Congratulations to the newest Chapter Leadership Award Winners!
This award is given to recognize individuals for outstanding continuous leadership, accomplishments and support of the society at the chapter level. This year's winners are:
Joseph "Cliff" Lane, Tampa Bay Chapter
Mr.Cliff Lane energized the Tampa Bay chapter and led them to new heights in professional development, fund raising and overall participation. As the chapter president, Cliff motivated our membership to get involved and make a difference. He immediately established goals to involve all financial managers in the Tampa Bay area, to provide a minimum of 2 hours of Continuous Professional Education training each month, to provide a quality mini-PDI, to reach out to the local community through service events, and to achieve Five Star status. Under his leadership, the Chapter made significant strides to achieve these goals. Just a few of his many initiatives include:
Under his leadership, the chapter developed a new fundraising initiative to pay for scholarships and professional development, by working at every Tampa Bay Buccaneer professional football game. The chapter raised $6000, which was used to pay for chapter donations to community charities and our local mini-PDI. In the community service area, he personally participated and led more than 80 volunteers over 4 different community service events. Charities included the Tampa Vision Walk, Toys for Tots, and the Tampa Metropolitan Ministries.
Cliff organized the chapter to maximize the talents of various organizations on Macdill AFB. He brought in some of the less proactive organizations and had them run some of the luncheons; spreading the work and responsibility while building our base membership and including members that may have been left out in the past. In an effort to strengthen the chapter, he met individually with FM/RM leadership across the Tampa Area and visited various organizations on MacDill AFB to provide information about ASMC and recruit new members. He also took a contingent of ASMC members to the local Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) meetings and spoke on the benefits of ASMC membership resulting in 6 new ASMC members.
The chapter educational progamming grew under Cliff's leadership. He put together a dynamic team of volunteers and led the effort to put together a 2-day mini-PDI to support the professional development of our membership, at no cost to the membership. He initiated a luncheon with the local chapter of the AGA, took the chapter to the flight line to get mission briefings and tours of military aircraft and equipment, recruited informative and relevant speakers from local civic leaders to the first CFO of the Department of Homeland Security. He was committed to providing the best support to our members, creating a program that added value and engaged the members.
Rebecca Pritchett, High Desert Chapter
Ms. Rebecca Pritchett is the embodiment of military comptrollership and financial management. Her initiative and actions as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the High Desert Chapter demonstrate her leadership and commitment to the mission of the Chapter, which is to promote the education of individuals for the improvement and development of their capabilities. From Treasurer to Constitutional expert, to Webmaster, to Photographer, to Committee chairperson, Rebecca Pritchett is an exemplary leader of High Desert Chapter. She works tirelessly to meet the needs of the Chapter, through the use of her own talents and by encouraging the involvement of her fellow members.
Ms. Pritchett has served on the High Desert Chapter Board of Directors for a total of four years. Upon being elected as Treasurer, she implemented several new processes and streamlined the financial reporting process for the Chapter which allowed for accurate and timely financial reporting to Chapter members at monthly meetings. In addition, she input transactions dating back to 2007 into Quicken to produce prior year reports that had not been submitted by previous Treasurers.
Ms. Pritchett did not stop there. Recognizing the benefits for the Chapter, she studiously researched the rules and application process for obtaining 501(c)(3) (tax exempt) status; a feat that had been attempted by her predecessors without success. She dug up records dating back to 1984 to determine when the Chapter was first granted tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(6), when the Chapter stopped filing taxes and why, when the law changed regarding the rules for filing taxes, when the Chapter’s tax exempt status was revoked, what leniencies the IRS was offering to organizations attempting to have their tax exempt status reinstated, and what needed to be done to not only have the Chapter’s tax exempt status reinstated, but also changed from Section 501(c)(6) to 501(c)(3), which is a more favorable tax exempt status for the Chapter. After 14 months of corresponding with the Internal Revenue Service and responding to information requests with short deadlines, her diligent efforts were met with success—the Chapter was granted federal tax exempt status in December of 2013. After the federal tax exempt status was granted, she immediately researched and applied for state tax exempt status, which was granted in January of 2014.
Recognizing the need for updates to the Chapter’s Constitution and By-Laws, Ms. Pritchett took the lead by acting as the “constitutional scholar” for the organization and engaging with local members in performing comprehensive reviews and revisions of the Chapter’s governance documents as required by ASMC and U.S. Air Force regulations. Other Board members have come to rely on her knowledge and expertise of these documents when planning events, and she ensures the Chapter remains in compliance.
In addition to serving as Treasurer, Ms. Pritchett maintains the Chapter website. She volunteers her considerable creative talents in designing the website and in serving as the Chapter’s official photographer, providing the Chapter with a visual record of its activities. Her innovative ideas have brought the Chapter in line with current technology, and have opened the doors to virtual communications that extend beyond local membership. She also worked with senior leadership to obtain approval to have a Chapter SharePoint site, which was launched in March of 2014. This site allows the Chapter to share important information with all its members without clogging up their email with large files, and serves as a central repository for members to easily access at any time.
Rebecca has been a member of the ASMC Scholarship Committee since 2008. The committee has worked hard to build the program in the local communities. In 2007 we had no applicants for high school scholarships and this year we have 16 applicants. The success of the program is due in part to Rebecca’s dedication. The committee has represented the chapter at the Antelope Valley College information night three out of the last four years. Rebecca has attended all three years and has been instrumental in getting awareness of our scholarships out to the local schools.
Her energy and resourcefulness know no bounds. Upon realizing the need for committee members and chairpersons, Ms. Pritchett has single-handedly taken the initiative to fill committee vacancies by personally contacting members when positions are open and even stepping in to fill the void herself. Her leadership in this area has revitalized the Chapter, producing robust, active committees that were languishing prior to her involvement. Furthermore, she has served as Election Committee Chairperson for the last seven years, training eight members to ensure annual elections are successful and each Board position is filled.
Ms. Pritchett is the complete package! From Treasurer to Constitutional expert, to Webmaster, to Photographer, to Committee chairperson, Rebecca Pritchett is an exemplary leader of High Desert Chapter. She works tirelessly to meet the needs of the Chapter, through the use of her own talents and by encouraging the involvement of her fellow members.