The Massage Pundit

It’s that time of the year again: Election time at the American Massage Therapy Association. For the second year, voting is online. I encourage all members to exercise their right to pick your leaders. In fact, let’s change that from “encourage” to “beg.” Last year’s showing on the election was less than ideal–a lot less. Imagine an organization that has well over 50,000 members, and then imagine that only the people who were at the national convention voted. Yep, that’s about it–somewhere in the vicinity of 1800 people.  Some of that can be attributed to the fact that it was the first year voting was offered online. Some of it can be attributed to complacency or feeling like your vote won’t make any difference and that’s just wrong. It will make a difference.

AMTA is the only member-driven non-profit massage therapy association. We have state chapters and the leadership of those chapters is voted in (and out) by the membership. The same with the national association. As is my usual habit, if I don’t personally know the candidates, I of course read their candidate statements and almost always contact the ones I don’t know in person, if I don’t get enough out of their candidate statement and/or recommendations from my friends in the organization who do know them. And I want them to know me; that’s why I call them. I want the officers to know who I am and what I want to see happen for the organization. I want to know who to pat on the back and who to complain to.

I have the same attitude with AMTA elections that I have with the government elections: if you don’t vote, don’t complain.  This is your opportunity to pick the people who are going to be leading the organization, so make use of it. Here are my picks for this year:

President-Elect: Cynthia Ribeiro. Cynthia Ribeiro is a member of the CA Chapter. She has an impressive education and the necessary skill set for being an effective leader. It’s my desire to see the minimum standards for massage therapy raised, and Cynthia is a great example of someone who exceeds the minimum by hundreds of hours. She also shares one of my pet agendas–advancing the profession through research. She’s a member since 1987 and has been volunteering at the national level since 1997. Cynthia is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and is an Approved Provider under the NCBTMB. She’s the owner of the Western Institute of Neuromuscular Massage Therapy in Laguna Hills, CA. I met Cynthia last year when she taught a class at our annual meeting. She gets my vote.

Vice-President: Nancy M. Porambo. Nancy is a member of the PA Chapter and is the owner of The Therapy Option in Jim Thorpe, PA. She’s Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education under the NCBTMB. She has been an active volunteer on both her state and the national level. Nancy really hit the floor running…she won her Chapter’s Meritorious Award in 1995, just two years after becoming Nationally Certified.  She also has a Master’s in Clinical Health Psychology. I think every ache and pain in the body has an emotional component; wise choice on her part to pursue that. I’ve met Nancy twice when she taught at our chapter’s meetings and in fact had the opportunity to talk with her at our annual meeting last weekend. Nancy gets my vote.

Board of Directors Member-at-Large: Ed Sansbury, Joan Nichols, and Kathie Lea. Ed Sansbury is the Immediate Past President of the North Carolina Chapter. I won’t support him on that account; I’ll support him because he is an individual with an abundance of integrity, energy, and the desire to do the right thing, always. Ed has been a tireless worker for our chapter and he will do the same at the national level. Ed has expertise in the field of government relations and that is a big deal to me. He has a practice in Raleigh, NC. He gets my vote.

Ditto for Joan Nichols of the Georgia Chapter. Joan shares my belief that research is the key to propelling our profession forward. She is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and has a practice in Stockbridge, GA. She has been a volunteer on the state and national level and is currently the Immediate Past President of the GA Chapter. She brings experience and leadership qualities to the job. Joan is a supporter of advanced education and credentialing. I met Joan when I taught a class for the GA Chapter last year. She gets my vote.

Kathie Lea is the 1st VP of the Louisiana Chapter. She is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. Kathie has been a member of AMTA since 1988 and National Member-at-Large since 2004. Normally I’m all for new blood. However, I don’t like to see an experience deficit…I definitely think one or two “old hands” is a good thing. She served as the LA Chapter President 2000-2002 and participated in the process of bringing licensure to her state. Kathy is committed to her own continuing education and has studied with many of the best teachers in the business. I like therapists who think we need to keep on learning, no matter how much we think we may know. She gets my vote.

Commission on Candidacy: Christopher Deery. Christopher is the Immediate Past President of the OK Chapter. He’s part of a dynamic duo–his wife Xerlan Geiser-Deery is the current Chapter President. I’m happy to say both of them are friends of mine and they both bend over backwards for AMTA. He possesses leadership qualities himself and therefore knows what it takes to do the job. He gets my vote.

There you go. Whether you vote with me or not, please vote.  The right to elect our leadership is one of the perks of being a member. Take advantage of that and just do it.  All the candidate biographies can be seen here.