22 November 2011

 

Dear SACAC Members,

The new SACAC board of directors was elected unanimously on November 5, 2011 and held its first full meeting on November 21st.  These directors, all volunteers, have one common passion and purpose, to serve our community through SACAC.  I am taking this opportunity to share with you our work plan.

Our first priority is to develop a strategic plan for SACAC.  We have established a strategic planning committee headed by Leslie Hewlett.  Through this strategic planning process we expect to establish an updated purpose for SACAC. 

You might wish to know that the SACAC purpose, or objective, was defined in the original constitution of 1973.

Its [SACAC’s] objective is to combat drug usage and problems associated therewith in Singapore, particularly within the American community, through rendering counseling services, sponsorship of sports and leisure activities, organization of mental health programs, liaison with local law enforcement agencies, and implementation of other projects which may lessen the incidence of substance abuse.

We believe that the best strategic plan will be one that has been developed in consultation with and with input from the SACAC stakeholders, especially the membership of SACAC.  We are planning a ‘town hall’ for some time in January before Chinese New Year to ask for your help in addressing choices or issues that must be resolved as part of this strategic planning process.

Look for an email from SACAC announcing the date and venue of this town hall meeting. 

For the board to be efficient, we intend to use special purpose committees and working groups.  The strategic planning committee is but one example of this.  We have also established committees for finance, governance, fund raising, and technology.  

As you know, SACAC relies heavily on volunteers.  But we also have professional managers, counselors, coaches and staff.  To give you an idea, there are over 2,500 participants in SACAC’s 72 different offerings across 12 different sports from pre-K to adult and world class counseling and community services.  We cannot expect volunteers to manage all of the administrative, organizational and financial needs of such a vibrant and diversified activity.     

Therefore, we have decided to recruit a general manager.  The GM will be responsible for the day to day operation of SACAC, for community relations, fundraising and fulfilling SACAC’s purpose within the constraints of the policies established by the board of directors. 

You may wish to know that SACAC’s functional core is the athletic directors for sports Heather Phillips and Nick Littrell and the counselors headed by Cate Hey.  To help these professionals to focus on delivering services, the board has approved the hiring on two office managers, one for the SACAC office at SAS and one for the counseling office located in the American Club.  These positions are budgeted and they will report to the general manager once he or she is on board. 

The addition of office managers is intended to provide a much needed lift in SACAC responsiveness to your emails and inquiries.  This is the first step in improving the quality of the services provided by SACAC to you.

Lastly, allow me to encourage you to participate in SACAC.  Whether it’s on a committee, on one of our councils or as a coach, team mom, etc., we need you.  We are a volunteer centric organization.   SACAC will continue to be there and continue to serve the needs of our families if and only if we participate as volunteers.  

Thank you for your support and patience.

 

Sincerely,

Joe Hamby

Chairman