Vickie Goodman, DTM

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a Board Member:

25 years in Education & Training: developed expertise in adult education and administration which will facilitate communication, support & training of District Leaders, and help focus the work of Board Committees.

8 years as Bureau Chief w. State of Florida: Creating and managing budget. strategic planning, develop & review state legislation and support legislative committees which provides similar skill set needed for TI board and committee work as well as ability to focus on primary organizational goals

18 years as a Business and HR Manager: developed essential business analysis, strategic planning, financial management and budgeting skills.

All of these experiences required an ability to work as both team leader and team member, mediate discussion within a diverse environment, identify & resolve organizational and communication problems, actively listen with a focus on identified priority goals.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

Strategic planning has been an essential part of nearly every career I have had. Working with a team to define organizational goals & objectives, identify trends & issues important to achieving those goals, allocating resources for prioritized team efforts, & creating the action plan to get to those goals were essential skills as Chief of Abuse Investigations for the state of Florida. I have been a successful business owner, operating private schools, and both private and public corporate businesses, and all required essential strategic planning and resource management. I am currently a state certified Building Contractor and own a very profitable company for over 10 years, including adjusting strategic plans in order to maintain our full-time workforce during the Covid years when businesses were downsizing.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

In order to operate successful businesses, as I have done over the years, one must continually examine and allocate financial resources to best serve the company and the organizational goals. I owned 3 private schools for 15 years which I profitably sold to an investor, and my current contracting business has grown from barely breaking even the first two years to a million dollar business 10 years later. In addition, as Bureau Chief, I successfully managed the $1.5 million budget each year, evaluating resources and goals.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

I have been responsible for developing all company policies in my own businesses, considering state and federal laws, of course. As an HR Administrator, I developed all personnel and safety policies for businesses I managed, including training all personnel. As Bureau Chief, I was responsible to develop and review legislation and policy for consideration by the Florida Congress each year. I was assigned as staff support to various legislative task forces designated by the Florida legislature or Governor to consider specific issues and create policies to address and positively impact those issues. I received special commendations on these committees for my work as a valuable resource, discussion facilitator and writer.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

It is often more important to fully listen rather than to speak. The ability to carefully listen to diverse viewpoints in order to identify common ideas and correctly capture those unique ideas being presented, is an essential skill I have developed as an effective team member or leader, and makes for more efficient and effective progress towards group goals.

Delegation and inclusion make the workload lighter and also help develop mutual respect and a cohesive team. You must also be willing to put in the same work effort you expect from others.

Reflect positivity and pride in your organization and celebrate change, whether desired or not, as an opportunity for growth and creativity.

Focus on discovering the gold that each team member brings to the table, even if the gold is buried deeper or hard to find. Everyone brings something positive.

What experience and key strengths would you bring to the Board of Directors?

I am an organized, reliable and purposeful team player who can focus on goals and objectives and help move both individuals and teams to successful achievement. I am loyal and love Toastmasters, as exemplified by my long tenure in this organization, and I will work very hard to relay the importance of membership to club vitality and success. I have a lot of experience in a variety of settings that may help provide insight for creative ideas or solutions.

Why do you want to serve as an International Officer/Director?

I have built my 30+ year Toastmaster career on motivating and inspiring others to push themselves to success. The significance of Toastmasters as an international, not-for-profit, educational organization became increasingly apparent to me during my journey through District Leadership, and I am excited to take another step to push my own leadership skills to the next level. I would like to be a part of the long-range planning and develop a better understanding of Toastmasters around the world in order to become a better ambassador for our organization.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

Poll-worker for Leon County Supervisor of Elections
Trainer of troop leaders for Girl Scouts of the Big Bend
Event organizer for annual Thanksgiving celebration in Leon County - feeding over 1000 members of the community who are homeless or away from home
Teacher aid in local elementary school
President: Florida Advocacy Coalition for Excellence -Legislative advocacy group for Least Restrictive Environment in schools requiring inclusive education for children with disabilities

Have you worked with other Boards of Directors outside of Toastmasters? If so, describe your experience.

Florida Council on Aging: acted in advisory capacity for Elder Abuse issues
Florida Advocacy Coalition for Excellence: served on board to identify issues restricting educational access for children with disabilities; prioritized goals for legislation and lobbied for change in state/local policies; planned public awareness of prioritized issues
Florida Education Credit Union BOD: served 2 year term on board reviewing proposed budget, facility remodeling, member complaints, identified innovative trends in banking

In your opinion, what are Toastmasters International’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

The main TI objective is to empower individuals to be better communicators and leaders with a future focus to be the first-choice provider of dynamic, high-value, experiential communication and leadership skills development. Community awareness about TM is the first step in this equation. I would like to see more TI budget allocated to building community interest and momentum for Toastmasters, advertising across multiple media platforms to generate that interest and bring in new members.

We tell clubs that 20 members is the ideal base, but VPPRs are struggling to develop a successful PR plan because they lack the necessary PR knowledge. I believe TI could develop less generic video training on the use of specific social media platforms as well as the creation and updating of dynamic club websites.

Member experience is the second part of the TI Objective. Member experience is the key to member growth and retention and club officer training should specifically enable officers to find and use resources that will help them offer the best club experience. I would like TI to help Districts provide a standardized, on-boarding experience for new members to ensure faster enrollment and participation in Pathways. We also need easy-to-follow training for Base Camp Managers so that clubs can track and report/react to member progress in a timely manner. Continued polishing and improvement to the Pathways educational program, making it easily accessible, more intuitive, and offering more varied curriculum will go far in making Toastmasters the first choice provider of dynamic, high-value communication and leadership skills.

Additional information about candidate:

I recognize that it is not the job of the BOD to get directly involved in club operations but, rather, to create policy and procedure that can be translated to operational improvements that will make Toastmasters a well-known brand in every community, and train leaders to engage those guests and members so clubs will thrive. I would like to be part of this process and think I have talents, skills and experience that will be an asset to the TI Board of Directors.