President’s Letter | August 2020

Dear SSP Community,

How is the eightieth month of 2020 treating you? I know. Same here.

And yet, I’m not writing today to harp on the challenging environment we find ourselves in. Instead, I’d like to focus my first letter to you on something that doesn’t receive enough attention in these times: hope.

I am not typically a silver linings person. But time and time again over the last five months, I have been moved by the power of community witnessed in the actions of the SSP membership. And this has given me, and I think many of us, immense hope about the future. You have:

• gathered around individuals among us who have been particularly hard hit by health, financial, and emotional challenges, providing critical personal and professional support;
• recognized our need to continually recommit to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion and do better in confronting and abolishing systemic racism and all forms of discrimination;
• organized, spoke at, and attended a wide variety of virtual networking and educational events designed to maintain connections despite physical distance;  
• mourned the loss of the in-person Annual Meeting, while working tirelessly to preserve accepted content and create a rich, perpetual resource in the SSP OnDemand Library; and
• volunteered in record numbers to help SSP expand its programming and continue to achieve its mission in the coming year.

I am immensely proud of the SSP membership for being a community not just in label but in practice. Thank you—and please keep up the important work.

SSP as a non-profit society needs your help to ensure continued sustainability. If you are in a position to do so, please support the organization financially by renewing your individual or organizational membership; using untapped travel or exhibit budgets for advertising and sponsorships; and purchasing individual or site-licenses for the SSP OnDemand Library and other training resources.

Thank you for being part of the SSP community. We will get through this – together.

Best,
Lauren Kane
2020-2021 SSP President