24 Apr NAJIT Is Counting on YOU!
It’s election time again. And thanks to the efforts of the Nominations Committee, we have a roster of capable candidates willing to help NAJIT in its growth. Their statements and biographies are available on the website.
We all know that voting is a privilege. It so happens that when you are a member of a professional association, it is also a critical responsibility. We are a relatively small professional association by number of members. However, the work we do has an impact beyond our numbers.
That’s the reason why the Board has taken the time to make sure you learn as much as possible about your candidates before casting that vote. Read their biographies. Read their statements. They are all committed to a strong NAJIT. Make their professionalism, strengths, and resolve be your guides when voting.
The first step to casting your vote is to read the candidates’ statements and biographies found here. The second step is to refer back to the email sent to the membership on April 22. It contains information you will need to cast your electronic ballot.
Again, this is more than a privilege, it’s a responsibility that we each have with the future of our Association.
We are NAJIT.
I am so happy to see this message. I did not want to post a message on Facebook because I did not think it was appropriate, but I did want to say something about the campaigning for these elections..
A couple of days ago, I received an email from one of the candidates asking me to vote for her and three other candidates. While I respect her reasons for sending out the email, and I find nothing wrong with trying to convince candidates to vote for you, I am troubled by the fact that candidates are teaming up against others. Diversity and different opinions are what have always made us strong as an association. I am also concerned about the word choices in the email. Trying to persuade members to vote for your team using arguments such as “having NAJIT’s best interest at heart” and “having demonstrated commitment to the Association’s wellbeing” implies that other candidates are less deserving of your vote because they don’t have the same experience or because they have not demonstrated good leadership. I think that if we read the statements of each one of the candidates, we will be able to see that they are all actively involved in our profession and have also demonstrated excellent leadership.
I also want to urge you to carefully read the profiles and statements of each candidate, ask questions if you are not sure who to vote for, and then cast your votes. Don’t just vote for someone because you received an email with four names, and you don’t really know the candidates, so to you, it doesn’t make a difference. And since it seems that during these elections people are actively campaigning for candidates of their choice, I would like to say that I have particularly enjoyed working with Claudia and Armando. They are very responsive to emails and project proposals.
Good luck to all the candidates! I look forward to working with whoever is elected.
Sandra Dejeux
Sandra, I couldn’t agree more. I haven’t received any emails because I am not currently a member of NAJIT, but I know Armando and Claudía very well. I know their level of involvement and how much they can contribute to the Association. They don’t just get it done, they do it with their heart and souls. Their level of advocacy they have towards members is much more than anyone can expect. You may think that if I’m not a member why should my opinion matter. It matters because I’ve been in the industry for 23 years and I know them so well and how the put their heart into everything they do. Armando was my manager while I was taking my Federal exam to become certified in CA, since there is no reciprocity with NJ. I was so lost! I started working over the phone I the process and I got nothing but words of encouragement from Armando. Claudía, what can I say? Not only she’s extremely knowledgeable but she has a heart of gold. They both do. If I have to become a member to cast my vote for them I will do it! I’m a staff court interpreter and I don’t do freelance work. That’s why I stopped being a member, but I still receive the newsletter, I read it and I learn always something from it. My heart and years on the industry make me realize why Claudia and Armando are the one and only choice and they won’t disappoint. I don’t want by any means to start a debate, I have facts. No fake news here! Go Claudia and Armando!!
Gabriela has eloquently drawn attention to a problem that seems to have bedeviled NAJIT since its inception: why is it that more court interpreters and translators are not members? This is certainly an issue that every member of every NAJIT Board has had to address, and I am sure it will be a priority for the Board elected in the upcoming election.