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Suzanne Carawan

By: Suzanne Carawan on May 20th, 2015

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Boy Scout Declares "Be Prepared. Associations Need to Change to Be Relevant"

Association Industry Commentary | Workforce & Human Capital | HighRoad News & Events

mailto:demo@example.com?Subject=HighRoad Solutions - interesting article
John Graham, CEO of ASAE, Receiving Distinguished Eagle Scout & Citizen of the Year Award

As part of our commitment to the association market and ASAE in particular, HighRoad sponsored a table at last night's awards dinner to honor John Graham's achievements as a boy scout. While many people know John as the President & CEO of ASAE with a golden track record at American Diabetes Association, few know the depth of his commitment to the Boy Scouts of America.

The evening's tribute allowed those of us in the association market to learn far more about John and his commitment to volunteerism and high standards. After receiving his Eagle Scout in 1967, John continued to stay involved with the Boy Scouts and spent nearly 10 years within the organization. Once he took the reigns at ADA, John continued his participation and support of the Boy Scouts.

It was an honor to see the turn-out for John's dinner--a true celebrity scene of who's who in the association world! Being the overachiever that he is, John received not just one, but two, awards for his work. He first received the Distinguished Eagle Scout award from the National Eagle Scout Association which is given to 1 out of 1,000 Eagle Scouts. This number is staggering when you consider that only 4% of all Boy Scouts achieve the level of Eagle Scout and even qualify to be in the running to one day reach this top level of recognition. Nonethless, John earned it and entered the ranks of other notables such as Neil Armstrong and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Additionally, John received the 2015 Citizen of the Year award for his contributions.

A highlight of everyone's evening was hearing about the people behind the man. John comes from a family of Boy Scouts with both son and nephew who are Eagle Scouts. What was even more heartwarming was to see his two grandchildren in their Scout uniforms stand onstage with their grandfather while he received his medal. 

When it was time for John's speech, I was surprised at his fervor. Following his comments of gratitude, he turned very passionate with an appeal to change. His comments urged association executives to accept that we live in a very different world where change is 4x faster than it was even a decade ago and that change must occur in order to stay relevant. John's speech resonated with everything we're trying to do at HighRoad, of course, because we are pushing for new thinking and new methods of communicating in a world where digital dominates.

Since the words were coming from the highest ranked Boy Scout possible, I think it's only fair to surmise that John was saying, "Be Prepared". You might have always been a camper, but you certainly don't use the same equipment you used 10 years ago! The synopsis of John's entire speech was "Change to Be Relevant".

Well done, John, well done. Thank you for being an outstanding association executive who leads by principle-driven action. 

Congratulations to you and your family!