Letter from the President

Anne-Durward-photoLetter from the President

Welcome to 2022! On behalf of the AAML Foundation, I am excited to share with you our plans for this year and to thank all of you for your continued support.

I want to thank Larry Moskowitz, our President for the past two years. Little did he know when he took office in November of 2019 that he would be at the helm of leading the Foundation through a pandemic. Throughout his tenure, he led us with a steady hand on our monthly meetings on Zoom, a virtual Annual Meeting, virtual Chapter visits, virtual reports with the AAML Executive Committee, two Annual Campaigns and finally, our 2021 in-person Annual Meeting. I cannot thank him enough for all that he and our Board of Directors did to ensure that the Foundation continued and flourished.

I also want to thank the AAML and its leadership. We have been blessed to have had the support of Susan Myres and Elizabeth Lindsey these past two years. We look forward to working with Cary Mogerman as he leads the AAML this year and Brent Cashatt in 2023. Our Academy is in great hands! Ben Stevens will be serving as our liaison with the Academy, and we welcome his energy and input on our Board. I know he will do a great job keeping both of these organizations informed as to our mutual efforts that benefit you, our Fellows, and our communities in which we serve.

Because of the wonderful efforts of our Board of Directors, our Annual Campaign chairs, our Chapter Leaders and the Fellows of the AAML, the Foundation was able to continue in its mission to give grants to charities that assist families facing the disruption of the family unit, especially children. The Grants Committee works hard each year to give grants to a wide diverse variety of charitable organizations across the country that exemplify our mission statement: helping children cope with the breakup of families; teaching parental caregivers how to co-parent; providing counseling to children of families experiencing domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness; supporting relationship enrichment programs to help prevent the breakup of family; supporting pro bono and low-cost family law legal programs; and supporting organizations that focus on innovation, research and education in these areas. I would encourage each of you, if you know of a local 501(c)(3) organization, contact them and suggest that they apply for a grant in 2022. You can visit our website at www.aamlfoundation.org for more information about the grants and the process.

I am very fortunate to be surrounded by my amazing Board of Directors for the next two years. You will be hearing from them throughout this year in our newsletters, personal outreach, and our social media. Brian Vertz, our President-Elect, and Larry Moskowitz, our immediate past-President, will be spearheading our Sponsorship Committee. Gary Rosen, our assistant Treasurer, will be continuing to lead our Annual Campaign. Julia Swain, our assistant Secretary, and Jorge Cestero, our Legal Counsel, will chair our Grants Committee. Cary Cheifetz, our Secretary and chair of the Publicity Committee, will continue to provide you with informative newsletters of our activities and outreach – including articles about our grant recipients. Mark Sessums, our Treasurer, will keep us on sound financial footing.

We are also looking forward to resuming Chapter visits. Please reach out to me if you would like to have us come visit your Chapter, either in person or virtually. We love engaging with Fellows who may or may not come to the Annual or Mid-year meetings and spreading the news about the Foundation and the positive impact it can have in your community.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2022. I look forward to serving as the President of this wonderful Foundation and following in the footsteps of the amazing Fellows who led this organization since 1990. Please reach out to me during the year if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Anne Durward

AAML Foundation President