A Message from the PY24 Chapter President
PY24 President's Letter
Dear Fellow Chapter Members and Officers,
I am deeply honored to be President of the St. Louis NCMA Gateway Chapter this year. I had the great privilege of serving as Vice President to my predecessor, Carolyn Brasfield, whose leadership and vision attracted new members, enhanced collaboration with other NCMA Chapters and spearheaded new events. The tremendous talent and experience that she and our other Board members bring about is amplified by their generosity of sharing and leading others.
The significance of our profession and the influence contracting has on our livelihood, commerce, national defense and political stability imparts a common motivation and kinship for collaborative improvement. The NCMA organization is such a valuable asset for developing competent, ethical contracting partners. The curriculum, courseware and commentary authored and published through NCMA influences both Government and Industry standards and best practices.
I had the great fortune of attending the NCMA World Congress this year where innovative ideas and knowledge sharing were abundant. Our Gateway Chapter is rich with diverse, experienced, educated and intelligent members. Leveraging the talents of fellow members in cooperation and collaboration is mutually beneficial to one another and raises the bar for excellence. Technical skills, education and compliance regulations make a solid foundation, from which NCMA can also be a catalyst for building trust and integrity as cornerstones of our profession.
To that end, I want to continue to foster the goals and ambitions of PY23 into PY24 for Recruitment, Education, Member Participation and Networking by creating targeted tools and platforms that make it easy to contribute. Not every event needs record attendance or financial benefit to be a success. Meaningful discussions can ensue in any forum. I intend to challenge our Chapter to facilitate more opportunities for interaction and collaboration within our Membership.
Another highly influential focus opportunity I see is Employer Engagement. Contract Management Employers need to know the value of NCMA within their Organizations and our Companies/Agencies should be represented in abundance at National meetings and events. These forums propel motivation and interest, and fast track developing Contracting Professionals.
We have some exciting events in the making, and we’ve held some fun and enriching ones already. We had the great honor of featuring Jo Anne Hamilton Parks (STL), DCMA Deputy Commander and Director of Contracts, as our guest speaker during the September Membership Celebration at the City Museum and Steven Howard (DRS), VP Programs, facilitated an informative training session on the mid-year FAR/DFARs updates. Coming this Spring is our annual one day training (formerly National Education Seminar (NES)) and this could very well be our best one yet! Joseph Hemann (DRS), VP NES, is lining up some incredible speakers and it will be held at the Thompson Coburn LLP downtown location, with a birds’ eye view into Busch Stadium. Prior to that, Milva Finnegan, PhD, VP Certification Chair, and Laurinda Hardy (Boeing), VP Marketing Chair, are heading our Chapter’s participation at the February Washington University Career Fair in St. Louis. In addition, Milva hosts multiple Certification Information Sessions on the study programs throughout the year.
We have an amazing Team of Officers in this Chapter, and we strongly encourage other Members to become more involved and join a committee. Please share your ideas, express your interests and help us fulfill our Gateway Chapter Goals of developing and advancing Contracting professionals by serving our community, inspiring collaboration, appreciating diversity, providing training and cultivating leadership. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Suzanne Sontag
NCMA St. Louis Gateway President PY2024
