... For the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all.

In recent years, the changes that have been unfolding in American business have been breathtaking. In order to stay alive, for-profits and not-for-profits alike have had to re-examine their very essence and, in many instances, unleash changes so fundamental that only a word like "breathtaking" applies.

What's interesting is that when the dust clears, there standing in the middle of it all is the individual or "customer." Yes, other factors such as technology, the global economy, and the explosion of information have also played roles in causing these changes. However, were it not for the expectations and demands made by the buyer (which includes taxpayers) for high quality and low price, the pace or organizational change could have been much slower. As tax revolts in the public sector and the move from brand to price loyalty in the private sector have demonstrated, the customer expects results...now!

Certainly NEHA is no exception to this reality of the '90s. Our board, acting with vision and commitment, has made it clear that NEHA's dues-paying individual members are to be the cornerstone of everything this professional society does.

However, as we listen carefully to our members, we've found that some within the association are wondering if NEHA's commitment to the individual dues-paying member is to the exclusion of efforts on behalf of the profession itself. In light of this concern, I'm happy to report that such is not the case.

Recently, I wrote how in the absence of understanding, perceptions develop and become realities. I feel compelled in this instance to provide again some understanding so that those within NEHA's membership, who perceive that NEHA has downplayed the profession in its quest to serve the individual member, might be reassured. Let me explain and start by going back to NEHA's mission statement.

NEHA's mission statement reads, "To advance the environmental health and protection professional for the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all." Much has been written in recent years in regards to the first half of the mission statement. But, it is actually the second half that gives meaning and life to the first half! Why do we want to advance the member? To provide a healthful environment for all.

When NEHA's mission statement was adopted, the board conducted a very careful and thoughtful discussion. After all, the adoption of a mission statement is arguably the single most important thing that a governing body can do. A mission statement literally defines the identity and purpose of an organization.

The board reasoned that the more knowledgeable, capable, and motivated NEHA's members were (which is all that advancement was ever intended to mean), the more this profession could achieve in the way of bringing about a healthful environment for all, which all along has been this profession's credo, meaning, and purpose.

Knowing that our mission is to advance the individual member is one thing. Determining how to do it is another.

Helpful papers in the journal, useful presentations at our conferences, and responses to inquiries are a part of the how. In order to advance the individual, NEHA also has to advance the profession. We know that and we do that! Without a strong profession behind the practitioner, the individual can never accomplish all of which he or she is capable. What is a talented musician without a symphony orchestra and a program of concerts to perform? What is a talented ball player without a team, conference, and schedule?

If the profession is to boost and support the individual (which by the way is a two-way street), it must have standing. It needs to be respected for its expertise. It needs to have influence. It needs to have standards of excellence. It needs to have an identity.

A strong and vibrant profession has the ability on the individual's behalf to steer policy to create opportunity, to enhance our practitioner's level of respect, and, in general, to contribute to circumstances that then allow the individual to excel.

Much is known about what NEHA does to promote the individual. This time around--something we probably should have done a long time ago--it's a pleasure to discuss some of the things NEHA does on behalf of the profession.

* We purposely seek out authors to publish in the pages of this journal, thought provoking and visionary views on the profession, its identity, its trajectory, etc. We go beyond the strictly scientific to publish critical papers on national health and environmental initiatives and to explore the role of environmental health within them. In this era of healthcare reform, there has perhaps never been a more urgent task before us than to define this profession's role in a more cost-effective health system.

Our papers also debate the role of prevention, health, and environmental leadership and the differences between the environmental protection and health views. Throughout all of this, which on behalf of a profession can only be carried out at the national level, our purpose is to reach the hearts and minds of our practitioners. Such discussions shape a profession's culture and provide comfort, strength, identity, and a future to each and every member. Some have argued that there is nothing that NEHA does that is more significant.

* NEHA also supports an extensive awards program that defines what excellence in this profession is all about. Winners of NEHA's awards give practitioners of this profession living examples of what excellence in environmental health means.

* NEHA supports and staffs a strong and growing credentialing program to define standards of competency for what the practice of environmental health means. No national profession can exist without some indication of what competency on a national level means.

* NEHA's marketing research aims to identify the educational needs, both present and future, that the profession as a whole has. This effort enables us to provide the education and training necessary for our individual members to be in step with where the profession is going and what is expected of it.

* NEHA also participates in a variety of regulatory programs, particularly at the federal level. Association leaders and staff work with the leadership of a variety of regulatory agencies. Our participation helps to shape the direction of environmental regulation in the nation. In so doing, we create circumstances that take advantage of our members' expertise and further work to provide conditions that allow our practitioners to be maximally effective. At this moment, in fact, we are pursuing an initiative that has the potential for reorienting the policy direction of EPA in a manner that steers it more to health considerations.

* NEHA also takes positions on matters of national and even international significance. The association has worked on and adopted positions in recent years on everything from hazardous and infectious waste to NAFTA, to food regulations, to disinfection by-products, to legislative directions. NEHA appreciates that the profession as a whole has an expertise and a need for certain things to happen in certain ways in order to foster healthful environmental conditions. NEHA also realizes that our profession is uniquely positioned to exercise leadership on behalf of this cause.

In offering this very brief report, my intent was for once to pick up on that last part of NEHA's mission statement. Yes, in this breathtaking era when the customer or individual is supreme, NEHA has dedicated itself to each and every individual who pays dues to belong to this organization. However, NEHA accepts that for the individual to really have an impact, his or her profession needs to have standing. As such, the association takes on a significant amount of work aimed at enhancing the profession itself. Only with a strong profession behind them will practitioners be able to do all that they are capable of doing...for the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all.