Sweet Adelines International 75th Jubilee Commemorative Album

In November 2018, a two-day Visioning Retreat was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, to create a “fresh, clear, and compelling shared vision for Sweet Adelines International and outline potential priorities for our future strategic direction,” said International President Patty Cobb Baker. Retreat members included the International Board of Directors, 25 Sweet Adelines members, and the International Headquarters leadership team. The group explored organizational identity, intent, and our desired outcomes for now and the future. “The member participants were representative of Sweet Adelines throughout the organization, and ensured that a wide variety of perspectives, skills, and experience were factored into the outcomes of the retreat,” Cobb Baker said. Retreat facilitator Marsha Rhea, a Certified Association Executive, guided discussions to examine the drivers of change specific to our future, such as the aging world, empowered women, diversity and inclusion, next generation professionals, and microlearning. In June 2019, Cobb Baker announced the outcome of the retreat. “A new vision statement and five guiding principles, or values, for Sweet Adelines International (SA) were crafted. They now serve as the compass that will guide all efforts toward creating the strong and sustainable SA of tomorrow…The retreat's participants understood that these statements are declarations of intention and of a promise. In addition, they embody who we are by proclaiming what we value most in our creative efforts and in our interactions with one another and the world.” The International Board also updated the Sweet Adelines mission statement to align its statement of purpose with the new organizational vision and values. The mission statement and guiding principles are stated at the beginning of this book.

SPOTLIGHT: NEW VISION

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