Dear ACAP members, friends and colleagues, Croatian-Americans, and friends of Croatia,
It is my great pleasure to share with you this first ACAP-wide message in my capacity as the President of ACAP. I sincerely hope that you and your families are doing well. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the first ACAP president, Mr. Marko Zoretic, and the former board of directors for making our organization grow steadily since its founding in 2014. Through our annual conferences in Washington, DC (2016), Chicago (2017), Silicon Valley (2018), and Cleveland (2019), our membership has risen to more than 2000 in the United States and abroad. The 2020 pandemic was a tectonic event, which impacted the lives of many. We all learned how to be more resilient and adapt to new situations and lay the foundations for a better and more prosperous future. ACAP is no exception. While we had to postpone in-person meetings, ACAP created new avenues for engagement with on-going zoom meetings, live webinars, and virtual celebrations.
The series of tragic earthquakes that struck Zagreb and Banovina in March and December of 2020 brought together the Croatian community in North America and worldwide in a “One Croatia” effort unseen since the War for Croatian Independence. Our newly established ACAP Foundation has emerged as a mechanism through which over 1200 donors contributed $10-$1000 individually for life-saving equipment delivered to Croatian hospitals and first responders in Banovina, totaling more than $425,000 US. As the ACAP foundation grows it will continue to support education for new generations of Croatian students, trainees, entrepreneurs, and more.
The pandemic did not prevent ACAP activities from continuing on the national level. The new bylaws have been adopted and after an ACAP-wide nomination process, a new board of directors was appointed in February 2021. The board now consists of 19 members and a new organizational structure with 18 committees is being implemented. ACAP leadership also held a virtual annual strategic planning retreat on July 17, 2021. While the strength of a non-profit organization, like ACAP, is critically determined by the quality of its board, the real work happens in the committees. I therefore encourage you to reach out to the committee chairs and local ACAP chapter leaders to volunteer your time and talent and engage in ACAP.
We are also critically dependent on your membership fees, donations, and sponsorships to be able to run ACAP. Our Communications Directors, Andrea Kunza and Valentina Grbavac, are launching the monthly ACAP newsletter, new 2022 strategy, and looking for communications leads to join the ACAP national communications team. Please contact them directly if you are interested in working with ACAP at a national level to create ACAP content, provide relevant news, work with committees, and develop chapter updates at communications@croampro.com.
Finally, we are happy to announce that on November 12 and 13, 2021, the annual ACAP conference will be held virtually at 1PM-3PM Eastern time in collaboration with Entrio, Zagreb, using their advanced virtual meetings platform. We will have a robust and exciting program showcasing ACAP committees and chapters, spotlights, panels, keynotes, and breakout sessions. If you want to receive more information about the virtual conference or share questions or suggestions please contact us. We are particularly honored that the President of the Republic of Croatia accepted our invitation to deliver a welcome address for this ACAP global virtual conference event.
I would like to close this letter with an invitation to all to attend the much anticipated in-person ACAP hybrid conference, which will be hosted by the New York City ACAP chapter on June 16-18, 2022. I also wish to thank you for your steadfast support and dedication to ACAP, a unique organization of Croatian-American professionals and Croatian professionals from around the world.
Dr. Steven Pavletic, MD, MS
ACAP President