Welcome to the Cyber Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators!

Dear colleagues and all who may visit us, welcome to the Cyber Chapter!

It is an honor and privilege to begin my term as President of the Cyber Chapter of ALA. Our outgoing president, Shahily Negron-Falcon, deserves an enormous thank you from all of us for guiding us through the last year. Luckily, for all of us, Shay will continue to serve as an officer on the board for an additional year, in the role of past-president.

I have been thinking about the year ahead and realize that the year will be filled with challenges, roadblocks and pitfalls. However, I can accept these things because of the support network I have around me. The chapter’s board is built on the strength of various individuals and we work as a team. Our group of individuals provide continuity and strength to the board.

The board is constantly looking for ways to improve our chapter and part of this improvement comes from member feedback. One goal for this year is to challenge each one of you to identify what you want to see our chapter accomplish. Identify those areas where our chapter could better meet your needs. Tell one of the board members your interests, desires or needs from the chapter. Working together with all our knowledge and strength combined our chapter can far exceed our expectations.

While our profession is an ever-changing moving target, I can’t shout loud enough about the benefits of the chapter. Each of us needs to commit to leveraging not only the technical and educational benefits of being a member, but also developing personal relationships. I can only speak for myself, but I know for a fact that I would not be as efficient or successful as I am today without those individuals who came before me. I commend those individuals that took the time to explain “how to do it right”. In those years when I felt apprehensive by my lack of experience, not once did anyone make me feel inferior. The help I received during my career has been invaluable.

I challenge each of you to look at every situation as an opportunity rather than a roadblock or pitfall. Look around and identify those individuals that add strength to your team and encourage them to continue to add value to your organization and themselves. Then look at yourself and identify those challenges that are important to you and work towards accomplishing those goals.

Utilize the Cyber Chapter as a valuable resource of knowledge and leverage those relationships you have made within our chapter.

Lisa Dasher

President, Cyber Chapter