Association Latinos - Spotlight
Jose Segarra, MNA, CAE, CNP
Association Latinos congratulates Jose Segarra, MNA, CAE, CNP on being elected to the 2021-2022 Board of Directors for Association Forum. Jose is well known in the association management community in Chicago through his extensive volunteer engagement with Association Forum.
Jose began his nonprofit career in 2000 and has been serving associations ever since. Originally from Puerto Rico, Jose moved to Chicago in 1998 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Communications from Loyola University-Chicago. In 2012 he graduated from North Park University with a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration.
Segarra has joined the Association Forum board, a 13-member board of directors that includes association professionals from Chicago associations, as well as supplier partners as of April 1, 2021. Association Latinos sat down with Jose, a fellow Association Latinos contributor, for a Q and A on his career in association management and volunteer experience with Association Forum.
How did you decide to pursue a career in association management?
Like many association management professionals, I didn’t know that this field even existed. In 2000 I was working for a temp staffing agency and they placed me at the American Hospital Association (AHA) working as their phone operator. Once AHA hired me, I began working on areas like access and coverage for the uninsured, disaster readiness for hospitals, and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care. At that point I realized that I was hooked! I never expected to find a career where I could fulfill my deep-rooted desire to help people. I was at that point that I decided to learn more about association management and pursue a career in the field.
What do you love most about your work?
There is so much I like but two things stand out. First, as I mentioned before, is the ability to have an impact on people’s lives and help them or a community. It is something that was very much instilled in me by my father. Giving back and helping his community was very important to him and he made sure his kids had that same value.
For me, it can be on policy issues like eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care or advising a potential member on what they need to do to go through a certification process. There is a large spectrum of things we do that has a positive impact on people and society. That is the first thing I think of when the day is not going as well or when there is something to celebrate - the impact on people.
The second thing I like is the sense of common mission. All our organizations have a mission and vision we want to achieve. Knowing that even in very divisive times we have something very positive we all want to achieve is comforting.
What are some of your go-to resources to help you with the day-to-day functions of your work?
It depends on what it is that I am tackling. Most of the time the first thing I think to do is reach out to my peers. I’m lucky to have a really good group of peers I can just email and immediately get an answer to my questions. It is part of our collaborative culture at Bostrom. Additionally, I can also reach out to individuals I have known throughout my career and that now serve as mentors. Beyond that, professional associations like Association Forum, are great sources of information and even serve as examples of what we should be doing in our organizations. It is good to see what the industry leaders are doing so you can adapt and incorporate strategies into your organization.
How did you first get involved with Association Forum?
In 2007 I received a call from someone at Association Forum to let me know that I had been nominated as a diversity scholar. My first two questions were: 1) What is Association Forum; and 2) What is a diversity scholar?
The diversity scholars program granted a young, diverse professional the opportunity to have access to membership and all the educational programs Association Forum had to offer. We were assigned a mentor and followed a program for two years. I was like a sponge at that time and wanted to be part of all the SIGs, signed up for the CAE study group, and volunteered to help as much as I could. Association Forum gave me so much knowledge about association management in so little time! That first involvement with Association Forum was a jumpstart in my career.
What are you most excited about in your new role as a member of Association Forum’s Board of Directors?
I am so excited to be able to give back to Association Forum after I have gotten so much from them. It is a true honor to be able to sit at the Board table with such an esteemed group of people.
We recently received our Board Liaison assignments, and I am happy to say that I’ll be working with the Welcoming Environment® Committee this year. There is a lot of work in that area, and I can’t wait to get started. Additionally, under the WE Association Forum has been working on establishing identity-based advisory groups - with the first one being the Latinx Advisory Group. This group is tasked with highlighting the work of the Latinx community and increasing their engagement with AF. As a member of the Latinx community, I love that we are doing this and that we can create a space for all these identities. It is another step in making sure people feel welcome.
What is the best advice you’ve both received and could give someone wanting to build their career in association management?
My friend Andrew Johnson once told me that I should be more comfortable being uncomfortable. He said that because I wouldn’t ride his motorcycle and not because he was giving me career advice. However, I do think about that very often in a couple of different contexts - personal growth and career growth. Sometimes we resist change or don’t push ourselves because we are comfortable where we are. However, we owe it to ourselves to seek new opportunities and take calculated risks. While it may be uncomfortable, it may also pay high rewards. Obviously, this is great when you think about your career. But you have to do that in your personal life too. We need new adventures and push ourselves to grow in all aspects of who we are.
-Jose Segarra, MNA, CAE, CNP
