AMTA Election: Candidates for 2020-2021 Term

2019 Election of AMTA Officers

American Music Therapy Association Election
Candidates for 2020-2021 Term

In November, there will be an election for the following officers: President Elect and Vice President Elect (see AMTA Bylaws Article IV for descriptions of duties).

President Elect Candidates

• Lori Gooding, PhD, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee
• Trish Winter, PhD, MT-BC, A Candidate from the Floor

Vice President Elect Candidates

• Andrea Dalton, MA, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee
• Heather Wagner, PhD, MT-BC, Recommended by the Nominating Committee

Their introductory videos (with transcriptions) follow below.

All professional, retired, and honorary life members are eligible to vote (see AMTA Bylaws, Article III). Please ensure that your "primary" e-mail address listed under your member profile at www.musictherapy.org is accurate in order to receive your individual and confidential electronic ballot. 

Two important notes:

• If you are paying Professional membership in installments, the entire amount (all 4 or 6 payments) must be completed and paid in full no later than September 30^th of the same membership year.  Those who do not complete the agreed-upon payments by September 30^th will not be eligible to vote in AMTA end-of-year elections.
• The electronic ballot will be sent to the primary e-mail address indicated in your musictherapy.org profile. Please ensure this e-mail is correct no later than October 1^st. 

Below, you will find introductory videos from Nominating Committee Chair, Jennifer Geiger, and each of the four officer candidates, as well as video transcripts. Thank you for taking the time to review election and candidate information in order to thoughtfully cast your vote in November. 

A Message from Jennifer Geiger; Immediate Past President; Chair, Nominating Committee

"Jennifer Geiger here as the Chair of the Nominating Committee with a special announcement regarding the November election of AMTA officers. All professional, retired, and honorary life members are eligible to vote in this electronic election, which means your individualized and confidential ballot will be e-mailed only to you. Please check that your PRIMARY e-mail address listed in your profile on musictherapy.org is correct in order to receive your November ballot. If you are paying for professional membership in installments, please make sure that the full amount is paid no later than September 30^th in order to be eligible to vote in November. Take a look at the candidate videos! Until the election, we will be posting candidate answers to specific questions. Have a question for the candidates? E-mail them to me by September 30th at jennifermtbc@gmail.com and I will pass them along! Be informed and VOTE! Thank you!"

Candidate Video Introductions

Lori F. Gooding, PhD, MT-BC; Candidate, President Elect
Recommended by the Nominating Committee

"HI everyone! My name is Lori Gooding and I am running for President Elect of AMTA. I’m thankful for this opportunity to introduce myself to you today and I look forward to interacting with you over the next few months as we move through the election process. I’ve been a music therapist for 20 years, most of that time spent in the Southeast Region, working as a clinician, as an administrator, as a faculty member, and as a researcher. It’s through these diverse experiences that I’ve really come to understand the value of what we do and seen the commitment that you have to those that we serve. And it is because of that value and commitment that I chose to engage in service at the state, and at the regional and national levels. There have been a lot of changes in our field over the last 20 years and I’m really excited about the opportunities in front of us. If elected as President Elect, I will do my best to serve you, support our growth, and support each and every one of you as we move into the 21^st century as music therapists."

Trish Winter, PhD, MT-BC; Candidate, President Elect
A Candidate from the Floor

"Hi! I’m Trish Winter, and I am running for President Elect of the American Music Therapy Association. I’m the director of the music therapy program at Radford University in rural southwestern Virginia, and I’ve been a professional music therapist for 21 years, serving clients across the developmental continuum. I come to this nomination with a servant’s heart, and an understanding that the AMTA is a member-based organization. And that it is only through our collective efforts that we will continue to propel our profession forward in ways that are viable and meaningful for the diverse that clients we serve. I would love to hear from members and non-members alike about what‘s important for you as we move forward in the election process. I know that you can reach out to AMTA and offer questions, and I would be delighted to be able to answer them. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to getting to know you, and allowing you to get to know me as we move forward through the election process."

Andrea Dalton, MA, MT-BC; Candidate, Vice President Elect
Recommended by the Nominating Committee

"Hello fellow AMTA members. I’m Andrea Dalton and I’m so honored to be nominated as Vice President Elect of the Association. I live in Kansas City, Missouri where I do trauma-informed care training and consulting with a variety of organizations, some of whom have never heard of music therapy before, so I’m out advocating a lot. And most of my clinical background is in inpatient behavioral health settings. The central reason that I am interested in being Vice President Elect, and subsequently Vice President, is that I have a deep desire to serve my colleagues, to serve you. To listen, to connect, to hear our differences and our commonalities, and to continue on this amazing trajectory that we’re on as a profession. The second reason that I’m interested in doing this position is that I really like coordinating continuing educational opportunities and have been able to do that in a variety of ways, and I love finding innovative ways to get information across, and finding the right people to share that information. So, I hope you’ll reach out with questions as we move through this election process, and I look forward to the opportunity to hear your ideas."

Heather Wagner, PhD, MT-BC, Candidate, Vice President Elect
Recommended by the Nominating Committee

"Hello, my name is Heather Wagner. I am a candidate for Vice President Elect for the AMTA, for the 2019 election. Through my career, I have a long history of serving the profession and our members both regionally and nationally. In the New England region, I have served as a committee chair and Vice President, during which I organized four conferences and other educational opportunities. I have served as President and have served as an Assembly Delegate. Nationally, I have served on Judicial Review Board and currently am part of APAC. It would truly be an honor for me to continue my service in the Vice President Elect and Vice President’s role by organizing future conferences and other activities for our members to help continue the growth and education of our field. Additionally, I would feel truly honored to be part of the Executive Board, to help as we move forward and face new challenges and growth opportunities for the field of music therapy. Thank you so much, and I hope to see you in November!"

Voting in this Election

HOW DO I DETERMINE IF I AM ELIGIBLE TO VOTE?

All current Professional, Retired and Honorary Life members are eligible to vote. Refer to the AMTA Bylaws, Article III.  Membership, Sections 2-9 at this link: www.musictherapy.org/members/ bylaws/

If you are paying Professional membership in installments, the entire amount (all 4 or 6 payments) must be completed and paid in full no later than September 30^th of the same membership year.  Those who do not complete the agreed-upon payments by September 30^th will not be eligible to vote in AMTA end-of-year elections.

HOW DO I CAST MY VOTE?

All current 2019 Professional, Retired, Life, and Honorary Life AMTA members should be prepared to vote electronically using a ballot invitation sent to their “Primary” email address listed in the member profile located at www.musictherapy.org.  Ballots for this election will be provided only via primary e-mail address.  The online ballot sent for this election will be managed by Balloteer.com. Your ballot will arrive in a personalized, individual e-mail which will provide you the opportunity to cast a confidential ballot. Check your spam folders; the email will come from balloteer.com.   You must vote online during the stated timeframe.  No exceptions will be made.

If you do not have an email address, please be aware that there are many free, convenient options for obtaining an email address (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and AOL mail are just a few free email services; and local libraries offer free computer access for those who do not own a computer).  You must have contacted the AMTA national office to have your email address added to your record by October 1^st, in order to be eligible to vote in this election.

Watch for additional postings with biographical summaries and candidate responses to questions on www.musictherapy.org

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