President's Letter: July 2023

Dear friends and colleagues,

Volunteerism is key to running a great chapter, with the many events, like the Gala, the Regional Conference or supporting our student chapters. We recently sent out a call for volunteers for the board and committees for the 23-24 year and boy did we get a great response. Probably the most since I have been involved in the chapter. This is amazing news. The more people involved at the chapter level, the more top tier programming we can produce that will benefit our members, sponsors, students and continue to provide excellent educational and networking opportunities. It’s still not too late to get involved, we are always looking to build our committees, especially the ones lesser known to accomplish so many important tasks, like our legislative committee doing the vital work of advocating for our profession at the State House or the Climate Action Committee, which provides programming supporting the ASLA Climate Action Plan. Engaging more members, will lead to a stronger, more resilient chapter and continue to build on our profession, which was just designated a STEM profession by the Federal Government, proving how landscape architecture is key to solving the world’s most challenging and pivotal issue of our time, Climate Change. You can reach out to me if you’d like to learn more or get involved. WE will be having our Strategic Planning Day, October 1st to plan our next year’s events and committees.

Best,

Joe Ignatius PLA, ASLA, LEED Green Associate

MDASLA President 2021-2023