Before becoming eligible to be a candidate for the office of President or President Elect, a member must be in good standing who has previously served as a director of the chapter for at least two terms and has also held the chair position in one of the following roles: Learning/Social, Membership, Forum/Forum Connect, Accelerator, Strategic Alliance, MarCom, Member Engagement, or Finance.
If no qualified candidate is available, the pool of candidates will be expanded to include current board members who will have completed their second term by the time they take office. If no suitable candidate is found, the position will then be open to any current board member, followed by an external search for new candidates if necessary.
The process and selection of candidates including the confirmation by the board should be concluded no later than December of the year preceding the expected term.
Interested members who meet the outlined criteria must declare their candidacy by submitting a declaration form to the Chapter’s President, President-Elect, and or Administrator by the end of August preceding the year of the expected term.
The Past Presidents’ Council will review all submissions and conduct interviews to assess the candidates' qualifications and alignment with the chapter’s goals and values.
If there are more than two candidates, the Past Presidents’ Council will evaluate and vote to recommend the top two candidates to the Board. This recommendation will be based on leadership potential, vision for the chapter, and alignment with the chapter’s strategic objectives. The outcome of this vote will remain confidential and only be shared with the current President and the President-Elect.
In the event of a tie for the second candidate spot (i.e., when the second and third candidates receive identical evaluation scores), a second round of voting will take place between the tied candidates. This ensures a fair and clear selection process.
The result of this tie-breaking vote will determine which candidate proceeds as the second nominee, alongside the first nominee, for the final selection round by the Board of Directors.
The selected candidates will present their vision and plans to the Board of Directors during the following Board of Directors meeting, followed by a Q&A session. The Board will then vote anonymously to choose the President or President-Elect from the two candidates. A simple majority is required for confirmation.
If neither candidate secures a majority on the first ballot, a second round of voting will take place during the same meeting. Should a majority still not be reached, the top-ranked candidate from the Past Presidents’ Council will be selected as the deciding candidate.
If there is only one candidate up for the position, the Past Presidents’ Council must approve and recommend the candidate to the Board of Directors. Following this approval, the Board of Directors must follow the process above and ratify the candidate with a simple majority vote.
If no suitable candidate is confirmed through this process, the pool of candidates will be expanded as described above ensuring that all qualified candidates have the opportunity to be considered.