The First Word - NAFA Corporate Fleet Advisory Council Gains Momentum

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August 2010

By Phil Russo, CAE
NAFA Executive Director

Last week, on behalf of the entire NAFA Board of Trustees, I invited several dozen corporate fleet managers to participate in NAFA’s newly formed Corporate Fleet Advisory Council (CFAC).  Similar to OEM advisory boards, NAFA’s CFAC will be a feedback and input mechanism for corporate fleet managers in NAFA. 

The CFAC will be a sounding board for corporate fleet managers to comment on and help direct NAFA’s activities.  Most importantly, they will identify opportunities for NAFA to improve service and value to corporate fleet managers.  This can be anything from commenting on NAFA’s governing structure to recommending topics for articles in FLEETSolutions – and anything in between.  The CFAC will try to meet in person once a year, preferably at NAFA’s I&E, but the vast majority of our work will be carried out via conference calls or web meetings. 

The idea for a corporate fleet advisory board gained real momentum last October, when the Board of Governors was discussing NAFA’s image and perception among "outsiders" in the industry.  To help combat the wrong impression that NAFA is a government-heavy organization, the Board recommended that NAFA develop this advisory board to ensure corporate fleet managers not only had a voice in the association’s many functions, but that their presence was given prominence. 

The Board of Trustees has approved me serving as Chair of the CFAC, which is a break from how all other NAFA committees are run.  Normally, NAFA committees are chaired by volunteer Members, have an Officer or Trustee as "reporting officer," and a staff member assigned to provide support.  As Chair, I will serve as staff liaison and "reporting officer" to the NAFA Board of Trustees. 

In addition to my personal invitations, several NAFA Trustees reached out to corporate fleet managers and invited them to participate in the CFAC, too.  To date, we have confirmed participation from:

• Michael Bieger, ADP
• Kirk Budhai, Hearst Corp.
• Jonathan Kamanns, Cephalon
• David Lynn, CAFM, Penn Line Service
• Tracy McCann, Mylan
• Debbie Mize, Hallmark
• Anita Salazar-Lozano, Makita USA Inc.
• William Savage, Salvation Army
• Donald Scare, Apria Healthcare
• Patricia Smith, Diageo
• Louis "Bud" Stewart, Cox Communications
• Raymond (Chris) Williams, Verizon

I have been very pleased that so far only one person has declined to serve on the CFAC.  If you are interested in serving, please contact me immediately.  I’m still waiting to hear from more than a dozen invitees, but I would be happy to include more in our discussions.

Phone: 609-986-1055
Email: prusso@nafa.org