{"id":54694,"date":"2026-01-29T20:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smps.org\/?p=54694"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:53:21","slug":"now-and-next-january-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smps.org\/2026\/01\/29\/now-and-next-january-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Now and Next: January 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the middle of January, the Society\u2019s volunteer leaders and staff members met at SMPS HQ in Alexandria, VA, for its board of directors meeting. Here are a few highlights from the meeting:<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Happening Now:
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Strengthening Financial Stewardship and Governance: <\/strong>The board reviewed finance committee updates, key financial reports, and ongoing work related to investment and policy oversight, reinforcing SMPS\u2019s commitment to strong fiscal stewardship and long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n

Clarifying Membership Value for Firms and Individuals: <\/strong>The board focused on how SMPS clearly articulates its value, especially to firm leaders, through education, community, and chapter engagement, ensuring members understand the business impact of their involvement.<\/p>\n

Supporting Chapter and Volunteer Health: <\/strong>Discussion centered on improving how HQ and chapters work together to support volunteers through clearer role alignment and more intentional engagement, strengthening the foundation of the chapter network.<\/p>\n

Ensuring Education Reflects Business-Critical Needs: <\/strong>The board emphasized keeping SMPS education offerings relevant and responsive to the real-world skills firms and professionals need today.<\/p>\n


\nWhat\u2019s Happening Next:
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Measuring Engagement and Impact More Meaningfully: <\/strong>The board will work with staff to define clearer engagement metrics that reflect outcomes and value, not just participation, supporting smarter decisions and clearer ROI.<\/p>\n

Advancing Chapter Development Models: <\/strong>Future efforts will focus on refining chapter development pathways, including clearer support structures and sustainability planning to better serve members over time.
\n
\nStrengthening Leadership and Volunteer Pipelines: <\/strong>The board will continue to assess leadership succession and follow-through from leadership programs to ensure continuity and alignment with strategic priorities.<\/p>\n

Modernizing Learning and Certification Systems: <\/strong>SMPS will explore opportunities to evolve certification and learning systems, streamline content, and better align major programs to support long-term professional growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you have any questions regarding these matters or the Society\u2019s board meetings, please contact Marci D. Thompson, chief executive officer of SMPS and the SMPS Foundation, at\u00a0<\/em>marci@smps.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the middle of January, the Society\u2019s volunteer leaders and staff members met at SMPS HQ in Alexandria, VA, for its board of directors meeting. Here are a few highlights from the meeting: What\u2019s Happening Now: Strengthening Financial Stewardship and Governance: The board reviewed finance committee updates, key financial reports, and ongoing work related to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":49842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[642,903,955],"class_list":["post-54694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-news","tag-board-meetings","tag-smps-board-meeting","tag-smps-board-of-diretors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54694"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54698,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54694\/revisions\/54698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}