I’m Deborah Healey, the 2019-2020 TESOL President. I’d like to tell you a little bit about what we’re doing at TESOL International Association. While TESOL International Association is based in the United States, its work is global, and it is a trusted global authority for knowledge and expertise in English language teaching. Further, the organization continues to make strides to promote the outcomes of our strategic plan: Global Outreach and Connectivity, Knowledge and Expertise, and Voice and Advocacy.

In Global Outreach and Connectivity, we are looking forward to what the Affiliate Peer Advisory Program (APAP) will be able to accomplish. After several months of preparation last year, TESOL’s Affiliate Network Professional Council (ANPC) started the APAP early this year. Former ANPC Chair, Uli Schrader, begun this new ANPC initiative to help support other ANPC efforts. In the APAP, each affiliate is partnered with one of the ANPC members. The ANPC member serves as a channel of communication between the affiliate and TESOL and helps link affiliates with each other affiliates for mutual benefit. Please be sure that your affiliate has responded to the call from the ANPC. If you are not sure, contact ANPC Chair, George Kormpas, at georgekormpas@gmail.com to find out. We think that creating stronger links between affiliates, and between affiliates and the ANPC, will help us all help each other.

As I hope you know, each affiliate in good standing can offer seven free TESOL memberships each year to those who are not currently members of TESOL. We are also exploring different membership models so that we can retain current affiliate members and reach new ones. We would like to find ways to work with affiliates to encourage membership both in affiliates and in TESOL International Association. You may see surveys or other requests for information as we look for more ways to help members feel engaged. We know that different affiliates have taken a variety of approaches that will be helpful to learn about and to share.

In Knowledge and Expertise, we hosted a very successful international conference last March in Atlanta, Georgia, and we are busy preparing for next year’s convention in Denver, Colorado March 31-April 3, 2020. The call for proposals is now closed, but you can find information about applying for travel grants and scholarships at https://www.tesol.org/enhance-your-career/tesol-awards-honors-grants. During the year, TESOL International Association offers several webinars free to members, with some free to everyone. Recordings of the webinars are available to members in the TESOL Resource Center. We are also encouraging all of our Professional Councils and Interest Sections to host webinars about topics of interest to their members. The ANPC has hosted free webinars almost every month, with recordings available on the Affiliate Network MyTESOL area. For your own affiliate conference, please see information about requesting a TESOL-sponsored speaker at https://www.tesol.org/connect/tesol-affiliate-network/access-affiliate-benefits. Applications are reviewed twice a year, so be sure to check the deadline if you are considering applying for a TESOL Board member to speak at your conference.

In Voice and Advocacy, outside the US as well as inside, we are looking at issues facing non-native English-speaking teachers. These qualified, bilingual/multilingual teachers should be viewed as an asset in any English language teaching context. Too often, however, administrators and parents are entranced by the “native speaker” and are unwilling to treat these qualified teachers with the respect they deserve. We are hoping to gather more information about issues around the world facing these colleagues and share responses and approaches with each other.

Another new initiative is the Diverse Voices Task Force. As I’m writing this letter, the Task Force is being formed. The charge of the task force is to cultivate diverse leadership and a culture of inclusion in the association. We expect them to start by researching ways that other associations define and enhance diversity, then develop a vision statement on diversity and inclusion for the association. We hope to see recommendations about how TESOL International Association can cultivate diverse leadership and build a culture of inclusion across the association. The task force will be sharing its findings during the coming year and at the 2020 TESOL Convention in Denver, Colorado, USA.

In the United States, TESOL has been active in supporting legislation that will increase funding for teachers who work with English language learners, both in ESL classes and in content classes, in K-12 and adult education. We were pleased to see that the US Census question about citizenship, which would have had a chilling effect on responding to the census by immigrant families, was turned down by the US Supreme Court. We will continue to work with legislators and government officials in the US to improve the status of English language teachers and learners.

Finally, I want to thank all of our affiliate leaders for building a stronger association by working with TESOL, and a stronger network by working with other affiliate leaders. I know that there are many, many English language teachers who are not yet part of any association. They could benefit as we all have by sharing ideas with each other and feeling the strength of the community. Please do reach out to those teachers you may know who are not part of your affiliate and encourage them to join. We are better together!

I am looking forward to seeing you online and in person – perhaps at next year’s convention in Denver!