What a whirlwind of a conference week! It was incredibly rewarding to see so many of you in Springfield. There were more than 700 members, attendees, speakers and exhibitors who participated. From Howard Koh's inspirational keynote address, with singing! "You Raise Me Up..." to Commissioner Heiple and Commissioner Goldstein's collaborative conversation and great question + answer session; honoring impressive MHOA award winners; seeing the engaged crowd at our Friday advocacy workshop asking such great questions of Oami Amarasingham from MPHA and Adriane Casalotti from NACCHO; to watching the incredible networking going on, especially among the students who attended as a part of the Pathway to Local Public Health program - it was all impactful. 

I'm very grateful to all those who made it happen - our conference committee, chaired by Vice President Melissa Ranieri; the whole MHOA staff, especially Jennifer Tsoi, Clariese Natal, and Lisa Pacella; the supportive MHOA leadership and Board of Directors; the generous sponsors and exhibitors; and our collaborative partners - MAPHN, MAHB, MPHA, WMPHA, MEHA, YOWA, MA Epidemiology Collaborative, and NACCHO. It truly was a "Shared Vision, Shared Success," and stay tuned for lots more photos!

MHOA elections occurred at the member meeting during the conference. An MHOA leadership transition will occur January 1, 2026 - the new officers are:

• Melissa Ranieri, President
• Amy Donovan-Palmer, Vice-President
• Matthew Brennan, Secretary
• Shin-Yi Lao, Treasurer
• Timothy McDonald, Immediate Past President

Thank you very much to Rae Dick, the current Immediate Past President, for her many years of service in MHOA's leadership! Your experience, insight, advocacy, and love of MHOA and local public health have made a huge difference, and will continue to.

We'll also welcome several new members to the Board of Directors on January 1, 2026:

• Melanie Dineen, Region 4AB (Concord)
• Meredith Ballinger, Region 5 (Orleans)
• John Kleschinsky, At-Large Member (Brookline)
• Bri Dupras, At-Large Member (FRCOG)

Thank you to Thomas McKean, the longtime Region 5 member of the Board of Directors, who will complete his term at the end of next month. Your thoughtful insight, generosity, and passion for local public health are greatly valued.

A few other notes:

• Staff will be working over the next couple of weeks to upload continuing education credits to attendee MHOA profiles (be sure you check your email for the evaluation link and complete them ASAP) and presentations to the MHOA website. If you're missing something, give us until after Dec. 1 to reach out. 
• Headshots taken at the conference will be sent in two to three weeks
• Did you miss out on the conference this year? Save the dates for 2026 - Oct. 28-30 - with pre-conference offerings on Oct. 27. We'll solicit abstracts in late winter, and open early bird registration for members only in May. 

Teresa Wood Kett, executive director