Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed a great holiday season and are ready for an active and exciting 2025. I am sure you will not be surprised to learn that ACSM has quickly gotten back to work in the new year!
Highlights from 2024
A new year is a great time to reflect on the previous one, while always looking ahead. For me, working with ACSM members and staff is always a highlight! As president, however, 2024 gave me a unique perspective and appreciation for all the ACSM staff does, and all our members do, especially those in leadership roles and on committees. I really am grateful to know and get to work with such amazing and engaged people. Another highlight for me was the 2024 Annual Meeting in Boston! The energy was great, and it was wonderful to see so many people in attendance. It was also exciting to hire new ACSM CEO Katie Feltman. Her dedication to ACSM has been excellent, and I know she will lead ACSM where we need to go in 2025 and beyond.
Our advancement as an organization was notable in 2024. We rolled out our new branding and strategic plan and, by the end of the year, made considerable progress on many fronts. Our membership growth and commitment to stewardship helped secure a strong financial position that will give us the ability to reinvest in programs that matter to members, like awards, grants, meetings and more. ACSM committees developed, implemented and, in many cases, completed tactics supporting the goals of the strategic plan. Finally, though it was bittersweet, the sale of our ACSM property in Indianapolis positions us for growth and even more progress in the years to come.
Priorities for 2025
As I look ahead to the new year and the five months of my presidency, I will focus on inspiring greater member engagement, increasing ACSM’s membership and retaining those who are currently part of the ACSM community. We need to ensure that our early career members are well served and engaged in the work of ACSM because they are our future, while making sure our longer-term members stay involved and provide institutional knowledge.
This year, I will be celebrating 40 years of being an ACSM member! I joined in 1985 as a senior in college. That was a long time ago, and ACSM still remains my main scientific organization, and one to which I am proud to belong and serve as president. Even after 40 years, I still have a passion for being an ACSM ambassador, touting the value and professional benefits of belonging to this great organization that has done so much for me!
Let me thank you, in advance, for all you will do to support ACSM and the profession in 2025. As always, if you have suggestions, comments or questions, please share them with me here.
Stella Lucia Volpe, PhD, RDN, ACSM-CEP, FACSM
ACSM President
