An old saying goes: “The days pass slowly but the years fly by.” In AAMVA time, I believe that the days fly by as well. I am still amazed at how much has been accomplished in a few short months of my AAMVA Chairmanship.

First, I’d like to congratulate Ian Grossman on seamlessly assuming the role of President & CEO. He continues to make a positive impact within AAMVA. His proactive engagement with his team, our members and stakeholders continues to reflect his commitment to building upon AAMVA’s esteemed 90-year legacy and advancing its mission. Speaking of his team, the AAMVA staff deserve immense applause and appreciation for the outstanding work that they do. Individually and collectively, they are first class.

I remain humbled and honored to attend the many leadership, educational and informational events this association manages. The 2024 Leadership Academy had a roster of 20 professionals who received an intense training opportunity focused on the unique characteristics of leading and managing a motor vehicle or law enforcement agency. I am a graduate of the very first AAMVA Leadership Class and the first graduate to serve as Chair, so in many ways attending the 2024 Leadership Academy was a full circle moment. In 2014 it was a tremendous honor to be in the first class, and AAMVA continues to amaze 10 years later by building on the success of prior years with this year’s Leadership Class. To hear the 2024 participants’ enthusiasm for learning and the camaraderie developed in a week lets me know that our AAMVA future is in very capable hands.

The successful third annual Pop-up Classroom was an excellent exchange of ideas on topics of identity management, covering both the physical and digital credentials. The AAMVA community is not only advancing in the area of identity management, but we are also global leaders in this space. When asked my thoughts about what the next Pop-up Classroom might be in the late summer of 2023, I felt like our community had learned so much in two short years from the 2022 Pop-up Classroom especially in the mDL and identity management area. However, like most things, there is much more to learn and more evolution and innovation to take place. As a former athlete, I believe that competition can inherently bring out the best in us. Likewise, there is a time for collaboration to achieve the best for everyone. I think our community has learned that our industry stakeholders are a valuable part of the conversations and solutions that will benefit the people we all serve. Finding ways to collaborate for a more secure, privacy preserving and interoperable experience should be our collective goal.

The AAMVA Board remains focused on guiding key strategic initiatives:

• Technology modernization, including the phased sunsetting of legacy AAMVA technologies has become increasingly costly and inefficient to maintain.
• Ensuring resourcing of key operational activities, such as onboarding states to S2S & DHR, with a goal of saving lives and mitigating fraud.
• Continued priority of identity management activities and expanding working groups like the new cyber digital fraud working group.
• Examining governance structure to ensure our board, committees and working groups are optimally aligned with the needs and evolution of our membership.

Finally, in case you haven’t heard the good news, the Annual International Conference will be in Atlanta this year, September 24-26. It is not too early to plan your visit—and September is the perfect time to visit Atlanta.

Here’s a little teaser, the 2024 AIC is going to be “The Ultimate Fan Experience,” and we have lots of fun in store for you. Get your favorite “sports team jerseys” ready to wear at the Welcome Reception/Fundraiser at the Chick-fil-A Football Hall of Fame. There may be other surprises in store for you at AIC so please plan on joining us.