The Power of A

Diane Feirman, CAE
Public Affairs Director
http://www.agpa.org/

As part of its mission the American Group Psychotherapy Association has long promoted group psychotherapy to the public, health professionals and agencies as a unique and highly cost effective form of treatment. This is especially relevant in these difficult economic times, as reflected in a recent Wall Street Journal article on March 24 describing the benefits of group treatment as well as its affordability for people looking for help when they have limited resources. The association is also dedicated to providing the highest quality training and continuing education about group psychotherapy for mental health professionals to best serve the public. Since funding for training and attendance at professional meetings has been drastically reduced, AGPA is addressing this need on several fronts. continue reading

Ike Casey
Executive Vice President
http://www.phccweb.org/

Our association helps move the country toward economic recovery primarily by providing education and information to our members to help them meet the difficult economic challenges of today. The livelihood of our members’ small businesses is extremely important to the economic backbone of America. The better equipped our members are to manage rough (and good times), the better the economy will be. continue reading

Mark Herzog
Executive Director
http://www.vacats.org/

The Virginia Biotechnology Association (VaBIO) launched a new initiative called “the Virginia Council on Advanced Technology Skills (VCATS) to design a fast track online pathway that connects people to 21st Century jobs. An individual can take an online assessment and receive a certification for advanced manufacturing or bioscience skills depending on their skill level. If they need gap filling training to reach certification, VCATS provides that too. VCATS won a $1.5M grant from the US DOL to launch the program and has received many national awards since then. continue reading

Dorothy I. Mitstifer, PhD
Kappa Omicron Nu
http://www.achsnatl.org/

I believe the following initiatives focus on issues that have potential for the long-term impact on the economy via projects having to do with social responsibility.

Kappa Omicron Nu, an honor society for the human sciences, is inaugurating a social responsibility theme for the next academic year that will involve chapter delegates at our August 2009 meeting in the Appreciative Inquiry process to develop project prototypes for chapter use on campuses in our 100 university network.

In Fall 2008, the Association of College Honor Societies inaugurated a Chapter Adviser Grant Program and funded eleven competitive grants for chapter projects having to do with social responsibility.

Mark Lowry
Executive Vice President
Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES)

RSES, the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society, helps the economy in two primary ways – one direct, and one indirect.  Directly, as an educational organization with a mission to ‘provide comprehensive, cutting-edge education to the HVACR industry’ we provide individuals with the knowledge base to succeed in careers pertaining to heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration.  Specifically, we are focused on the training and education of people performing installation, service and maintenance of such mechanical systems. continue reading

Kathy Schwartz
CEO, ePro
SE MN Association of REALTORS

Our industry is the real estate business. It is helping the economy by helping people learn more about better loan products available to forestall foreclosure, offering foreclosure counseling, helping buyers purchase foreclosed homes, and exposing fraudulent practices whenever they are discovered. The real estate industry is the backbone of the economy and REALTORS work tirelessly to promote affordable housing, solid home ownership, building sustainable communities and giving back to the greater community.

Robert W. Seligson
Executive Vice President, CEO
North Carolina Medical Society

Our organization started over 160 years ago when a group of concerned physicians came to Raleigh to meet with representatives of the General Assembly because charlatans were disguising themselves as physicians and were bringing harm to North Carolina citizens. continue reading