CEC Leadership Development Committee Chair Mikki Garcia Encourages Members to Volunteer

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LDC Chair Mikki Garcia at work in a recent committee meeting.

Much of the work done by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is accomplished by member volunteers. No one understands that better than Mikki Garcia, a CEC Past President and current Chair of the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) The LDC identifies, nurtures, and develops potential and skills in emerging leaders. Garcia recently shared her views about the opportunities and challenges for the LDC and offered advice to CEC members about becoming a leader in our community.

TEC: What is the top priority for the LDC?

Garcia: During the past two years since it was formed, the LDC has made remarkable strides to recruit and identify new CEC leaders. It has been a whirlwind of activity that allowed us to learn and grow as a committee.

I am grateful for the team of committed individuals who have given of their time and talents to move the work forward. At each step, we reflected on the outcomes of our activities to ensure that we’re finding the most well-qualified and best-fitting candidates and bringing a diversity of perspectives to the work of advancing the CEC mission.

We continue to look at ways to discern the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed on the Board of Directors and ensure that it is diverse in every way possible. We maintain communication with the Board to understand their needs and use that information to help identify and recruit new Board candidates.

As a committee, we see opportunities to collaborate with CEC state or provincial units and special interest divisions to identify potential future leaders. We also see opportunities to mentor and develop individuals who strive to fill these important roles in our organization. Finally, we see opportunities to modify our strategies to identify future leaders of our organization.

While the LDC works hard to develop a well-qualified slate of candidates, it is still up to CEC members to elect future Board members. We place a high priority on achieving a broad level of diversity, knowledge, skills, and abilities on the Board. While LDC members reach out to a diversity of individuals, we can only reach out so far. We need the help of units and divisions to identify the many talented individuals who have the potential to serve.

TEC: What advice can you offer to CEC members about becoming a leader in our association?

Garcia: Becoming a CEC leader is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my professional career. I never took lightly the awesome responsibility of leading our organization.

I encourage those who aspire to be leaders to seek opportunities in their local or student chapter, their unit, and their divisions. They have so many opportunities and need volunteers. Everyone has something to offer.

I cannot emphasize enough the benefits of this type of service: the opportunity to give back to your profession, the opportunity to help make important decisions that impact our profession, and the opportunity to grow as a leader. I feel privileged to chair this important committee that impacts the future direction of CEC!

Interested in getting involved with CEC? Check out current volunteer opportunities at www.cec.sped.org/About-Us/CEC-Leadership/Current-Leadership-Opportunities-for-CEC-Members.