Why is a certification important?

Credentials are important in professional services because they provide you — the client — with a sense of how educated a person is in a specific area of knowledge. I maintain membership in several parliamentary organizations, and have a credentialed certification in parliamentary procedure, so that you can have confidence in my abilities and in the services I can offer your organization.

I am a member of both the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) and a past member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP). These two organizations form the backbone of parliamentary knowledge world-wide. Each organization has a slightly different focus, yet between the two of them, there is much to share and learn. NAP focuses exclusively on Robert’s Rules of Order, the most commonly used parliamentary authority in the world today, and its members are experts within that realm. AIP generalizes on several parliamentary authorities, giving its members a wide range of parliamentary knowledge for a variety of organizational needs.

Within NAP, I am a Registered Parliamentarian (RP) and credentialed as such. Within AIP, I was a regular member. I am also a member and past board member of the California State Association of Parliamentarians (CSAP), and a past Southern Area Director for CSAP. I also participate with local parliamentarian units near me, and two online parliamentarian units.

Background

I have been involved with parliamentary procedure for over 30 years in a number of areas.

I have been an active member of many non-profit and community organizations, giving advice and training on parliamentary topics. I have also served on two Board of Directors in director and officer capacities, and have spent considerable time helping organizations improve their meetings through better use of parliamentary practices. I have served as a parliamentarian for several units, Councils, and Districts with the California State PTA for many years, and am a member of the Board of Managers for the California State PTA where I serve on the Bylaws Committee.

My involvement with parliamentary procedure started back in the late 1970’s, when I joined debate in high school. Although I was primarily interested in the debate team, I was also involved with DeMolay, a fraternal youth organization that is an offshoot of the Shrine organization. In DeMolay, all meetings are held in compliance with Robert’s Rules of Order, which I found interesting and exciting. I participated as a member of a parliamentary procedure team (a “Parli Pro team”), where team members are challenged with a variety of parliamentary scenarios, and scored on how well they know Robert’s Rules and how properly applied that knowledge is. It began a long association with parliamentary procedure that continues to this day.

References

Some of the groups and organizations I have helped in the past:

• DEC Users Society (DECUS)
• Oracle Development Tools Users Group (ODTUG)
• San Diego Mountain Rescue Team (SDMRT)
• Penasquitos Lutheran Church (PLC)
• International Oracle Users Group (IOUG)
• Axapta Users Group (AXUG)
• Your Conference Connection
• California State PTA (unit, Council, and District level)
• Haas Avocado Board of Managers
• San Ysidro Health

I am interested in helping other organizations through instruction, advice and training, and can offer a wide variety of services that may be of interest to you. I look forward to understanding your organization’s specific parliamentary needs.

Certifications

My membership and credentials can be verified through these links:

• In the NAP organization, I can be found here.
• In the AIP organization, I am a past member.
• Within CSAP, you can find more information about me here.