Founder of AMPED Association Management to chair ASAE board in upcoming year

Incoming ASAE Board Chair Lynda Bouchard Patterson is paying it forward.

She calls the American Society of Association Executives her "professional home" of the past 30 years and credits the networking and education the organization offers for driving her career development.

Along with other new board officers, she was introduced August 8 to attendees at the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition as it wrapped at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Now an ASAE Fellow, she obtained her certified association executive credential 25 years ago. At that time, the CAE required five years of chief executive experience, and Patterson had become executive director of a social service agency in Milwaukee at the age of 25. She helped transform the organization, Kindcare, Inc., and prepare it to merge into Easter Seals Wisconsin.

Valuing connection and action

Like many executives, Patterson says the peer networking available through ASAE is invaluable, especially for those earlier in their careers.

"(We had) a community of other very young CEOs, so we had each other to bounce things off of and ask the questions that maybe we were too embarrassed to ask in the boardroom," Patterson told CEO Update in an interview.

And throughout one's career, such networks remain essential, especially during times of disruption.

"(During the pandemic), we needed to have those relationships in place in order to make the best decisions for our organizations," she said. "It's such a nurturing community and such a collaborative one that it's really easy for anyone to tap into ASAE and develop a good network."

But Patterson is not a nonprofit executive, she is a businessperson: founder, owner, and president of AMPED Association Management, based in Madison, WI, with offices in Alexandria, VA, and Sacramento, CA. The company provides management services to a "diverse by design" list of 18 associations and other nonprofits, including Women in Government Relations, NIBA—The Belting Association and the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association.   

She plans to bring an entrepreneurial focus to her new role while continuing to build on the momentum of changes begun at the ASAE Foundation during her tenure as chair over the past year.

"Owning my own business forces me to look at every dollar I spend, every action we take, decisions we make, to make sure that we have measurable outcomes and that what we're doing is making a difference," Patterson said.

"When we invest, I think of it as how you would look at your personal checkbook. It just gives me a different lens. On the one hand, it's being fiscally conservative, but on the other, as an entrepreneur, being super willing to take risks as long as they are measured and communicated and monitored," she said.

As chair of the foundation, she helped lead a reappraisal of the organization, its finances, and its governance, including an outside assessment.

"The assessment included lots of interviews and surveys to understand the needs and the perceptions of the community," Patterson said. "What we learned is, obviously, we need to be clear with our mission, which is really to support and help grow the profession. We do that through research and scholarships."

The foundation recently approved a new mission statement, she said.

"For myself, I've always used the [ASAE Foundation] benchmarking data," Patterson said. "We do that for all 18 of our organizations. Every year we compare our operating ratios to that of our counterparts who are of similar size and are standalone associations."

"But one of the things we've heard from our donors and our members is that [much of the foundation research] is not really actionable, it's for the Ph.D.'s or people who have a lot of time to read through lengthy reports," she said.

"What you'll see in the coming year will be more action, more deliverables, as well as bringing back some fundraising events which not only raise money but also, maybe even more importantly, raise excitement and enthusiasm for what we're doing," Patterson said.

The other board officers taking new positions next month are:

• Lakisha Ann Woods, CEO of the American Institute of Architects, will become immediate past chair;
• Heidi Brock, CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association, will become chair-elect and chair of the ASAE Foundation;
• Jay Karen, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association, will become secretary-treasurer of the ASAE and foundation boards;

New to the board next month are:

• Mary Wheatley, CEO of the National Scleroderma Foundation;
• Arthur C. Evans, Jr., CEO of the American Psychological Association;
• Jason Oxman, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council;
• Johnnie White, CEO of the American Society of Appraisers.