Chapter Board Diversity

Entry Details

At our November 2018 NJ Chapter Board Retreat one of our goals for the future of the chapter was to have a more diversified Chapter Board. In conjunction with nationals' decision to change their name from Club Managers to Club Management we wanted a board that could better represent the club management profession. The new name better reflects the composition of CMAA’s membership, which has diversified in the last 10 years. Today, approximately one third of the membership is comprised of professionals serving in managing roles at their club facilities but are not necessarily the top executive within the organization. The NJ Chapter board has historically been composed of club General Managers & Chief Operating Officers. Within the last three years, the NJ Chapter has welcomed an Executive Chef, Facilities Manager, and a Clubhouse Director to the Board.

Currently our board is composed of six GM/COO, four Clubhouse Managers, one membership director, one facility manager, and one executive chef. CMAA CEO, Jeff Morgan said “CMAA is serving the needs of multiple constituencies in the club business, and we are working to ensure its existence and growth as a thriving industry”. The NJ Chapter has worked to create value to being a member of the association regardless of your professional title.

In addition to having a diverse board we have also pushed board members to get more involved in CMAA Special Interest Groups. We currently have board members who serve on the International Wine Society National Board. We feel that we have a strong local Wine Society and credit following the national model for our success. In addition to having a local wine society, we have also added a Yo Pro Committee and Woman in Clubs committee to our standing chapter committees.

Our board is also composed of managers who manage various types of clubs. We currently have managers who manage golf clubs, country clubs, yacht clubs, and tennis clubs.

We have also found it very helpful to have a board member who is an alumnus from our student chapter. We feel that having a former graduate has allowed our student chapter to have someone that they can relate to better.

We have also encouraged board members to apply to national scholarships and in recent years have had chapter board members win the Sally Burns Rambo & Willmoore H. Kendall Scholarships.

Lastly we invited former CMAA Chairman, Randy Ruder to serve as an Honorary Director. Randy’s addition to the board has been invaluable over the past year. He has shared many of the best practices that he has witnessed throughout his visits to other chapters. His encouragement has motivated us to continue to grow and adapt as a chapter.

Implementation

The Chapter has focused on creating a more diverse board that is more reflective of our chapter as a whole. Much like CMAA, the NJ Chapter is looking to transition to a more diverse board that our members can better relate to. The NJ Chapter consists of over 150 club managers who have many different titles. The one commonality is that they are all club management employees. Over the past three years we have added a membership director, executive chef, and a facilities manager to our board. With the addition of an executive chef to our board we are working on creating a NJ Club Chefs group within the chapter. The chapter felt that Club Chef opportunities have been underutilized in the chapter and we are working on creating educational and network opportunities for all club chefs regardless if they are CMAA members or not. We also plan to have our facilities manager who serves on the Board host facility themed education sessions as well as start a networking group for club facilities managers. Our membership director board member has excelled as chair of the communications committee as well as working with vendors while overseeing the chapters largest fundraising event, our vendor show.

The NJ Chapter membership as a while has been more engaged as the current board is more diverse. The NJCMA board is composed of managers from all different facets of the industry.