Good day to all of you, my fellow Florida Collaborative professionals. I am excited to say that FACP is alive and thriving. Our committees have been very busy. We are regularly posting webinars along with Collaborative trainings to educate professionals who are new to the Collaborative Process or who want to get a refresher to expand their knowledge about the Collaborative Process and how to use it to benefit their clients and their families.
I am also pleased to announce that a new practice group has been formed which focuses on the huge Hispanic community in Florida. Hispano Collaborative Professionals is a statewide practice group that focuses on providing the Collaborative Process to the Hispanic community. You can find their web site at www.hispanocollaborativepros.com. Feel free to reach out to their leadership team of Betsy Vázquez, Esq., Jenny Vargas de Perez-Corujo, Esq., Vivian Perez, Mediator, and Lizette Reboredo, Esq., if you would like more information about the Hispanic practice group. Belonging to more than one practice group is always a plus.
We had a very successful Board Retreat in February. More than thirty people participated in the retreat, the result of which was a lot of very creative ideas. Please look out for posted articles and communications from FACP about our vision moving forward. There is a place for every member of FACP in our leadership and programing, so please let me know if you are interested in working on a particular project or if you want to get more involved in one or more of our active committees.
Our Governance Committee has created a uniform Collaborative Process Administrative Order that has already been presented to the judges in a few circuits. We hope it will be adopted statewide by the end of this year. I urge you to let me know if you have connections with the division, administrative or chief judge in your circuit so we can help your circuit adopt the uniform Collaborative Process Administrative Order.
As a reminder, the next FACP Conference will be held on June 8-10, 2023 at the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek in Orlando. Our Conference Committee has created an excellent program that will include keynote speaker, Forrest “Woody” Mosten, who will also lead a session on Thursday, June 8th at 3:30 pm on “Moving from Client Centered to True Client Involvement in the Collaborative Process.” Woody is informative, entertaining, and intellectually compelling, so please join us on June 8th. That afternoon, we will also have a joint meeting for all of our committees. The joint meeting is a great place to hear the details of what the FACP committees are doing. Do not miss our 11th conference. You will be inspired, entertained, and educated while having a great time. Please go to our conference website to register for the conference. We will have Collaborative professionals not only from Florida, but from around the United States. Brian Galbraith, the President of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, who is from Barrie, Ontario, Canada, will be with us for the entire conference. He is a joy to know, and he would love to have a conversation with each of you.
Finally, I keep promoting that FACP is an open organization. Everyone is urged and welcomed to get involved. That includes becoming a Board member. Board members are typically elected for three-year terms that begin in July. The election for Board members will be held during our Board meeting at our conference in June. If you are interested in joining the Board, please submit an application, which can be found right here. There is always room for new people to join the Board, so please do not hesitate to submit an application. Feel free to call me at 305-448-1555 if you would like to learn more about being on the FACP Board.
I cannot wait to see all of you in person at our 11th Annual Conference in Orlando in June.
