During the month of March, ASAE marks National Ethics Awareness Month, providing a valuable opportunity for us to reflect on how we as association leaders conduct ourselves with the utmost ethical standards. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe look to associations for their vision, their values, and their effectiveness. With this role comes a great responsibility for associations to serve members and the public with integrity. To fulfill this responsibility, ASAE’s membership of association professionals, consultants, and industry partners are committed to ethical standards that promote the goal of transforming society for the better.

From conducting everyday association business and managing member codes of professional conduct to site selection and managing behavior at association meetings, every association is faced with ethical issues on a regular basis. This past year, ASAE updated its Standards of Conduct to include the core ethical standard of championing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential now requires a component of continuing ethics education.

As outlined in the ASAE Standards of Conduct, ASAE’s core ethical standards include:

• Respect and uphold public laws that govern one’s work;
• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion;
• Be honest in conducting the member’s business;
• Respect the confidentiality of information gained through one’s work;
• Act fairly;
• Foster an ethical culture through one’s work; and
• Take responsibility for one’s conduct.

To best support ASAE members, we frequently develop and maintain detailed resources on ethics, including live programming, webinars, and articles. A few highlights include the ASAE Standards of Conduct, the ASAE Ethics Toolkit, ASAE’s online collection of CAE Ethics courses, and an upcoming online ethics seminar series in April.

We hope you and your association will take advantage of these member resources and let us hear from you regarding how we can best serve your needs.

-- Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE, ASAE President and CEO