In accordance with the following notice, a search committee was formed today to plan the succession in leadership for AFANA from 2017. Members of that committee will be announced shortly. The committee will make further statements on its plans and progress at a later date.
On January 3rd, Chief Executive Officer Rob de Santos sent an official notice to the Board and the volunteer staff which read, in part:
Fellow AFANAns,
A new number is on my calendar and it repeats every day: 2016. AFANA is in its 21st year and it will, by all indications, be a year of change. ...
This will be my last full year of daily involvement with AFANA as 2017 will bring ... my relocation to another part of the globe.
In regards to my own future, I’ve been the leader of AFANA more or less for 21 years. Way beyond the three years I originally agreed to complete with co-founders KC Swan and Wade Hinkle back in 1995. ... It is my sincere intention to walk away during 2017, even if that means AFANA does not continue as a going concern. Thanks to the strong leadership of people like Paat, Jeff, Ben, and Janet my time commitment has been dramatically reduced in recent years but the point has been reached that it needs to be down to a few hours a week. I have roles in a number of other organizations (both charitable and for profit) and my time is increasingly devoted to those efforts. Like many, I also have a bucket list of life goals yet to complete. None of those will happen if I don’t move on. My health is also a concern as I’ve dealt with a variety of serious illnesses in the past several years in addition to my disability.
As a result, we will conduct an open search for my successor beginning in 2016. I will ask both current and former members as well as talented individuals inside and outside the organization to consult on the search. If it is not successful, AFANA will likely end its run following the 2017 AFL season.
I know that all of you, who have put in so many hours for AFANA and believed in it, would not want that to happen. I don’t either, but time marches on and the finish line is near for me. ...
We still have much to do in 2016 and so let’s get going and make this our best year ever!
Regards,
--
-Rob de Santos
Chairman, Australian Football Association of North America
Web: http://www.afana.com/drupal5/
E-mail: /rdesantos[at)afana[ dot }com">rdesantos[at)afana[ dot }com
Ph: +1-740-7GET-AFL (1-740-743-8258)
