Message from the candidate to the MCAA Chair position

Dear MCAA members

Here we meet again, for another board election! I am the sole candidate for chair. This is not a comfortable position; it puts even more responsibility on my shoulders as I will never be able to say I was selected among other candidates. Therefore, I need to listen even more attentively to the members, to our community, during the two years ahead. You read my candidacy, I will not repeat myself, but wanted still to leave here my message. This is an important election for MCAA members, but for me, it is particularly special as it will determine the team with which I will work over the next two years. And since no one can deliver a high-quality service alone without a good team behind I spent the last few weeks listening carefully to all candidates, reading their statements, motivations and posts, to try to understand who I would need in the team to be able to deliver to the members.

My main goal, as you know, is to finish the program we started during the current board. It makes sense, therefore, to wish that as many current board members as possible are re-elected! If I start with an experienced team, of course, my job will be much easier. I honestly can’t imagine not having Gledson as vice-chair, the most active board member we have at the moment and the one who knows more about all the internal management rules for our Chapters and Working groups; or Alexandra, who is already my left hand and is an essential actor for MCAA partnerships. Same for board member candidates Donata, to whom we own the new MCAA mentoring platform, a project that dragged for years until she took the lead, and Marina, who started the hard work of restructuring governance procedures and I which to see finished. There are only 4 candidates with board experience, so they are crucial to guarantee that we can function while new members catch up.

The second-best prepared candidates for the challenges of a board member are the chairs and board members of Chapters and Working groups. They receive training, they deal with internal procedures, applying for the board is the natural progression. Among candidates applying with this profile, I have to endorse three that by far stood out. Pablo Tomatis, who led the Argentinian chapter to be nominated Best non-European Chapter last year, and whose focus on Alumni engagement is of high interest for me. Then, of course, Gian Maria Greco, the amazing Editor-in-Chief of the MCAA Newsletter, an expert in accessibility, that I definitely would want to have in the team. And there is Pavlo Bazilinsky, the successful former chair of the Bridging Science and Business working group, sole candidate for treasurer, which reassures me that the MCAA finances will be in good hands.

Two other candidates caught my attention particularly, despite a less strong experience within the MCAA, and I believe it would be a plus to have them on board. Giulia Malaguerra, new at the MCAA, but who was just last year the chair of a like-minded association, Eurodoc. We could learn a lot from her experience if she becomes the new MCAA secretary. And following this though that experience is a big plus, but it can also be refreshing to have a couple of newbies on a team, there are two candidates that, despite being less experienced, left me such a good impression that I feel I need to highlight. First, Luksa Popovik, a member of last year's MCAA Annual Conference organising team, left a long-lasting impression with his proactivity and problem-solving ability, and I am not less impressed by the maturity of his candidacy. And finally, Charlotte Ndiribe, who, despite the inexperience within the MCAA, captured so clearly the spirit and missions of the association, which makes me believe in a quick progression if elected.

I know that I will not have this team (what are the odds??!), but I am hoping that at least some will be elected. I am quite curious to know how much overlap there will be between my endorsements and the choice of the MCAA members. It will be the first feedback I will receive from you, and I will welcome with open arms the team you will choose to work with me.

I am looking forward to starting this new adventure!

See you soon and thank you for reading such a long post.

Fernanda