If you’re a member of IDPro, you already know part of this story, at least the professional version. Today marks the last day of my 3rd term as a member of the Board of Directors with IDPro. 5 years!
Per the bylaws of this terrific organization, a board member is limited to no more than 3 consecutive terms. It is a good rule, one that ensures that the leadership of this org does not become stale. Honestly, even if the rule wasn’t in place, this likely would have ended my time on the board regardless. To be clear, this is not out of any sense of dissatisfaction with our status or direction, quite the opposite. I could not be prouder of where we are today and where we are headed. That’s the best time for some of us to hand the reins to a new set of leaders to carry that charge forward, and I couldn’t be more excited to see Joni Brennan from DIACC and Bill Nelson from Identity Fusion step in tomorrow. This organization is in fantastic hands. But this post is more of a look back than forward.
First, I can’t thank Ian Glazer & Sarah Ceccetti enough for inviting me to join the board for its maiden voyage. I had joined the new organization as a founding member the day before during their keynote. This part was a no-brainer. What a perfect mission to support! I was deeply honored to be asked and, if I’m honest, there was a full-tilt case of imposter syndrome going on. Who the heck was I to be part of this team? How in the heck do I make this work personally given that, at the time, I had a full-time job at Merck, and had just two years prior started my dream of teaching college part-time?
When Ian asked on that day after the keynote/launch, I couldn’t in good faith answer on the spot, but 95% of me wanted to yell right there in the Sheraton Lobby, “Hell yeah I will!” Adulting is hard, however, so naturally I had to talk to my incredible wife who is steadfast in helping me realize my dreams, and of course with my employers, Merck and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who didn’t even blink in their support of this mission. Everyone was unequivocal in their encouragement. This likely doesn’t happen for me without their support, so part of this is a note of thanks to everyone.
I can talk about digital identity challenges until I’m blue in the face, but how in the heck do I help 6 other people (at the time) run a non-profit organization? Well, the search engine is your friend and, as Pat Haggerty, one of the founders of Texas Instruments once said, “It’s a tremendously stimulating thing for each person who has learned that a small group of individuals can change the world if they really want to.” So we learned and rolled up our sleeves.
There are four things I’m proud of about my time on the board. First, though I think I drew the shortest straw on that first conference call, I was nominated to become the organization’s first treasurer. Now it’s time for another crash course on non-profit dynamics as a fiduciary! More learning!
Second, as part of that role, I’m proud to have been the architect of our enterprise tier of membership. IDPro had an obvious appeal for organizations that did identity as one of their means of business and saw value in corporate sponsorship, but we didn’t have a clear path for companies that did identity as a necessary function of their enterprise but it wasn’t their central business. Balancing between the vendor and practitioner sides of the organization was a natural tension for the org, and Ian & Sarah deftly balanced that from the outset. Adding the enterprise membership tiers furthered that path towards balance.
I’m also proud to have served as President/Board Chair of IDPro from June 2020 thru June 2021. I don’t have to tell anyone what a crazy year that was. I think my only real accomplishment during that term was keeping my hands on the steering wheel and staying on the road. And sometimes, that’s an achievement.
Finally, I couldn’t be prouder of being able to contribute to our industry’s first-ever vendor-neutral certification, the CIDPRO. That process was arguably the most grueling time I’ve spent in the organization, and likely the most rewarding for me, personally. I learned a lot during those question-building sessions. I also learned that most of the exams I had written to measure my student’s learning progress in college needed a lot of work to measure up to the quality we were exacting from this certification. In the end, I think we got it right by doing it right and I’m excited to see where this certification program goes in the future.
When I started this journey, I originally thought my challenge was going to be balancing all 3 of my professional worlds: My day job, teaching, and IDPro. And, to be sure, that was definitely part. What surprised me was how often these worlds looked more like a Venn diagram (hard not to invoke Eve Maler here). In the end, I think my pursuits in each made me better in the others. I know for a fact I’m happier for it. In spite of the hard work and the tough sledding at times, I’ve never been more joyful as a professional than I am now.
To be clear, as I indicated in this month’s installment of the IDPro newsletter, I’m not leaving IDPro, not even close. In many ways, shedding my board duties will allow me the benefit of narrowing my focus, to see if I can work with some motivated people to change the world by helping turn out more digital identity professionals by preaching the gospel in higher education. Most colleges have a serious gap in their curriculums (curriculii, Andi Hindle?) for digital identity content and I’m on a mission to civilize (and educate). I’ll succeed where Don Quixote fell short because I know I won’t be doing it alone. The overwhelming response to my talk at Identiverse regarding this subject taught me that there are many that are willing to contribute time and support to this mission, which is squarely in the wheelhouse of the mission of IDPro. From our very first press release on June 28, 2017:
“IDPro is an open, global non-profit industry association created to define, support and improve the digital identity profession through knowledge sharing, mentoring, education and certification.”
So this isn’t farewell, just an incredibly grateful note of thanks and reflection. The page turns, and the next chapter begins shortly.