By Adrienne Lee
TSTA-P
I can remember the emotion I felt when, as the new President of EATA in 2004, I looked round the room of delegates at our first Council Meeting.
Over 30 European delegates gathered around one table, set aside language barriers, and passionately worked to build a stronger EATA. Backed by great enthusiasm and funding, it was one of the proudest highlights of my career.
In those three years we launched a new Ethics Code and updated the Constitution, but I was most delighted to launch the Presidents’ Meeting, where the leaders of national TA associations could meet and share their experience and resources, and the OutReach programme, where we held our Executive meetings in countries that needed extra support to promote TA. The members of the Executive Committee not only had our own intensive meetings, we also ran workshops for a one-day conference at the venue.
The gifts of EATA still are generosity, connection, standards of excellence and deep respect for all our differences. Our new Joint Mission Statement with ITAA now honours our interconnection and social and ecological responsibility. At last we have gone beyond Autonomy to Homonomy! I am proud to be a member of EATA and sincerely thank all the past Presidents, Chairs of Committees and Council Delegates for their loyalty, integrity and hard work.
