02/07/2025

Climbing the Association Ladder

Understand what it takes to reach the C-suite

As young professionals in the association world, many of us dream of one day reaching the C-suite. But what does it really take to get there? ASAE's Young Professionals Advisory Committee member John Losh recently had the opportunity to chat with Chantal Almonord, chief information and engagement officer at the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), about her journey to association leadership. Her insights offer a road map for ambitious up-and-comers looking to make their mark.

Building Your "Career House," One Room at a Time

Almonord used a brilliant metaphor that stuck with me—she compared building an association career to constructing a house. The foundation in this case is your expertise knowledge in your vertical (let's say it is IT), but there is more to a great house.

As she put it: "To be in a CIO position doesn't mean just knowing IT. You've got to have a little bit of [an] understanding of accounting. You've got to balance your budget. You've got to have a little bit of understanding of membership models and how that works and governance and how that works—a little bit of everything across the board." These are the electrical, plumbing and the HVAC of the house.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.