A Message From the Outgoing President

When I wrote my “from the President” blog to you June 1, 2020, the world looked different than it does now. GSDA looks different, too! As we end a dynamic year at GSDA and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, I wanted to share some highlights with you and also take a leap into the future with some exciting announcements and new changes that will benefit you directly.

I’m Ginger Hultin, a Seattle-based RD, owner of Champagne Nutrition and Seattle Cancer Nutritionist and the proud outgoing president of GSDA. It’s been a real honor to serve in this position. I learned a lot, got to work with some incredible RDs and RDs-to-be, and we had fun along the way.

To highlight some things I’m really proud that we did this year, here are some of the top areas of action:

We launched our first Diversity Committee, had two diversity-specific meetings, created our first ever diversity mission statement and had a diversity and inclusion-focused theme for our events and blogs. I hope you get a chance to check some of those out! Our leaders on this committee, Meng and Natalie have been revolutionary for our organization and our community.
GSDA held a completely virtual year and had incredible feedback about it. This makes our events so much more accessible for those with work, school and family commitments (all of us, I think!) and for those who may live further out of the area. Big news: we’re doing a virtual year for 2021/22, too.
We completely updated our website. Thanks to help from our incredible treasurer, Linden (talk about multi-talented), it’s now much easier to find things and we have a “members only” section, too.
As a leadership team, we realized some things were standing in the way of you coming to our events as much as you want to. We actually just voted to restructure next year completely and have a huge announcement: our membership now includes ALL events for the entire YEAR ahead of us. It’s going to be easier and more affordable than ever to network and learn with GSDA. Make sure you’re a member by clicking this link. Our program is going to start this summer/fall.
We rocked the blog this year. With guest contributors from the Seattle area and beyond, we have so many unique and informative articles up and we also have a series of culturally inspired recipes for your cooking needs. Our blog team, Leah and Sara worked hard to bring you these articles all year long. If you want to know who the amazing people are that do this work for us, here’s the board.
Our “referral” page that members can join if they own private practices in the area is completely updated and we officially launched our speaker’s bureau for experienced speakers to be found by local organizations who need experts. Guess what? I got a gig from that page this year! I hope you do, too.
Our PR team created incredible content on our private Facebook group and Instagram. Jeani and Tess have been so committed to bringing you vibrant content this year. Be sure that you’re following us so you can engage and connect. They also run the most beautiful, informative newsletters every 2 months and you get access automatically if you’re a member.
Excitingly, we now are offering scholarships for the first time in a long time. If finances are getting in the way of you engaging with us, complete just a few simple steps for a chance to win one of 4 student or 1 RD scholarships this May!

Thank you for a dynamic year of community and hope. We didn’t know if our plan would work but I’m happy to say that membership is up, attendance is up, and our board and members are stronger than ever. Please join us for the coming year; I’m looking forward to seeing you soon!