thank him for his efforts. Hopefully
with the help of the Chapter Revitalization & Chapter Chartering (CR&CC) committee more focus and light can be shed
on revitalizing Chapters, taking metrics where Chapters could be or should be, and helping to start up Chapters where
viable.
In the spotlight: Organizational
The HQ staff continues to tweak and streamline procedures and forms, automate complicated processes and labor-
intensive tasks, and outsource to maximize efficiency at the National Office due to budget constraints and ever-
increasing costs. Additionally, we made significant progress on all our major projects which I will address with more
detail at the MWM.
In the spotlight: Teamwork

Thank you to all the Secretaries and Presidents of Chapters that actively participated, communicated, did what you
were asked to do, and properly coordinated with HQ. This year we have achieved some remarkable milestones, and your
contributions were instrumental in driving us forward. Together we can build a strong National Sojourners foundation
for the years that lay ahead. Keep up the great work!
Unfortunately, we still have a few holdouts that refuse to change, refuse to update their records, and refuse to accept
change and technology. This will be addressed on a case-by-case basis in the ensuing year by our National Leadership.
Important Announcements

Our National Retail Store is now online on our website. Just click on the online store image and place your order! We
have already received 7 orders this week prior to advertising. Join us in celebrating this momentous milestone by
spending your money ☺
All Chapters (and National committees) now have virtual file cabinets (we call them eFileCabinets) for storing all their
important documents at files.nationalsojourners.org. Chapter Secretaries should be utilizing this feature for ALL their
Chapter documents (minutes, reports, etc.).
Chapter Secretaries have the ability now to update their Chapter officer section on their Chapter’s Profile Page in the
MMS. You should still update your CAR (Chapter Annual Report) with officer changes each year as always. However,
if you have officer changes after you submit your CAR, you can make those changes on your Chapter’s Profile Page.
We will be notified of the change, but it doesn’t hurt to also send us an email to hq@nationalsojourners.org.

Sincerely and fraternally,

Mark W. Underwood
National Secretary-Treasurer