A Message From The President
The National Alliance of Professional Nanny Agencies, (APNA) is 13 years old this year. We have had many volunteers in this organization over the past years. In 1993, at the Boston Strictly Business Conference, the following Agency Owners got together and talked about creating APNA: Denise Collins, Judi Merlin, Floreen Bishop, Allene Fisch, Dee Zarnowski, Joyce Bowe, Amelia Crutcher, Annie Davis, Betty Davis, Susan Dineen and Terri Petracca.
The first APNA conference was in 1996. Denise Collins of Aunt Ann’s Agency was the chairperson working with Lauren and Mark Francis of Town and Country and Monica Frei of Mothers in Deed. The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf area and was a huge success attended by people from all over the country.
In 1997, the conference was held in Alexandria, Virginia hosted by Emily Bucar of Carriage Trade Nannies. The 1998 conference was planned and hosted by APNA and INA in the first joint conference. Conference 1999 was planned and hosted by Sharyn Marcuson, Caregiver’s Placement Agency and President of APNA at the time. The conference was held in San Antonio, Texas. Another joint conference with INA was in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. The infamous year, 2001, found us in Seattle, Washington hosted by Annie Davis, Annie’s Nannies, Inc. and President of APNA. In 2002, back on the East Coast in Washington, DC, hosted by Anne Guerin, Mother’s Aides, Inc. In 2003 we were back in San Francisco, hosted by Denise Collins of Aunt Ann’s Childcare and Estate Staffing. 2004 was our first ever cruise, which we hope to repeat now and again. 2005 was in Austin, Texas, the musical capitol of the world, hosted by Kathy Dupuy of MBF Agency and Stephanie Breedlove of Breedlove and Associates. In 2006, we were in Florida at the “Rejuvenating your Business, Body & Soul” conference.
APNA’S accomplishments between 1993 and 2007 are the following:
- The organization was created and incorporated as a non-profit association
- By-Laws were written for the organization
- A Code of Ethics and Standards of Ethical Practices were written and published
- Membership eligibility requirements were established
- Board of Directors elected
- Committees were formed
- Our web presence was created
- Our bylaws were revised to reflect the age of the internet
Volunteerism is key for the survival of any non-profit organization. We have had so many volunteers over the years. Our current board is also volunteering many hours to benefit APNA and it’s members. We have Denise Collins, Vice President; Anne Guerin, Conference, who works tirelessly and has spent many hours on conferences 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006; Judi Merlin and Daryl Camarillo, Membership; Guy Maddalone, Treasurer; Barbara Marcus, who comes up with so many ideas for conferences, advertising, etc; Lexy Capp who works on Public Relations and our newest board member Ginger Swift who is our Secretary.
We need your help in keeping APNA a viable presence in the Professional Nanny Agency arena. We are still a work in progress and there are many areas to volunteer your expertise. Just contact one of our board members to learn more about how you can help.
I also want to personally invite you to our next conference in Seattle which will be October 4th through 7th, 2007. At this conference we will have an owners track and a staff track. We will be at a wonderful boutique hotel in the middle of downtown within walking distance of shops, restaurants and Pike Place Market. Go to http://www.mayflowerpark.com/ to make reservations and to check out the hotel. Our code is NAPNA.
Apply to be a member of APNA and be known as “The Best of The Best”.
Thank you,
Annie Davis, President
National Alliance of Professional Nanny Agencies
