It was only in the last month that I realized that the INAEP has been in existence for TEN years.  Wow.  In 2006 some great environmental professionals looked around and realized that there was something missing.  There was no group that was for anyone in the environmental profession.  Oh, sure, if you were a geologist or a CHMM you were covered.  There were some other niche groups in addition.  But if you looked at all of the professional environmental groups in total, many would be left out.  And so INAEP was born.

 

So we have passed the ten year mark without any fanfare.  And yet, to be fair, I am not sure we needed any special fanfare.  The INAEP is rockin' and rollin'!

 

Did you know that, as of December 2015, we have approximately 175 individual members? 

 

The ten-year mark is an amazing milestone.  I believe that the best way to celebrate this milestone is draft our vision for the next ten years.  Who do we want the INAEP to be in 2024 and what should we be doing?

 

Let me tell you my vision of INAEP's next ten years.

 

Membership

 

The majority of our membership is comprised of environmental and engineering consulting firms.  Despite this fact there are still many of these companies that are not at all represented in our organization, whether as a corporate member, or by individual members who work there.  I would like to pull them into the fold.

 

My big dream is that we radically increase membership diversity to include more people from academia, regulatory agencies, industry and other environmental stakeholders.  By increasing our membership diversity we provide additional opportunity for our members to find new jobs, learn more about other environmental roles, expand our professional knowledge and more.

 

Scholarships and Grants

 

In 2016 we will award $4,000 in environmental scholarships and $500 in environmental grants.  By 2015 I would love to see the INAEP be awarding $10,000 in environmental scholarships, including at least one to a high school senior.  My 2024 goal for environmental grants is $5,000.  To meet these goals we will have to increase fundraising efforts and membership numbers.  We will need to be creative about how and from where we get our monies.  But I know that with the talented and motivated membership that we have, that we can achieve this goal.

 

Training / Continuing Education

 

It only seems appropriate that the INAEP offer training / continuing education courses. Frankly I don't know whether these should be online or in person classes, and what topics should be covered.  But I do know that we owe it to our membership to offer as many avenues for professional development as possible.

 

This List is Not Complete

 

The goals I have listed are not exhaustive.  But I wanted to start a broader discussion in our membership about who we want to be.  Let's take the first step and create a mission statement for the next ten years, and then create a game plan to accomplish that mission.

 

You have heard some of my dreams.  What are your INAEP dreams?