American Music Therapy Association

AMTA Community Update

Fellow Members of the Music Therapy Community, 

It has been several months since AMTA made the difficult but necessary decision to pare down operations as we worked toward restructuring the association. Since the initial decision, the Board, staff, and other community members have worked and continue to work to address the immediate operational needs of the association. Thus far, we are actively working on or have:  

• Worked with the advisors to reduce overhead and develop a pro forma budget to help AMTA get on solid financial footing moving forward.
• Transitioned data storage to a cloud environment, transitioned banking, payroll, and other procedures to more usable platforms, and obtained access to vendor accounts. 
• Shifted all other operations to a virtual office environment, which eliminated AMTA’s single largest item of overhead. AMTA’s new address is:

10125 Colesville Road #136

Silver Spring, MD 20901

• Restructured staffing to streamline the organization. Our AMTA team currently includes Kimberly Bell (Information Specialist/Social Media Coordinator), Judy Simpson (Director of Government Relations), Travis Smith (Book Fulfillment/Operational Support) and Dianne Wawrzusin (Executive Services Coordinator). Jane Creagan (Director of Professional Programs) informed us on August 10^th that she has accepted another position and her last day with us was August 24^th.
• Introduced more effective and efficient levels of financial controls and planning tools (Weekly calls to review AP/AR, Update rolling 13-week cash flow model, Establishing tighter budget controls, and multiple signers for all AMTA financial accounts).
• Made substantial progress in negotiating with creditors such that we can start working towards reducing use of the advisors. This work is still in process. See the June 29 update for more information on the advisors.
• Worked to acquire information regarding association awards (e.g., Fultz) and engagement activities (e.g., Sound Health) to determine a path forward so that we can reduce disruption whenever possible. This work is still in process.
• Identified and began to address operational issues that are overdue to be addressed. This included items such as trying to improve internal communications (e.g., addressing email issues), upgrading the association’s technology, and generally improving all operations. This work is still in process.
• Continued to support association services such as development of the midyear board book, management of academic program and internship approval processes, journal operational management, and book fulfillments. This work is ongoing.
• Held the first open, online midyear meeting in August 2022. Click for the 2022 Mid-Year Board Meeting.

We will provide further updates about ongoing work as more information becomes available. We thank you for your patience as we work through the transition process.

In addition to the completed or ongoing tasks, we recognize that we still have communication challenges, and we have work to do to ensure that we focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in all association work. We are working to improve communication, both in terms of information and processes. We are also moving forward with actionable tasks for increased accessibility, equity, inclusion, and diversity in association work, supported by analysis of feedback we have received over the past few years from multiple surveys, individuals, groups, etc. More information on the deliverables can be found at AMTA Community Feedback Analysis Deliverables.

Finally, I would like to share that we will be:

• Seeking non-member funding opportunities. We have already begun meeting with donors, sponsors, and organizations about collaborating with AMTA to support our work for the profession and those we serve. If you have ideas about funding opportunities, or if you would be able to help us make connections and/or facilitate conversations with potential partners, please reach out to us at the Contact Us link found at the end of the update.
• Working on a new edition of the NICU book edited by Dr. Jayne Standley.
• Continuing to engage with various community and external groups to provide information and explore initiatives applicable to the music therapy community. 
• Hosting the inaugural AMTA Symposium, which will be held virtually on November 13-16, 2022. The Symposium registration fees will be based on a sliding scale of $50/$100/$150. Learn more about the symposium here. 
• Planning the annual assembly and business meetings, which will be held remotely in the fall of 2022. These meetings will occur outside of the symposium to make participation more accessible. Tentative dates for the fall meetings are:
  • Board Meeting: September 27 at 8:00 pm ET
  • Board Meeting: October 25 at 8:00 pm ET
  • Assembly Meeting: November 1 at 8:00 pm ET
  • Business Meeting: November 3 at 8:00 pm ET
  • Symposium: November 13-15
  • Board Meeting: December 6 at 8:00 pm ET

We thank you for your ongoing engagement with and support of the profession and the association. Please continue to reach out via the website’s Contact Us button if you have questions, suggestions, or need assistance. 

Regards, 

Lori F. Gooding, PhD, MT-BC

President, American Music Therapy Association

On behalf of the AMTA Board of Directors

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