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It is my distinct privilege to welcome Washington State Environmental
Health Association (WSEHA) members from across the great state of
Washington, encourage new members from our universities and industry
and, hopefully, with dedication and hard work on our behalf,
welcome-back members who have stepped away from the association for a
time.
In looking forward to the next year, I’d like all readers of this
message to consider for a moment the following:
Responsibility, Leadership, Partnership and Community.
I have considered these terms as they relate to WSEHA, and in
this President’s Message I will outline where I stand.
Now, I understand that all too often these terms are rhetorically abused
and thus, these days, may ring a little hollow.
Never the less, these are terms that define how I try to conduct
myself. It is within these
terms, as principles, that my expectations of others and organizations
reside. As such, I believe
the WSEHA is a terrific vehicle for Responsibility, Leadership,
Partnership and Community. Some folks, I believe, are solely the “you reap what
you sew” responsibility-type people.
To a certain extent, so am I, but I know it is much more.
I know responsibility is more than being accountable for
decisions good or bad.
Being responsible is doing the right thing and struggling to
determine just what right actually is.
Responsibility is a tough regulatory decision; it’s saying no,
it’s walking the dog in the rain, at night and picking up the poop even
when nobody is around.
Responsibility is leading, and developing leaders by giving real
responsibility to young people who are ready to take it.
With that said, I have recently had the opportunity and honor to speak
to the newly revived Student Environmental Health Association (SEHA) at
the University of Washington.
I was impressed and inspired by the students’ interest in
Environmental Health (EH).
As an aside, I’d recommend speaking in front of a student body if
you ever need a shot in the arm to bolster your current opinion of work.
What impressed me more, though, was the leadership on the behalf
of the students to organize their own group, and those within that group
who had the initiative to contact WSEHA.
I see the partnership of WSEHA and SEHA as a golden opportunity
to develop a strong environmental health association and bring the next
round of Environmental Health Professionals into the workforce as
leaders. I plan to
capitalize on the opportunity by giving real responsibility, right away,
to those who are interested.
I encourage others out there to do the same.
The SEHA re-connecting with the WSEHA is a fine example of renewed
partnership. However, I
must admit that sometimes I hear the term partnership and I cringe.
I cringe because it seems, all too often, that partnership is one
sided where one group is the grasshopper and the other the ant.
Partnerships, in my opinion, are really just relationships.
I have learned that relationships move forward through balance,
hard work and respect on behalf of all the partners. While I don’t claim
to have mastered relationships, as my fiancé will attest, I am willing
to reach out, and I’m interested choosing to do the work required to
move forward. I am honored to be working with a wonderfully dedicated
group of individuals on the WSEHA Board who truly exemplify partnership.
These are folks who come together from all parts of the state in
an on-going effort to make sure the EH professionals have community.
The idea of community is interesting, especially when considering
the discipline of Environmental
Health as community. As I
mentioned previously, I recently spoke to a group of students who will
eventually move on to various additional education, EH careers in the
private sector, EH careers in the public sector and likely some careers
completely outside of EH.
It struck me at that time that the students, regardless of their future
career plans, will never be as close of a community as they are in
school. Now, think for a
moment, besides your work friends, how many people do you know who are
EH professionals? If you
are anything like me, I’d wager that the number is low.
For me, surprisingly few of my friends, outside of work, even
know what EH is or what I really do.
The point being, there aren’t too many of us out there; we are
kind of rare. It is in this
way, that I see the WSEHA acting as glue, a forum, a professional
community where we can once again come together.
Communities occur – form for any number of reasons; geographic,
sport, electronic, education, profession… the list goes on and on.
Our community seeks to “…enhance
individual and collective expertise, promote professional growth, and
revitalize Environmental Health endeavors.”
With that said, welcome to Washington State’s Environmental Health
community. I invite
you to attend a training.
We’ve been working to bring affordably priced, regionally located,
single-day trainings and webinars, in place of longer, more expensive
overnight trainings.
I invite you to attend a regional meeting.
If you haven’t had a regional meeting in a while, I urge you to
contact your regional Vice President and offer them your assistance.
Finally, I invite you to become involved, become a member, host a
training or represent your region.
I look forward to the next year of excitement at WSEHA.
I look forward to the challenges we face.
I look forward to responsibility, leadership, partnership,
community and to meeting you.
Geoffrey Crofoot, WSEHA President |
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