Looking Forward 2023 (Impact): First Look at Trends and Analysis

Dean A West, FASAE Related Seminars and Products

President

Association Laboratory

Dean West is the founder and President of Association Laboratory Inc. He leads client engagements and is a frequent speaker and facilitator for national and global association leadership meetings.

Mr. West is a former association executive with experience as executive director, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer for both national and international membership organizations. He has been a consultant to the association community since 1992, and has provided services to hundreds of state, national, and international organizations.

Dean West is a nationally recognized expert in association management. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives. Mr. West authored the chapter on Membership Research for the ASAE book, Membership Essentials and the chapter on Marketing Professional Development Programs in the ASAE book, Core Competencies in Professional Development.

Mr. West is an experienced volunteer leader familiar with the demands of volunteer leadership. He is Past Chairman of ASAE’s Professional Development Council and has served on the ASAE Membership Council and the Editorial Board for the ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership Journal of Association Leadership. He is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Association Forum of Chicagoland.

Nicolette Haton Shanks, MBA, CAE Related Seminars and Products

Association Laboratory

Nikki Haton Shanks, MBA, CAE is a Strategist for Association Laboratory. She is responsible for leading client engagements and conducting qualitative and quantitative research specific to client goals. Nikki been involved with associations for over 10 years and is a recognized leader in association management having received Association Forum’s Forty Under 40 Award. She has been active in membership and volunteer engagement for the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, and American Academy of Periodontology. She is a member of the ASAE Healthcare Community Advisory Committee and volunteers with FSAE. She speaks and produces content on association topics related to content strategy, leadership, membership, and events.

Ms. Haton received her MBA from Benedictine University and her BA in International Studies (Spanish & Latin American Studies) from Loyola University of Chicago. She obtained her CAE in 2016

Sarah Martis, CAE Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director

Milwaukee Bar Association

Sarah Martis, CAE is a versatile professional in the association community. She blends her entrepreneurial spirit of innovation with strategy borne from experience in delivering unique and highly effective solutions to the associations she works with. She has spent 19 years honing her skills in the association management industry. Sarah cut her teeth at a large association management company and then helped to begin Association Acumen, an association management firm that grew from two employees to over fifteen, and one client to over ten in her nine years at the company. In 2016 Sarah began her first experience as an Executive Director of a stand-alone organization. She has been with the Milwaukee Bar Association, a 2,000 member (and growing!) organization since 2016. Sarah strongly believes in the value of professional authenticity to cut through the noise of the messages that are received by us, our clients and our colleagues on a daily basis.

Jarrod Clabaugh, CAE Related Seminars and Products

President and CEO

Ohio Society of Association Professionals

Jarrod A. Clabaugh, CAE is the president & CEO of the Ohio Society of Association Professionals and the OSAP Foundation. He has served in this role representing Ohio's nonprofit industry since May 2016. Clabaugh is the 2022/2023 chair of the Association Societies Alliance (ASA) and is president-elect of his local Kiwanis. He is also a member of the MBA Research Corporate Advisory Council.

Prior to his role with OSAP, Clabaugh was the chief communications officer for an association management company in Baltimore, MD and was the director of communications for the Ohio Restaurant Association. Clabaugh is a graduate of the Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Clabaugh resides in Hilliard, Ohio and spends his free time with his beagle, Harper. 

Nikki Golden, CAE Related Seminars and Products

Association Laboratory

Nikki Golden, CAE, is a strategist with Association Laboratory, which helps associations make strategic business decisions—on everything from membership to strategic planning to educational programming/certification—using state-of-the-art research. Previous to this position, she was the executive director of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.

Nikki has been recognized for her work in the association world, making the inaugural list of Association Forum of Chicagoland/USAE Forty Under 40 list. Nikki is an active member of Association Forum of Chicagoland, where she has served on the Editorial Working Group and Content Planning Committee, chaired the CAE Working Group and Membership SIG. She also frequently facilitates for the Association Forum’s CAE Study Course and its Association 101 program, has presented at Forum Forward and has been a contributor to FORUM magazine.

Nikki built her association career working in both marketing and membership, with the National Association of the Remodeling Industry and the National Roofing Contractors Association.