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2025 Women's Forum

Breakout #3: Sketching Success: The Role of Mentorship in Professional Development

2:05 PM - 2:50 PM

Much of our daily tasks in association management is being a Professional Question-Answerer to our volunteers and other staff. Who do you go to when you don’t have the answers? Where do you gain that knowledge initially?

Building a community is essential for association professionals to share their experiences and bring new ideas back to their own work. We all have something new to learn—mentorship provides a pivotal path for professionals at any stage in their career. 

Join us for this panel as we gather experienced mentors and up-and-coming mentees to share their best practice and learned lessons in their careers. 

Key Takeaways

  1. Finding Connection: Learn tips in discovering mentors, mentees, or professionals in your same career point. 
  2. Learning from the Best: Find tips and tricks from late/mid-career and early career professionals on meeting your annual budget, building trust in your board/committee relationships, and must-haves for meetings and events

  3. Bridging the Generational Gap: Discover actionable advice in adapting to different work and communication styles across generations.

 

Panelists:

Michelle Vetterkind, CAE 
President & CEO - Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
President & CEO - Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation

Michelle Vetterkind has served as President and CEO of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association since February 2007 and was also named President and CEO of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation in February 2013. She has been with the WBA since 1995. The WBA is a trade association representing nearly 500 members, including more than 95 percent of the radio and television stations licensed in Wisconsin, as well as various associate and retired broadcaster members.

As President & CEO of the WBA, Vetterkind advocates on behalf of Wisconsin’s commercial and non-commercial radio and television stations at the state and federal levels, and oversees all activities of the Association.

Vetterkind served as President of NASBA (National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations) in 2014, the same year she was named one of Radio Ink’s Most Influential Women in Radio. In 2017 she received the Association Leadership Award from the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives.

She currently serves as President of the Madison Club Board of Directors and as a member of the Competitive Wisconsin Inc. Board of Directors. She is a member of Wisconsin’s Amber Alert oversite committee, as well as Wisconsin’s EAS (Emergency Alert System) committee. She is a Past President of NASBA (the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations), Past President of both the TEMPO Madison Board of Directors and the TEMPO Madison Foundation Board of Directors, and Past Chair of the WSAE (Wisconsin Society of Association Executives) Board of Directors. Michelle is a member of the Madison Central Lions Club where she served as the club’s first female President from 2000-2001.

Vetterkind enjoys running as a hobby, and was able to cross “running a marathon” off her list of lifetime goals, as she completed the Chicago Marathon in 1999. She also enjoys travel.

Michelle received her designation as a Certified Association Executive (CAE) in 2000, and holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Government/Public Policy, in addition to an Associate Degree in Applied Arts.

She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Kirk. She has two adult children and one grandchild.

 

 

Denise Husenica, CAE
Membership Manager - National Fluid Power Association

Denise Husenica is the membership manager at the National Fluid Power Association. During her 17-year tenure with NFPA she has worn many different program management hats including marketing and communications, events planning, and membership. She has her MBA in business with an emphasis in marketing and is a Certified Association Executive (CAE). Denise is passionate about association work and served many years on various WSAE committees and is a past WSAE Board chairman.

 


Morgan Parks, MA
Senior Program Manager - Executive Director, Inc.

Morgan Parks is a Senior Program Manager for the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), a client of Executive Director, Inc. (EDI). She oversees the Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy program series and the Collaborative Education Programs, supporting initiatives that enhance education in the field of cancer immunotherapy. 

Morgan earned her Master’s in Public Service and Nonprofit Administration from Marquette University in 2022. Prior to that, she served with AmeriCorps in 2019, working with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks – Montana State Parks. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2018.

Tracy Kerns
League of Wisconsin Municipalities

Tracy Kern joined the League of Wisconsin Municipalities in 2019 and is currently the Comptroller. Tracy is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has worked in the professional accounting field since 2005.

Moderator

 

Amanda Niebauer
Assistant Director of Administration - Executive Director, Inc.

Amanda Niebauer is the Assistant Director of Administration for the Society of Clinical Ultrasound Fellowships, a client of Executive Director Inc. She has five years of experience in the non-profit sector, most of that revolving around association management. She centers her work around helping passionate professionals in the medical field build a community of peers, share research, and promote their knowledge.
Amanda holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.