Preparing for the Annual Meeting - Wayne Centrone, Executive Director

Tomorrow night is the annual meeting for the Board of Directors of Health Bridges International. It's the one time of year when the Board (we meet on a quarterly basis) comes together to review the year-to-date activities of HBI and approve a budget for the coming year.

I always look forward to this process. Preparing for the meeting allows me to take stock of the impact and efforts of our NGO. It gives me a chance to step-back and look at the accomplishments of our incredibly talented staff. It offers me an opportunity to dream for the future - as Ben and I submit a proposed budget for the coming year. Its also a time for me to evaluate my own contributions; and decide where I want to be as we move forward.

Nothing is static. I get that. I know that change is constantly occurring all around me. This notion feels particularly pressing when I think about HBI. Our work, from humble beginnings running short-term medical campaigns to our efforts developing and standardizing models for serving the complex needs of medically fragile children, has taught me a very valuable lesson about change. All the planning in the world . . . yes, it is important and an incredibly valuable exercise, but - all the planning in the world can't possibly address the multitude of real-world challenges that come up everyday. To this end, I see my role as the Executive Director and my efforts in preparing the Board to determine our budget for 2017, more about assuring our staff and trusted collaborators have the tools and resources they need to meet the complex day-to-day nuances of our work - and less about structuring a rock-solid plan.

So much of the "bridge building" work of HBI happens in subtle ways. Connecting resources with need is less about delivering a service or a developing a program, and more about bringing people together.  All of this is to say - as I plan for 2017, I know one thing for certain - our work is about empowering communities to build their own bridges and we will keep facilitating them . . . one relationship at a time.

Thank you for all of your ongoing support.