President's Message — Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR

A Hopeful New Year

I submit this month’s write-up in my President-Elect role, and as we come to the end of 2022, a year in which our current President Nikki Gabriel gave her all by instilling hope and in doing so, began our transition to hybrid meetings subsequent to the pandemic. I’m so incredibly honored to be following in her footsteps, leading the chapter in 2023 after several years in a position, in which I'm better known — Vice President of Marketing — but also for the opportunity to give back to the community, a community that has helped me grow as a person, professional, and leader through the years. I feel so much more hope for our chapter this year. I hope you feel it too!

Our first glimmer of hope I’m happy to announce is the return of our Annual “New Beginnings” Experiential Event — and in person! As a result of the pandemic, we have held standard meetings online in January for the past couple years. However, traditionally the chapter has used January to honor the new year with the opportunity of a healing and uplifting experiential. I hope that you can join us this year, take some time for yourself, and begin the new year feeling refreshed and recharged. As an art therapist, I’m really looking forward to it being an art-based experience.

Throughout the year my general hope is for us to remain connected and continue to lift up one another, engage our current members while recruiting new members. My main goal is to continue to offer, and improve the quality of our hybrid meetings. We did go through (and are still going through) a rough learning curve to see what works best for all involved. I’m confident we’ll find a way to make the dynamics satisfactory for all, especially for our online attendees. Thank you to those of you who have emailed and sent in comments and suggestions, and offered support.

Some of my goals for the new year include:

1. Continue recruiting member volunteers to foster their personal and professional growth as well as increase opportunity for members to meet the board and share their thoughts by continuing “lunch with a board member” vs the traditional “lunch with the president.”
2. Continue to improve outreach to pre-licensed members as well as students by continuing to offer student scholarships and complete the second set of 50 awards offered in 2022.
3. Continue to increase awareness, advocate and provide educational opportunities to the chapter about diversity, equity, and inclusion via the "Diversity Segment" at monthly membership meetings.
4. Continue to increase membership to over 400, with a focus on building a more diverse membership.
5. Improve overall quality of hybrid meetings for both in person and online participants.
6. As former VP of Marketing, continue to give the chapter and the members a voice with new, creative opportunities via special events that allow for networking and connection, advertising options, website updates, posts on social media platforms, and updates to policy and procedures.

I won’t be able to accomplish my goals, let alone be a good leader, without the support of my colleagues. I am pleased to introduce you to the 2023 board of directors:

1. President – Gina Balit
2. Past President – Nikki Gabriel
3. President Elect – Shawn LaRe' Brinkley
4. CFO – Parshaw Barati-Marnani
5. Vice President of Programs – Jennifer Calderon
6. Vice President of Membership – Shari Manculich
7. Vice President of Marketing – Daniel Hermosillo
8. Secretary – Stephanie Gonzalez
9. Pre-Licensed Representative – Savannah Okada
10. Member at Large – David Eshleman
11. Member at Large – Manny Serenil
12. Member at Large – David Eshleman
13. Member at Large – Virginia "Ginny" Lincoln

I hope you’ll join me in bringing in the new year with our art experiential, where you’ll also see Nikki pass along her role and “big shoes” for me to fill. I’m ready for what 2023 has to bring — Happy (Hopeful) New Year!

Warmly,

Gina

Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR, is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist and Registered Art Therapist working in private practice in Woodland Hills, CA. She is passionate about working with young children of divorce and abuse as well as supporting her Armenian community.