Leadership Spotlight: Esther Fleischhacker, Chair, Member Services Committee

Esther Fleischhacker, Business Development Executive, Special Projects - American Conference Institute

News 'N Notes had the pleasure of recently speaking with Membership Committee Chair, Esther Fleischhacker, who outside of NYLMA, is a Business Development Executive, Special Projects for American Conference Institute. We learned that Esther is an enthusiastic, relatively new member of the New York chapter of LMA who early on sought opportunities to help drive the organization.

“When I first joined, I wanted to become active,” Esther recalled. “I was proactive about my involvement from the beginning.”

Soon after Esther joined NYLMA in April 2007, she approached then-chair of the Membership Committee Amy Nielsen to learn how she could become more involved with the organization.  Amy asked Esther to join her committee, which she served on for five months before being asked to take the reins of the committee in 2008.  It’s a role that has been mutually beneficial to Esther and the LMA.

“I think it has definitely helped me develop leadership skills,” Esther reflected. “There are challenges, but my role has really helped me connect with members and to understand the industry better.”

Another aspect that Esther enjoys about volunteering is interacting with the members. “The people are great,” she said. “I’m meeting people who are on the ground doing the work and am able to understand the challenges of the industry.”

As you may expect with such a dynamic leader at the helm, the Membership Committee is busy.

When asked about the committee’s coming attractions, Esther replied, “Probably the most exciting thing, I would say, is that we’ll be launching the Shared Interest Group (SIG) for future leaders—these are professionals with less than five years of total experience.”

NYLMA members Nathalie Assee of McKee Nelson and Melissa Brown of Orrick will co-lead the SIG, which falls under the Membership Committee umbrella. The group hopes to meet every other month and will involve experiential learning opportunities in addition to networking with other future leaders of our industry.

In addition to the launch of its SIG, the Membership Committee is also at work on a networking gathering for members planned for the end of October and they will be hosting its second New Member Breakfast in January 2009.

With so much going on, it’s no wonder that Esther would gladly appreciate additional volunteers. “We have a solid group,” Esther said, “and the more the merrier!”

For more information regarding joining the Member Services Committee, please contact Esther Fleischhacker at E.Fleischhacker@americanconference.com.