As I hand the President responsibilities over to Jeffrey Braithwaite, I pause to reflect on my 3 years as President. 

While I have been on the ISQua Board for over 7 years, the past 3 years have been the most personally impactful and meaningful. 

I have had the honour to work with amazing colleagues – fellow Board members and Honorary Advisors who are second-to-none. Everyone has contributed their rich and candid suggestions to every issue we have addressed. Both the calibre of discussions and the quality of the decisions have been first-rate. The Board has continued to strengthen and is truly an international Board.  

During this time we put considerable time and effort into governance renewal including changes such as: staggering the Board elections and appointments so as to enable better continuity and less disruption with Board transitioning, a comprehensive Board evaluation process – of each meeting and an annual review, changes to the constitution, developing the Board Compact, clarifying the Board and CEO responsibilities. The commitment of the Board to improve our governance processes was strong.  

We established the ISQua External Evaluation Association (EEA) and transitioned the work for the International Accreditation Program to be transacted through EEA in Geneva.

ISQua has undergone major budget challenges for the past few years. At ourCape Townmeeting in October 2019 the Board undertook an extensive review of our budget and options for the future. Combined with the input of Peter and the team, required changes were identified to enable financial viability regardless of circumstances.  

A review of the education portfolio has resulted in positive changes which have seen a significant turnaround in the income generated, the development of a curriculum with modules, anincrease in the number of participants in the fellowship program, an increase in the number and quality of webinars and a resultant increase in ISQua memberships. With thanks to David Bates, the Academy was established. We are now publishing some future-focused articles and identifying other areas of contribution. 

Covid was the unexpected variant in our life early in 2020. Without missing a beat, Peter and the team quickly adapted the approach to working from home, to offer virtual conferences, and recast the budget to address the potential financial shortfall. This is a very stressful period of time for the Staff. We are extremely grateful for their devotion and expertise. The challenges will continue into 2021.

I would be remiss to not mention the upcoming departure of Peter Lachman, our CEO. Peter joined us in 2016 on a five-year contract which concludesin April 2021. On behalf of the entire Board and the many stakeholders, members, experts and colleagues of Peter, we warmly acknowledge his contributions and his leadership of ISQua. The recruitment process for the new CEO commenced in the summer of 2020.

I assume the Past President responsibilities at the AGM on October 29with honour. A sincerest thank you to all staff, members, partners, experts, Academy members, fellows and others in our ISQua family for your continuing support, input and guidance. ISQua has a bright future ahead. In particular a sincere thank you to Jeffrey Braithwaite, who’s advice and wise counsel while President-Elect will not be forgotten. Thank you to Steve Clark, Honorary Treasurer, for his advice and in particular his financial and business expertise which has been particularly invaluable during 2020, and to the entire Board, a group of the most talented professionals with whom I’ve had the honour to work.