Silvia Quevedo works at the Association for Profession Control and Epidemiology (APIC), which is a membership association with about 15,000 members and is primarily concerned with patient safety and mitigating risks from infection.  This session was co-hosted by Kellie Newton of the Whiteford Nonprofit Law Group. Sylvia says, by virtue of being an association, we are communities that come together around a cause, profession, or a goal. “Our members come together around preventing the spread of disease.”  APIC also holds a fashion show at the APIC annual meeting with demonstrations of personal protective equipment, which makes the demonstration of such gear fun for the members and helps build community. APIC also holds a video/movie contests on hand hygiene with submissions all over the country and the world, which also is a lot of fun and helps promote community. It is important in a very serious profession to inject humor as a way to create community. APIC also conducts research on why members join and what builds community, and Silvia says it is important to understand that associations have to go where the community is, in addition to coming to the association. She also talked about the concept of a “third space,” which is a mindset separate from home or office for people to prosper in communities and subcultures. Silvia says it is also important to focus on inclusion beyond just diversity to build strong association communities. She also spends a lot of time for APIC on the road working with other associations and organizations in their community who are interested in disease prevention.

Silvia is also chair of the ASAE Foundation Research Committee.  The Foundation has several research projects on the future of membership and the decision to join that look at communities in associations. The ASAE Foundation research helps associations focus on what is important in building community in different types of associations. Silvia mentioned the new ASAE Collaborate site for the Foundation Research Committee, which is intended to connect people with the available research and to be a place where people can ask questions about how to conduct research or provide input to the Committee on future projects, and will hopefully be another beneficial community for ASAE members.  Silvia feels her participation with APIC and as a volunteer with ASAE is like family since a sense of belonging and connecting is so important to community.