Linda Ferm (center), CAE, president, Ferm Strategies, received the 2012 Outstanding Associate Member Award from Mimi Eckert, CAE, executive director, American Board of Spine Surgery, and chair of NYSAE’s Awards Committee, and Louis Colletti, president and CEO, Building Trades Employers Association, and NYSAE chair of the Board.
NYSAE’s 2012 Outstanding Associate Member Award was presented to Linda Ferm, CAE, president of Ferm Strategies. Linda has volunteered her services to NYSAE since 1994. She has served as chair of the Education, Awards, and Professional Development Committees, as well as serving a three-year term on the NYSAE Board of Directors. Her contributions to NYSAE are too many to mention, however, to name a few:
- As chair of the Education Committee, Linda ventured into new ground by implementing and designing the Institute format, which have served as one of the main education programs for NYSAE members since 2001;
- She published several articles in the Association Executive magazine;
- She has presented at 11 educational programs;
- She also implemented the concept of “Hot Topics” sessions.
- She has been a member of NYSAE’s Certified Association Executive Committee, and also taught CAE classes on governance and structure; programs and services; research and credentialing; internal and external relations; and marketing and publications.
- She was a mentor to four CAE candidates.
“NYSAE has been my professional home for many years,” said Linda. “I have cut my teeth on my own professional learning through participation on committees and programs and benefited so much from attending the programs and getting to know fellow colleagues.”
In addition to her involvement with NYSAE, Linda has been involved with ASAE, serving as a member of the CAE Examination Committee; chair of the Communications Section Council; liaison to the Diversity Committee; and speaker at several ASAE educational programs. She led one of the 10 section councils through a strategic plan and restructure, creating a team group structure to engage all council members in actively planning and implementing their own programs. This process offered section membership to participate in its own competency building and development of education programs. The restructure also revitalized the council and served as a model replicated in other ASAE section councils.
On the community level, Linda has served as chairperson of the Theatre Fellowship of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church; and as a board member and eventual president of the Broadway Community, a charitable organization that provides work-readiness training, counseling, and substance abuse treatment for homeless New Yorkers