ISMA Welcomes New Board Members

We welcome Sameer Deshpande, PhD, who is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Lethbridge, Canada. Over past 15 years, Sameer has taught, published, reviewed (on the editorial board of Journal of Social Marketing and Social Marketing Quarterly), and trained and consulted with government and non-profit organizations in India, Canada, Australia, and U.S.; he is thus emerging as one of the leaders of the next generation of social marketers. Sameer will popularize the network among professionals in South Asia and market the social marketing framework to a wide audience in the West, to enable iSMA to achieve its objectives. We welcome Judy Drennan, PhD, a professor of Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia and a founding member of the Australian Association of Social Marketing (AASM).  Judy has been involved in developing the social marketing discipline in Australia for the last decade and through the AASM, which includes both a scholarly and practical community, has been providing international social marketing insights and knowledge sharing.  Through her expertise in social marketing, her links with Australian industry, Government and international researchers, and PhD supervisions in social marketing, Judy will provide a unique Australian perspective to the ISMA and will build strong collaboration between the AASM and ISMA. And we welcome Doug McKenzie-Mohr, PhD, a Professor of Psychology at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada. Doug has spent his career advocating for the application of social marketing knowledge to the design of environmental programs by serving as chair of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Sustainable Development, as coordinator of the international organization Holis – The Society for a Sustainable Future, as a member of Canada’s National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, and as a member of the National Advisory Committee for SustainABILITY. He has been awarded the Canadian Psychological Association’s Psychologists for Social Responsibility Research and Social Action Award and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Public Advocacy Fellowship. Doug has delivered programs on community-based social marketing for more than 15,000 professionals in fields including recycling, waste reduction, pollution prevention, energy and water efficiency, transportation, watershed protection, and soil conservation. He will be an important liaison for ISMA to the environmental social marketing sector. Sameer, Judy, and Doug join the existing ISMA board members who include Win Morgan, Nancy Lee, Tom Beall, Jay Kassirer, Craig Lefebvre, Gael O’Sullivan, Katherine Lyon Daniel, Jeff French, Christiane Leilig, Barry Whittle and Bob Marshall.

Following the “welcoming” theme is news for ISMA of the official designation of 501(c)3 status, granted by the Internal Revenue Service.  That means that ISMA is now considered a non-profit organization and can apply for grant funding, in addition to other perks. Other activities by the ISMA board and Communication Committee include news that the ISMA Webinar series has been successful in attracting many interested member attendees.  The board is working to develop 12 core competencies of social marketing. There are efforts underway to introduce the social marketing competencies into public health practice and education. A social media policy has been developed as a means to engage a greater audience with the ISMA website. It is currently under review in advance of approval and implementation. The board will meet again within the next few weeks to push forward on these topics and other business.