Michelle Mason on the Future for the Association Industry

Association Chat Podcast

We've got some big problems to solve and associations are in a position to help bring the right people together to solve them. But what does it mean to be an association professional today and what role will associations play in solving these big issues in the upcoming months? What role *should* associations play? Can a stronger association community help? For this episode, Association Chat host KiKi L'Italien talked with Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE about her role as CEO for ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership and her thoughts about the future for the association industry. For this interview, we discussed the future for professional and trade associations, disruptive forces in industry and commerce, and Mason's ideas for ASAE's next chapter. More about Michelle: Passionate about the advancement of the professional practice of association management, prior to ASAE, Michelle served as the President and CEO of Association Forum for seven years; as Managing Director of Strategy and Innovation at the American Society for Quality (ASQ); and Vice President of Strategic and Future Focused Research Programs at ASAE. Michelle currently serves on Destinations International Foundation, and Tourism Diversity Matters (TDM). Michelle is a Chicago Business Journal Women of Influence Honoree 2019, Chicago Defender Women of Excellence Honoree 2019, and the CEO Update Professional Society CEO of the Year 2020. Michelle is a certified association executive (CAE), Fellow of the American Society for Association Executives (FASAE) and a Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA). This interview was recorded Tuesday, September 21, 2021, from 2:30 pm – 3 pm (EST).