Dear NACE Members,
Serving as your National President has been a truly humbling and life-changing experience. As we reflect on 2024, I am both proud and grateful for the continued resilience, innovation, and collective spirit that our community has brought to this year. Joining the board as Treasurer during the pandemic was unique, to say the least. 2024 was the year when the National Board was able to return to big-picture thinking and the exciting future of catering and events, our members, and our association.
As a National Board President, you take office and then quickly find yourself onstage at our annual Evolve Leadership Conference…and it was a surreal feeling for me. But by the Experience Conference 2024, my fear of public speaking came rushing back in full force. With the unwavering support of the National Board and staff, I was able to face that fear and find my confidence—especially during the NACE One Awards.
Looking back at 2024, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to all my fellow board members, past national presidents, national committee chairs and members, and to our AAPI community leaders, Joe Keum and Kay Kim, for their exceptional leadership, guidance, and support throughout this transformative year.
My reflections on the year fill me with great pride, and I want to share key highlights and accomplishments from across NACE….
Membership Growth and Engagement
Our organization thrives because of our members, and this year, we saw significant strides in engagement and value creation. In January, we introduced a policy allowing members to join a secondary chapter at no additional cost (previously $50). This sparked a remarkable transformation—secondary chapter memberships rose from 4% of total membership in 2023 to 24% in 2024. This growth reflects our members’ desire to connect more deeply across regions and enrich their professional networks.
Over the year, we increased our focus on communicating the value of membership and promoting NACE through improved marketing resources for the national organization and our chapter leaders. These efforts debuted in the fall with a completely revamped membership drive with fresh messages and resources highlighting the pathways to success that come with NACE membership. These efforts will reach full force in 2025.
We also launched the NACE Store, offering branded merchandise to our members and chapters. While still in its early stages, it has yielded valuable insights that will guide us in refining the concept going forward.
Supporting and Growing Our Chapters
Chapter development and health remain at the core of our mission. We kicked off the year with Evolve in Richmond, where chapter leaders convened for an inspiring leadership summit. Brian Green’s keynote on Emotional Intelligence struck a chord, earning outstanding feedback from attendees. A candid panel discussion on burnout, hosted by NACE leaders, created an honest and open dialogue about industry challenges. Our NACE 101 session also provided a foundational understanding of our mission, values, and how NACE works—an essential step in guiding new and seasoned leaders forward.
Our CLC Mentors continued their fantastic work of providing coaching, support, and leadership development to our chapters. They are an essential resource for chapter leaders and a vital source of information and insight for the National Board. This year, the CLC enhanced our chapter’s health monitoring and reporting to provide leaders with more precise, data-driven insight and support.
The National Board used this insight to hone several policies to guide chapters in growth and sustainability. These include policies to help chapters develop recovery plans, recognize exceptional local volunteers, and educate chapter leaders. We have also launched a pilot program called the Chapter Circle of Giving Program. It allows highly successful chapters to demonstrate leadership within our chapter network by helping smaller chapters with resource needs.
Additionally, volunteers developed Treasurer 101 and Secretary 101 resources, we expanded our online Chapter Leader Community, and we continued migrating chapters to our unified GlueUp platform. By January 2025, nearly half of our chapters will be ready to go live on this system, giving them better technology and tools.
This year, we saw more interest in forming new chapters than in recent memory. Our new Hampton Roads Virginia and Music City chapters established strong member bases and will be officially chartered at the 2025 Evolve Conference. We planted promising seeds in Asheville and Salt Lake City that are poised to flourish in 2025.
Education, Professional Development and Certification
I believe our Experience Conference for Catering and Events is the best education and networking event for catering and event professionals. This year’s conference in Denver welcomed more than 330 attendees, energized by the exceptional local chapter support—especially for the unforgettable opening reception. We celebrated another successful NACE One Awards season, honoring excellence in our field and recognizing Michele Polci, CPCE, with the prestigious Hall of Fame Award. In addition, we announced Michel Malecot’s funding of a new award recognizing culinary excellence.
During the year, we saw a 10% increase in total CPCEs, underscoring our members’ recognition of the value of investing in your professional growth. Our newly revised CPCE Reference Guide was released this year to universal acclaim. This new guide provides an updated reference for catering and event professionals and is the foundation for the newly revised CPCE exam. Sales of the CPCE Reference Guide exceeded all expectations, which is a positive indicator for continued engagement and professional advancement in our industry.
Financial Sustainability
The National Board continued its responsible stewardship and oversight of the association’s finances and delivered NACE’s second consecutive net positive year since the pandemic. We also received part of our Employee Retention Credit refund from the IRS, further buoying our results.
In partnership with the national staff, we developed new and existing revenue streams, including a new national partnership program that nearly doubled our national partners and increased sponsorship revenue at Experience by 15%. For the second consecutive year since the pandemic, Experience operated in the black, supporting our work and investments in other parts of the association.
As a result of our successes this year, we have added more than $100,000 back to our Long-Term Reserves, replenishing that fund by more than 25%.
Planning for the Future
Early this year, we completed a multi-year project initiated by the Pathways to Leadership Task Force and previous boards to broaden the appeal and accessibility of national board service. With the final round of bylaws revisions now complete, we operate from a governance structure that better represents our diverse membership and evolving industry.
At the National Board’s annual strategic retreat, leaders of the 2024 and 2025 boards reviewed our strategic plan and conducted deep dives into the pillars that underpin our mission to be an essential resource for catering and event professionals. These strategic conversations yielded new ideas and directions that have guided our planning for 2025 and beyond.
The National Board recognized the importance of being fully engaged and visible within the diverse catering, meetings, and events sector. This year, we renewed our engagement with the Events Industry Council (EIC), and our executive director, Lawrence Leonard, attended EIC’s Council meetings. Alongside TISOH, NACE was a co-sponsor of EIC’s Global Awards Ceremony and 75th Anniversary Celebration, reinforcing our commitment to industry collaboration and leadership.
Supporting the Foundation of NACE
The National Board continued demonstrating NACE’s commitment to the mission of the Foundation of NACE. As part of our governance work mentioned above, the Foundation President joined the Board as a non-voting member. In reciprocity, NACE’s President was invited to attend Foundation board meetings as a guest.
To further assist the Foundation in its mission, the National Board also aligned the 2025 Experience Opening Reception as the conference’s official fundraising event for the Foundation. This fundraising event is now included in the base Conference Pass, answering a long-standing request from the Foundation.
Support of the mission of the Foundation also has to come from individual donors, and I am happy to report that in 2024, 100% of National Board members supported the Foundation with a donation.
Leadership Transitions and Gratitude
As we close out 2024 and look to the horizon, I am honored to welcome Michelle Stansfield, CPCE, into the transformative role of NACE National President. Michelle’s dedication, vision, and commitment to our organization will undoubtedly guide us toward even more extraordinary achievements.
I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Amber Allen, CPCE, and Sarah James, CPCE, for their unwavering dedication to NACE. Their leadership, insight, and tireless efforts have been key to making this an outstanding year.
Looking Ahead
None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the dedication, passion, and creativity of our members, chapter leaders, partners, and volunteers. Thank you for making 2024 a year of growth, innovation, and renewed strength.
As we enter a new year, let us continue this momentum, supporting each other and embracing the opportunities ahead. I look forward to witnessing how we continue to evolve and shape our industry’s future together.
Warm regards,
Michelle Dunnick, MBA, CPCE
NACE National President 2024