CELEBRATIONS & BLESSINGS 

Thank you to everyone who ventured out on March 25^th and attended our first in-person mixer of 2021 at the wonderful Europa Restaurant. It was a great turnout as more people are becoming vaccinated and feeling more comfortable with socializing. I sure did miss that during our lockdown! Meeting people in-person, whether it was at a general meeting, conference or mixer has always been my favorite part of SAHRMA activities. 

I’m very social by nature, so it’s been quite an adjustment for me during this past year of quarantine. I like getting together with people for a common purpose and I enjoy entertaining with my friends and family, usually for a celebration or just for fun! I believe that special days, achievements, accomplishments, milestones and relationships are blessings and should be celebrated. I even celebrate my cats’ birthdays.

April is usually full of celebrations for me and my family and friends. We celebrate Easter, normally Fiesta and my birthday (no gifts please, LOL!). COVID derailed so many of our celebrations in the past year, but now it feels like we can slowly go outside of our bubble. Fortunately, I have been blessed to have more than one bubble during this pandemic.

Our SAHRMA BOD is one of those bubbles. A handful of us would occasionally get together, for SAHRMA business or not, as it was safer to get out and meet in public. I’m glad that we were not only comfortable with meeting up with each other, but we also really wanted to see each other and catch up.  

Serving on a SAHRMA committee or the BOD is a great way to get to know some amazing people who are in the same HR world that you belong to. It’s like having an HR support group of sorts. What is even better is when you realize that you have a lot more in common with each other than just HR.

The Executive BOD recently met at a restaurant for breakfast for our quarterly meeting. As everyone was about to start eating I noticed that one of our directors was saying a silent prayer before his meal. I indicated to him, knowing that the rest of us shared the same faith, that we could all join him in prayer and we did. It felt nice that we could share that moment, not just as a group of volunteer leaders, but also friends.

I feel so blessed to have a BOD that is so committed to serving SAHRMA, generously supporting membership with their time, talent and gifts, mentoring new members and emerging HR professionals on an ongoing basis, and stepping up to drive new initiatives to enhance the benefits of SAHRMA.

Maybe you will be in the next round of volunteer leaders and what a blessing that will be for SAHRMA!

Dawn Cunningham, PHR, SHRM-CP

SAHRMA President

LEARN | CONNECT | SERVE