As our Chapter’s representative to the National Council of Chapters (NCC), I had the privilege of representing AGA Atlanta at the inaugural meeting in New Orleans.  The new configuration is different from what we were accustomed to, but the new streamlined structure has a lot of potential.  For example, we were able work with our peers on a variety of issues important to all AGA chapters.  This was a significant change from past years, and I was personally engaged with other chapters on how they recruit and retain members, promote the CGFM designation, and partner with other professional organizations to provide training.  My key takeaways from the meeting are as follows:

1. Recruiting and retaining members is difficult for all chapters and the best way to keep our chapter growing and vibrant is through continuous outreach and engagement.  There are a variety of membership types available and there are some the Atlanta chapter should make great use of.  This would include the free student memberships, the young professional memberships, and retiree memberships.  These membership types are designed to recruit new members to AGA and to retain those who have been with us for years.  I would challenge our chapter to add 25 new members between now and April 2020.  We’ve added 6 new members since July 1 and are well on our way to great year.  So, if you meet someone you think would benefit from being part of our chapter or someone who is eager to learn about AGA and government accountability please don’t hesitate to contact me or Laura Weston (VP for Membership) and we will be more than happy to help start their membership sign-up process.
2. The CGFM study guides and testing materials have changed.  Not certain how this impacts our chapter’s CGFM program other than to say the materials we are using are obsolete and should be replaced.  Also, it was clear from the meeting that promoting the CGFM designation is a challenge because most people outside federal service are not aware of the designation or how beneficial it can be to an individual’s career.  Clearly, as a chapter we need to do more to promote the CGFM designation and to promote it our members and to their employers.  AGA has a lot of materials that can be used to promote the certification.  For our chapter year, I think we should conduct some outreach activities and to get five or more of our members engaged in studying and passing the CGFM exam this program year.  If you know anyone who is interested, please let me or Glenda Ostrander (VP of CGFM committee) know so we can get this process moving.
3. AGA is exploring a name change in earnest.  Right now, it is the Association of Government Accountants.  However, a large and growing number of our members are not accountants and the type of professions involved in government accountability are widely variable.  We have auditors, IT professionals, automation experts, and many others.  So, don’t be surprised if our members or if chapter leadership is polled sometime in the future about a potential name change.  Personally, I would like to see the acronym remain AGA, but the name changed to the Association of Government Accountability.

In closing, I want to thank our chapter members and leaders for the opportunity to represent AGA Atlanta.  This is a great organization that does a lot to support government accountability in the Atlanta area and I would encourage all of us to do more than we have in the past and make us the premier AGA chapter in the nation.

Scott Owens

AGA Atlanta