Dear Colleagues,

It was a pleasure to chair this year’s FFI board retreat in Boston. Board members attending were Dan Frosh, vice-chair; Helena von der Esch, secretary; Sandra McNeely, treasurer; Patricia Angus, Richa Arora, Jeremy Cheng, Jeff Cobb, Nick Jacobs, Rania Labaki, Panikkos Poutziouris, and Bilal Zein. Also attending were legal counsel Michael Connolly; Tom Cahill, financial advisor; Judy Green, FFI president; and Brigett Owens, GEN and conference coordinator.

The retreat was preceded on Thursday by a meeting of the 2025 conference program committee and a regional reception for FFI members and friends in the Boston area.

The board retreat began officially on Friday afternoon and focused on a three-year review of the FFI strategic pillars of Education, Research, and Public Awareness, including the financial data related to each of the strategic pillars. Potential collaborations in process were also reviewed and board comments made as these initiatives move forward.

A general discussion was held on the products related to the strategic pillars and how or if each pillar could be advanced as FFI approaches its 40^th Anniversary in 2026.

The October 29–31, 2025, conference in Boston was reviewed, including the results of the program committee meetings as presented by Dennis Jaffe, co-chair, at the regional reception. Plans for the anniversary year in 2026 were discussed in conjunction with the 2026 conference in NYC.

The 2025 Board Nominating Committee co-chairs Jeff Cobb and Rania Labaki led a discussion reviewing expectations for current and future board members as well as how the board composition reflects the strategic initiatives. An invitation will go out in an upcoming issue of FFI on Friday with more details from the Nominating Committee and the possibility of submitting names for consideration as future board members.

On Saturday afternoon, a business meeting was held to complete the 2025 board retreat.

The meeting adjourned late Saturday afternoon, and all agreed that it is a pleasure and an honor to be in leadership roles for this extraordinary organization amid a time of such growth and opportunity.