Deb Cook Lewis
1131 Liberty Dr.
Clarkston, WA 99403
C: (206) 434-6480
[email protected]
1. My name is Deb Cook Lewis, and I am a candidate for my first full term as ACB president.
In 2016, I was elected to the ACB Board of Publications and was appointed chair in 2019. In 2021 I was elected to the office of First Vice president of ACB, and in March of this year I became ACB’s Interim President when the Board hired then President Dan Spoone as Interim Executive Director. As first vice president, I served as the officer liaison to the ACB Public Awareness Steering Committee and served on the convention and administration steering committees. In 2016, I was honored to be selected as a JPMorgan chase Leadership Fellow.
I have been significantly involved with ACB radio (now ACB Media) since 2004. I have assisted many affiliates and at the national level to hold virtual and hybrid events since 2020.
I am active in the WA council of the blind and Guide dog Users Inc and have held offices in both affiliates. In WA state, I served as Treasurer four two-year terms and assisted the affiliate to move to an accrual system for financial management. I also served as Resolutions Chair and on other committees.
In 2018 I retired after 44 years with WA State and the University of WA where I held increasingly responsible positions in direct service delivery and management. I served as chair of the Governor appointed WA State Human Rights Commission for five years and served on the Voting System Certification Board for the WA State Office of Elections for ten years.
I have the knowledge, experience, and level of commitment to help lead ACB during these times of great opportunity and challenge. I have demonstrated my willingness to work hard for the organization.
2. I am a big picture person. This means I am comfortable with strategic planning, resource allocation, monitoring and measuring, and evaluating outcomes. I am organized and pay attention to detail which is critical in all phases of project management and implementation. I passionately care about ACB’s mission and goals and can systematically assist us to reach our goals and set new ones. And when it all comes down, I work long and hard for the cause. Look at my calendar and you will see lots of 6:00 AM meetings—one is either crazy or committed to do that.
3. Much of what I said when I ran for office in 2021 is still very true today. ACB continues to expand its resources and corporate footprint more than ever before with increased revenue, more staffing, new initiatives and so much more. It is time to really look at and redefine our infrastructure. Above and beyond job descriptions, what are the roles of staff? How do we best use and manage our fabulous and committed volunteers? How do we all work smarter and not harder without burning people out? How do we keep focus on our membership and give us the tools we need to really succeed? How do we measure our accomplishments? What do our members value most in our great organization?
I propose that in addition to the strategic plans around our 9 organizational initiatives, we also look closely at our infrastructure of program delivery, management, and planning. We must bring our processes into the modern world without losing our focus on being a member driven organization.