On behalf of the Affiliate Leadership Council (ALC) I would like to extend warm greetings to all affiliate leaders.

The ALC is a large and growing family of affiliates, with TESOL Nova Scotia, English Teachers Association of Georgia, Bolivian English Teachers Association, Tanzanian English Language Teachers Development Meeting, and TESOL Persia as the newest members.

Seventy-two affiliates were represented at our Affiliate Assembly at TESOL 2012 in Philadelphia and still others participated at the Affiliate Leadership Luncheon, Affiliate Workshop, Affiliate Colloquium, and Affiliate Booth. We were delighted to welcome new members and to recognize existing members who won various awards. We congratulate Argentina TESOL, which celebrated 25 years of affiliation with TESOL. The TESOL Virginia French Award for Scholarship and Service went to Jodi Ruback from the Nevada chapter of California TESOL.

As you may know, the ALC was created to serve as a liaison between affiliates and the TESOL International Association Board of Directors. Our duties include organizing the Affiliate Assembly, Affiliate Leaders Workshop, Affiliate Colloquium, Affiliate Editors’ Workshop, and Affiliate Booth at the annual TESOL convention. These activities create a forum for networking and exchanging ideas. The ALC would like to thank TESOL executive members Christine Coombe, Susan Panferov, Brock Brady, Deena Boraie, and John Segota, who came and took some time to greet ALC members during the Affiliate Workshop. Some of the articles and photos in this newsletter will give you an idea of what we did this year and hopefully generate ideas for next year.

Special thanks go to Ana Maria Rocca, Rebecca Johnson, Sufian Abu-Rmaileh, and Gilda Martinez-Alba, who facilitated the breakout sessions during the Affiliate Workshop.

As you might recall, we asked you during the affiliate meetings to consider running for the ALC. Please check the call for nominations[link] in this newsletter for more details. Kindly note that the deadline for nominations is 10 November 2012.

Thank you all for making TESOL 2012 a success. We are excited about working with you as we plan for TESOL 2013 in Texas.

Dorothy Forbin has had a long and fulfilling career in English language teaching after undergraduate studies at home in Cameroon and postgraduate studies at the University of Sussex, England. She has been involved with numerous teacher activities and has been passionate about organizing teachers and lighting the fire of confidence and pride in the ELT profession in her country.