It is hard to believe we have reached the end of the year. We are celebrating all we have accomplished while joyfully anticipating the opportunities a new year brings.
This year has been a time of immense gratitude. It has also been a transformational year for AME. We celebrated our 40th anniversary in Atlanta with the best birthday party ever, where we honored the past, celebrated the present and embraced the future.
It has been a memorable year in many other ways, as well. We hosted the annual Southeastern Region Lean Summit in Nashville, virtual and in-person workshops, a Southern California lean tour, and numerous other webinars and sessions with successful outcomes. Our AME Emerging Leaders cohort was truly inspirational, and the AME Champions Club offered world-class in-person events. To complement that, the AME Consortia held amazing events and tours throughout the regions. It was simply a sensational year!
Reflecting on 2024, I want to thank you for your continued loyalty to AME. I remain forever grateful for the tremendous work our AME Home Team, volunteers, management team, regional and international boards, and members have contributed. We will continue into the new year with this same momentum and energy, knowing there is so much more we will accomplish together.
As for 2025, stay tuned for the announcement of AME 2.0 in the near future. We are refining our brand and will share our advancing enterprise excellence and new era soon.
To our volunteers — those on our international and regional boards, those who volunteer at conferences or other events, and those who present and share their knowledge: I am so grateful for you and all you contribute to the continuous improvement community.
To our members: I am thankful that you have entrusted us with your development needs and have come to us to find a network of like-minded practitioners eager to help you share, learn and grow. Our events and offerings honor your commitment to pursuing excellence, and we are dedicated to helping you on your journey. If you are not yet a member, I encourage you to join AME.
To the AME Home Team — Desiree Dolecki, Sara O’Hara, Barb Clayton and Jessi Elder, as well as Meghna Kamboj, Amy Powers and Joy Huebner: Your passion, knowledge and commitment to continuously improve and innovate are inspiring and a true testament to your professionalism. Thank you for your work on behalf of our members and for the fun and joy you provide every day.
AME Home Team rockstars at the AME Atlanta 2024 Conference:
Barb (Joan Jett), Sara (Dolly Parton), Kim, Desiree (Madonna), Jessi (Cher)
I asked the AME Home Team to share their wishes for the new year.
Barb shares, “My wish is that all our amazing volunteers know how much we appreciate their dedication to AME and that 2025 is filled with meaningful conversations, building stronger relationships, collaboration across regions and continued success for our volunteers and AME.”
Desiree said, “My wish for 2025 is to elevate the AME conference experience to new heights by creating networking environments that help build stronger connections and meaningful engagement among attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, volunteers and the Home Team.”
Sara wishes you “a New Year filled with joy, good health and success in all areas of your life — here’s to a bright and wonderful year ahead!”
Jessi shares, “In 2025, I wish to witness more examples of kindness, peace and love in the world. I also wish for a freshly branded and upgraded AME website so that it’s seamless for AMEers, old and new, to utilize AME resources to their fullest potential.”
I hope the New Year brings fresh opportunities for growth, inspiring challenges to overcome and continued success for us all. I wish you and your loved ones a year of happiness, health and prosperity. Here’s to a bright and successful 2025 for our organization and every one of you!
The AME office will be closed from Friday, December 20 through Monday, January 1, so this will be my final CEO message for 2024. While the office is closed, you will still be able to register for events, including the AME St. Louis 2025 International Conference at incredibly discounted rates. There are also many other events on our AME Events page, including the Theory of Constraints flow solutions: Your path to operational excellence - Ohio and the ever-popular annual So Cal Lean Tour 2025.
However you celebrate this season, I hope it is a time of joy and peace. Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and happy holidays to all!
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
