Looking Ahead

While ringing out the old year and ringing in the new year, it was an excellent opportunity to set aside some time for introspection and to give thanks for the many blessings associated with our families, friends, health, and careers. This also served as a wonderful time for contemplating what is ahead in 2016 so we can make a positive impact throughout our community.

In November, we held a series of joint meetings between our three boards, IFT, IFT Student Association (IFTSA), and Feeding Tomorrow, the Foundation of IFT. These volunteer leaders reflected on our vision for the future and how to build on our strategy to tackle many of the opportunities and challenges that face our profession and the global food system.

Following the adoption of IFT’s strategic plan, both the IFTSA and the Feeding Tomorrow boards initiated their own strategic planning processes to ensure alignment with our strategic promises of develop, network, innovate, and advocate. This new initiative proved most productive in enabling leaders and staff to collaborate, discuss, and leverage each other’s knowledge in advancing the initiatives across IFT. I was so impressed by the level of engagement and energy, and it was exciting to hear the different perspectives on the challenges and opportunities ahead. It was also extremely rewarding to see the evolution of the plans and everyone’s commitment to delivering on IFT’s vision, mission, promises, and core values. We very much look forward to sharing the finalized priorities of IFTSA and Feeding Tomorrow with the entire membership as they are developed this year.

During our time together, the three boards also had an opportunity to meet with Academy Award nominee film director Scott Hamilton Kennedy, who shared insights on progress with the Food Evolution documentary. The main themes of the documentary revolve around the role of science and technology in making the best decisions for our future and associated challenges of communicating science issues to the public. The film is in the final stages of production and will be submitted to several film festivals in coming months, so look for more news on its debut.

In response to a report from our Division Enhancement Workgroup, the IFT Board of Directors approved recommendations aimed at strengthening the role and visibility of our divisions. These include enhanced alignment of division input to the scientific session review process for the annual event and increasing visibility of divisions to showcase topical interests that engage more members.

During its meeting in November, the board also reviewed the IFT Bylaws that govern our work to ensure they are current and in accordance with association best practices. As part of this review, we agreed to enhance the role of the Audit and Finance Committees. Additionally, the board decided to change Christie Tarantino’s title from Executive Vice President to Chief Executive Officer to align with our current bylaws, which state that the Executive Vice President serves as the Chief Executive Officer of IFT. We feel this change creates more clarity around her role, particularly with external organizations.

The board further approved the recommendation of the Nomination & Elections Committee to propose a bylaw revision that allows for optional, board-appointed, non-voting director(s) or “board advisor(s).” Such appointments do not change the election procedures and therefore do not require a membership vote. However, we are committed to communicating key strategies and intent to the membership. When the need arises to gain unique expertise, recruiting advisors will fill identified knowledge, skill, and perspective gaps and aid in our collective decision making. On an annual basis, the board will consider the need for a maximum of two advisors to serve at any one time for periods of one to three years with terms of service determined by the board. We also will request that the Nomination & Elections Committee generate a list of candidates to meet the particular need for expertise. If you have questions about these revisions, please feel free to reach out to Kate Dockins at [email protected].

In December, we continued to listen to our community by reaching out with a survey to a large sample of members, former members, and prospective members. Ongoing feedback is critical to delivering on our promises, and I very much look forward to hearing your thoughts on how we can continually improve our institute to further advance the science of food and its application across the global food system.

Please visit our strategic plan website at http://www.ift.org/about-us/our-purpose.aspx at any time to review our promises, and share your ideas on what is most important to you at [email protected].

Your ideas and ongoing engagement through IFT will make it possible for all of us to have a very successful 2016!

Colin Dennis, CBE, PhD, CFS, CSci
IFT President, 2015–2016
Chairman, IFIS Ltd., Reading, United Kingdom
[email protected]