AMTA Election: Candidates for 2020-2021 Term - Question 3

2019 Election of AMTA Officers - Question 3 Responses

In November, there will be an election for the following officers: President Elect and Vice President Elect (see AMTA Bylaws Article IV for descriptions of duties).

American Music Therapy Association Election Candidates for 2020-2021 Term

President Elect Candidates

• Lori Gooding, PhD, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee
• Trish Winter, PhD, MT-BC, A Candidate from the Floor

Vice President Elect Candidates

• Andrea Dalton, MA, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee
• Heather Wagner, PhD, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee

Question 3 Responses

We asked each of the candidates to respond to a series of questions. Their answers will be posted every few weeks up until the election. Read on to see their responses to “What grass roots and professional experience(s) have you had that might contribute to your leadership ability?”

As a reminder,

• The electronic ballot will be sent to the primary e-mail address indicated in your musictherapy.org profile. Please ensure your primary e-mail listed on musictherapy.org is correct no later than October 1^st.
• Only professional, retired, and honorary life members in good standing (paid through September 30^th) will be eligible to vote in the election.

Direct your questions about the election or for the candidates to Nominating Committee Chair, Jennifer Geiger at jennifermtbc@gmail.com.

What grass roots and professional experience(s) have you had that might contribute to your leadership ability?

Andrea Dalton, Candidate for Vice President Elect, recommended by the Nominating Committee:

I have been an active volunteer leader in music therapy organizations for more than 15 years. I have served as treasurer, and subsequently as president, of the Kansas City Metro Music Therapists, helping to grow the organization in membership as well as establishing KCMMT as a CBMT-approved provider of CMTEs. During my term as president of KCMMT, I co-founded the Missouri Music Therapy Institute, partnering with the St. Louis Music Therapy Association for an annual training event. I also established a regular local event called SPARCS! (Student & Professional Advice, Reflections, Connections—Success!) to provide mentorship for students and newer professionals, while supporting seasoned professionals in learning new and innovative strategies. I served on the local committee for the AMTA National Conference in Kansas City in 2006 and again in 2015, first as an instrument chair and then as local co-chair; I also served as local chair for the Midwestern Regional Conference in 2011. I was president of the Midwestern Region from 2015-2017, and have served as the Regional Presidents Representative to the AMTA Board of Directors in the current term. Although I have had a lot of successes in those leadership experiences, I have also had challenges and made mistakes; it is important to me to learn from those and continually work toward improvement. My exposure to a variety of leadership styles through my professional work as a consultant and my volunteer experiences have contributed to my personal development of leadership that values humility, curiosity, collaboration, transparency, and innovation.

Heather Wagner, Candidate for Vice President Elect, recommended by the Nominating Committee:

Throughout my career, I have held a variety of positions: the NER regional representative to the then-titled Affiliate Relations Committee; NER Vice-President and President; appointee to the Judicial Review Board; and currently NER Assembly Delegate and Academic Program Approval Committee representative. Each of these positions has brought opportunities to develop relationships, hone my leadership skills, and learn more about the inner workings of the AMTA and the profession. Specific to the AMTA Vice President is my experience as NER Vice President. This position helped me to develop the skills needed to organize large scale events, as well as greater negotiation, organization, communication, and diplomatic skills.

I have a long career as a practicing clinician, working in a variety of clinical contexts. I have developed several music therapy programs, and am on the Connecticut State Task Force. These experiences have developed my abilities to advocate for music therapy. I have testified before legislative committees, worked with state and local government officials, collaborated with persons at all levels of large healthcare institutions, and procured funding for services.

More recently, I have entered academia and the education and clinical training of new generations of music therapists. I believe this background as both clinician and educator gives me a broad perspective on the needs of the field and professionals, and have helped me to develop leadership skills and knowledge that will help me to be an effective member of the leadership team of the AMTA.

Trish Winter, Candidate for President Elect from the Floor:

My service has included work nationally, regionally, and locally. I served as the Vice President for Conference Planning for the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR). MAR conferences average approximately 750 attendees, and are the biggest fundraiser for the region. During my service we implemented new technologies such as a conference app, online session submission, online registration, and were the genesis for a national conference planners meeting, which continues under the auspices of AMTA.

I have served as an Assembly of Delegates member for the MAR. I am an elected member of the Faculty Forum Steering Committee, working to provide resources to music therapy faculty, and planning the forum sessions at national conference. I am a member of the MAR Research Committee, helping to disburse grant monies, plan research-based conference sessions, and support research endeavors in the region.

Locally, I am the director of the music therapy program at Radford University, and I am a standing member on the Institutional Review Board. Additionally, I serve on projects related to research, grants, and interprofessional practice. I have participated in legislative action towards state licensure in VA, attending a Hill Day event, and providing testimony to the Board of Health Commission. I also served on the executive board for the Blacksburg Master Chorale spearheading an expansion of our offerings by creating additional points of accessibility for the community.

These varied leadership opportunities have provided me with opportunities to understand board structures, grassroots advocacy, rigorous service to the profession, and pathways of accessibility for stakeholders.

Lori Gooding, Candidate for President Elect, recommended by the Nominating Committee:

During the two decades that I have been a music therapist, I have intentionally sought a variety of professional experiences so that I could truly understand the depth and breadth of our field. I have worked as a clinician, professor, researcher, administrator and consultant serving hospital patients, conducting IEP evaluations, educating students, conducting research, and designing and administering clinical and academic music therapy programs. Through these experiences I have had the opportunity to develop music therapy insurance policy, design academic programs, publish research, and explore benchmarks for things like salaries and clinical/academic workloads. These experiences have been invaluable in helping to me develop the knowledge, perspective, and skills needed to serve in a leadership capacity.

I have also actively served our field at the state, regional, and national levels. I have served as a state officer and task force co-chair, and I have served regionally as conference coordinator, SER secretary and SER president. Nationally I have served on the editorial board of the Journal of Music Therapy and as a reviewer for grants through the National Institutes of Health. Currently I serve on the Assembly of Delegates, representing the assembly on the Board of Directors. These service opportunities have allowed me to connect with our community and explore service at all levels, which I believe provides a more comprehensive picture of our field and the needs that we face.

HOW DO I DETERMINE IF I AM ELIGIBLE TO VOTE?

All current Professional, Retired and Honorary Life members are eligible to vote. Refer to the AMTA Bylaws, Article III.  Membership, Sections 2-9 at this link: www.musictherapy.org/members/ bylaws/

Professional membership must be paid in full by 9/30/19. Those who are not members in good standing (dues paid in full) will not be eligible to vote in AMTA end-of-year elections.

HOW DO I CAST MY VOTE?

All current 2019 Professional, Retired & Honorary Life AMTA members should be prepared to vote electronically using a ballot invitation sent to their “Primary” email address listed in the member profile located at www.musictherapy.org . Ballots for this election will be provided only via primary e-mail address.  The online ballot sent for this election will be managed by Balloteer.com. Your ballot will arrive in a personalized, individual e-mail which will provide you the opportunity to cast a confidential ballot. Check your spam folders; the email will come from balloteer.com.   You must vote online during the stated timeframe.  No exceptions will be made.

If you do not have an email address, please be aware that there are many free, convenient options for obtaining an email address (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and AOL mail are just a few free email services; and local libraries offer free computer access for those who do not own a computer).  You must have contacted the AMTA national office to have your email address added to your record by October 1, in order to be eligible to vote in this election.

Watch for additional postings with biographical summaries and candidate responses to questions on www.musictherapy.org

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