Satchel Paige is credited with saying, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” But it’s hard not to look back — and as this is my last message as CFMA’s 2023-24 Chair, I have to say that there is a lot for us to consider as we prepare to move forward into our next year. In fact, I see Mountains of Opportunities ahead!

Looking Back

At this time last year, our CEO Search Task Force had identified and vetted a number of great candidates. We didn’t know who our next CEO would be, but I knew that CFMA’s 2023-24 year would be the year of transition.

Stuart Binstock began our year as President & CEO, and Neil Shah took over in July right before CFMA’s 2024 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Colorado.

Since then, Neil and I have been working closely together on efforts and changes to further support our members, chapters, and industry partners.

We have seen even more growth in CFMA’s educational opportunities, including two very successful certificate programs that focused on human resources and risk management, the launch of CFMA’s Cash Management Nano Learning series, more educational content on CFMA’s YouTube channel (Hey CFMA!), and additional web-based on-demand education.

CFMA also had its most highly attended conference and broke the 10,000-member mark for the first time in CFMA’s history. Having just reached 9,000 members in 2020 indicates that CFMA is delivering significant value to our members.

I’d also like to highlight that the number of Certified Construction Industry Financial Professionals (CCIFPs) continues to grow, with at least 134 new CCIFPs during the 2023-24 year!