Officers Elected and Logo Selected

Last Wednesday evening, Striving for More, Inc had its first official board meeting. The fact that the board met for the first time was an exciting milestone for me. In my mind, that was the evening that "my organization" becomes "an Organization managed by a Board of Directors". It sounds so thrilling, doesn't it? Also in my mind, that is the day that I became an employee or even a servant to the Board. I pray that I can continue to communicate my vision, my passion and my enthusiasm to each of them so that we can all accomplish great things together but it is no longer just "mine" and major decisions will have to be made as a team.

During the meeting, officers were elected. Up until this point, I have not shared who was on my board because I did not feel like it was official yet. Since it is official at this point, I am ready to share with you all the Striving for More Board of Directors

• President ~ Diane Moore
  
• Vice President ~ Bob Witter - Bob and I were colleagues at Sony Ericsson for many years until he left 6 years ago to start his own company. He is currently the CEO of Device Solutions, a technology firm located in RTP. He was an inspirational mentor to me during our time together at Sony Ericsson and I believe he has picked up right where he left off. As cancer has touched his life in many ways through family and friends, he is passionate about our cause.
  
• Treasurer ~ Jill Balogh - Many of you have heard me talk about Jill before. She is a great friend and loved Colleen and the time she spent with her. Jill also spent more than 20 years at IBM as a software programmer before she retired a year ago. Since her time with Colleen, she now has a passion to help kids with cancer and has been my right hand in the establishment of this organization.
  
• Secretary ~ Shay Montgomery Crenshaw, M.Div., BCC - Shay is the Director of Pastoral Care for UNC Hospitals. My relationship developed with Shay during Colleen's time at UNC as she was the Pastor serving in the Pediatric Oncology Unit at the time. Both Colleen and I grew to love her. Her passion is helping children and she is pleased to be able to serve in this role.
  
• Director ~ Daniel S. Wechsler, MD, PhD - Dr. Wechsler is the Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Duke University Medical Center. I am honored and thrilled to have him on our board. He was Colleen's doctor at Duke and he continues to support this important initiative and our work towards improving the care that all kids with cancer receive.
  
• Other ~ Felicia Gore Hoover, JD - Felicia is long time friend of mine and an excellent attorney. She has agreed to serve on the board temporarily until we can find a permanent replacement. Her life is quite full as the mother of triplet 9 year old girls, working full time and already serving on other boards. She has already proven to be an extremely valuable resource during our first board meeting. Thanks Felicia.

We are still in need of additional board members. Specifically, we are looking for passionate individuals in the following roles who may be interested in serving in this important role:

CPA, Marketing/Advertising/PR, Experiencing Fund Raiser or Development Director, Pediatric Social Worker, Pediatric Psychologist, Child Life Specialist or Recreation Therapist, Pediatric Oncology Nurse, Nurse Practitioner or Physicians Assistant, Attorney (Business, Estate Planning or Non Profit Experience Preferred), Computer or other Technological Specialties, Entertainment Industries/Media Executives, Business Executives (Officers or Key Corporate Positions).

If you are in one of these roles, are passionate about the Striving for More cause and think you may be interested in joining us, please contact me.

The second exciting accomplishment that came out of our meeting is that we picked a logo! So, here is the first official unveiling of the new Striving for More, Inc. logo.

For those of you who are unaware, the gold ribbon represents, Childhood Cancer Awareness. Just like the Pink Ribbon represents Breast Cancer Awareness. We realize that this is not a well known fact at this time but we decided that we think that need to change. We hope that a year from now, everyone will be buying gold kitchen appliances to support childhood cancer!

Lastly, the Bylaws were all officially signed by the board members and the tax exemption paperwork was officially submitted to the IRS. So now we are in a waiting game. It could be 90 days or it could be a year. We were advised by our attorneys not to perform any fund raising activities until we receive our official tax certification.

As a result, I have decided that I will pursue some short term contracting assignments to try to beef up my savings account to help me get through the future life of a social entrepreneur living on a meager or potentially non existent wage. Therefore, if you know anyone that needs a kick butt, highly efficient, Enterprise Software Implementation Program Manager who is willing to travel and take short term assignments, send them my way.

This does not mean that I am giving up on my vision, or my passion. I think this is what God has in mind right now, while I wait. Work during the day for "the man" and plan during the evenings for "the kids".

Please say a prayer that I am discerning this message correctly.