Goodness, so how many of the 900 INA members are nannies? Seems like such a simple question.
(Hint: The answer should be 3 digits.)

nannydebsays wrote:An honest question (actually several questions) for the poster(s) who seem intent on complaining about INA:

What would you do differently?

How would you run a nanny only organization?

How would you fund it?

What would you choose to do with the "voice" a professional organization gave you and your board members?

How much time would you devote to running your professional group?

Would you present conferences?

I'm sincerely curious. As someone who volunteers my time to run a local support group and also present a local conference, I find that I simply can't find the time to do more than I do now. As I mentioned in a previous post, many nannies work 50+ hours a week, already do volunteer work and/or have busy family lives, and simply can't or won't take on the additional work of running a huge group.

Hope to see your answers tomorrow!

These are great questions NannyDeb..I would love to know how some feel they would run another group. It is a sincere question, and something I know I have struggled with personally over the past 18 years with being involved in groups.

Alice

I am Alice Shaffer, a career nanny of 18 years. I wish I could state that I know many of you, but it is hard since there are so many anonymous posters. I have been in the Metro DC area since 1996 as a nanny/family assistant.

A little background on me: I am very active in the nanny industry through my memberships in ADCAN since 1996( as well as a board member for numerous years), INA actively since 2003( board member since 2010), National Association of Nannies(NAN) now defunct from 1996-2005(was a board member), DEMA since 2010, active member of several online nanny groups on yahoo (1999-Parents with Nannies, Worldwide Nannies 1999- to present), active participate of Nannypalooza for the past 4 years among other contributions to support groups, agencies, and blogs.

Nanny Industry Organizations and Associations:
INA, International Nanny Association, serves to represent all aspects of the nanny industry. It was founded in 1985. It is the oldest nanny industry organization. More details on INA below. We just held our 28th Annual Conference. http://www.nanny.org/2013annualconference There are about 900 members. www.nanny.org

ADCAN, Association of DC Area Nannies, started shortly after INA in 1986. They are the oldest running nanny support group in the US. There are around 50 members. www.dcareanannies.com

Listing of other nanny support groupshttp://www.nanny.org/support-groups" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.nanny.org/support-groups

APNA, Association of Premier Nanny Agencies, was founded almost 20 years ago and serves to represent brick and mortar agencies only- no caregivers or online based agencies. This is why they do not have nanny memberships. To be a member of APNA you must be in business for at least 3 years before applying for membership among other requirements. They will be holding their 20th Annual Conference this coming fall. There are about 42 agencies that are members. http://apnananny.org/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://apnananny.org/

NNRW, National Nanny Recognition Week, September 22-28, 2013, is celebrating their 15th year. NNRW was created in 1998 to recognize and celebrate nannies across the country. www.nnrw.org

Nannypalooza was founded in 2005, which supports nannies and welcomes agencies to attend a yearly conference. Was developed from NANC –National Association for Nanny Care, when it was closed. They will be holding their annual conference November 2&3rd in Cleveland. http://www.nannypalooza.com

DEMA, Domestic Estate Managers Association, was created to provide a forum for Private Service Professionals and certified service vendors interested in better serving & protecting the best interests of their clients. The fundamental purpose of the association is to raise industry standards. They are holding their convention in September http://www.domesticmanagers.com

NNTD, National Nanny Training Day was started in 2012 and will hold its second NNTD this coming Saturday. INA members, APNA members, and nanny support groups all host and sponsor NNTD events across the nation. This year I believe there are over 34 events on Saturday April 20. Last year there were 1200 plus attendees, and this year around double that number. http://nannybizreviews.com/nntd/

As you can see many of the groups and organizations that are active have different missions and membership bases. All of them intertwine to some degree. I believe all of them exist to better the nanny industry.

For the questions on the INA and their membership:

I was just appointed as the 2nd Vice President of the INA on Sunday. I have been serving as the membership chair (2012-2013), social media chair and the conference donation/raffle chair since joining the board in 2010.

As for membership breakdown, I do not believe anyone was trying not to answer, the number changes daily as we have new members joining daily. As of this weekend our membership is about 900 members. I have broken them down below to the best of ability from the last report I had for membership. Again these are approximate numbers. You will see that our individual members are double the number of business members. We are not agency based. We are not business based. We are not educator based. We are based on all aspects of the nanny industry.

INA Membership breakdown [/u] http://www.nanny.org/membership-benefits" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.nanny.org/membership-benefits
As the membership chair of INA for the past year, I receive membership lists monthly. I can tell you that caregivers outnumber the agencies 3 to 1 if not more some months. The following is NOT A FORMAL BREAKDOWN of membership, but what I had on my last report a bit ago. It changes daily. Hopefully this will shed light on the makeup of INA membership. If you are interested in seeing the membership list of those who are opted in to share their information you can search your state by visiting:http://www.nanny.org/member-director" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.nanny.org/member-directory and selecting the state. For instance it shows that Virginia has 35 members as of this post.

We have 4 levels of membership that make up around 900 members currently in INA.
Individual: approximately 625 member (where nannies, NCS, specialty nannies, employers etc. would join)
Independent Supporter: unsure of the number, sorry (anyone who supports the mission of INA)
Standard: approximately 125 members (placement agencies, training programs and nanny support groups)
Supporting: approximately 200 members (industry service companies, au pair agencies, web based nanny recruiting sites.

Who makes up the Board of INA?
Current Board of Directors that was just installed on Sunday April 14, 2013:
[b]Executive Board of Directors:[/b]
Co-President: Domestic Placement Agency
Co-President: Nanny
1st Vice President: Newborn Care Specialist
2nd Vice President: Nanny/Household Manager
Treasurer: Domestic Placement Agency
Secretary: Tax Service
Board of Directors: [b]
Nanny
International Placement Agency from Australia
Domestic Placement Agency
Nanny/NCS
[b]10 Board Members:[b] 3 domestic placement agencies, 1 international placement agency, 1 Newborn Care Specialist, 1 Tax Service, 3 nannies

[b]From reviewing my conference attendee list (does not include last minute attendees) and who I met this is what I calculated as the breakdown; please remember this is [i]NOT A FORMAL BREAKDOWN, just my personal breakdown from my knowledge of attendees listed.
Domestic Placement Agencies: 27 attendees (some agencies brought several of their staff)
International Placement Agency: 1 attendee from Australia
Nannies: 62 attendees
Household Managers: 4 attendees that I know are dedicated Household Managers
Newborn Care Specialists: 11 attendees that I know are dedicated NCS
Education: (Alexandria School, Sullivan University, and English Governess & Nanny School): 6 attendees total
International Attendees: 1 Australian placement agency worker, 1 Canadian nanny
Nanny Tax Businesses: (HomeWork Solutions, GTM & Associates, And Breedlove & Associates): 8 attendees
Online Placement Agencies (eNannysource.com): 2 attendees
Legal Business: 1 attendee

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this answers the questions everyone has posted. I am sorry I didn’t add direct quoted questions; this was easier for all the information.
I am happy to help answer any questions via email at inanannyalice@gmail.com.

I am also happy to talk with anyone who has any suggestions on how to address concerns presented throughout this thread. I do invite everyone to join the INA newsletter INAVisionhttp://www.nanny.org/page.aspx?pid=395)" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> (http://www.nanny.org/page.aspx?pid=395) and our Facebook page.

If you have any suggestions on how to make INA or any other groups I am involved with better please send me an email and solutions to your thoughts. We (INA) have listened to our members and made changes, we are not against change.

I invite everyone to actually attend or join all of the nanny industry organizations that are available to you as a caregiver or a business. I hope that everyone will take the time to have a personal experience with each of the organizations. I have had my own personal misgivings with all of the organizations based from things I have heard or experienced. I can say with honesty that these groups are not what they were last year, much less 5 years ago or even when I joined them in 1996. If you had a non-positive experience I ask you give any of the groups another try as they have changed with memberships and board of directors. This is just like what happens in any industry with their organizations and boards of directors. I also encourage you to speak with someone who is on the board of that group or runs that event about your concerns or what you have heard.

Look forward to talking with some of you soon. Hopefully seeing some of you on Saturday at National Nanny Training Day.

Alice
inanannyalice@gmail.com

An honest question (actually several questions) for the poster(s) who seem intent on complaining about INA:

What would you do differently?

How would you run a nanny only organization?

How would you fund it?

What would you choose to do with the "voice" a professional organization gave you and your board members?

How much time would you devote to running your professional group?

Would you present conferences?

I'm sincerely curious. As someone who volunteers my time to run a local support group and also present a local conference, I find that I simply can't find the time to do more than I do now. As I mentioned in a previous post, many nannies work 50+ hours a week, already do volunteer work and/or have busy family lives, and simply can't or won't take on the additional work of running a huge group.

Hope to see your answers tomorrow!

From the INA Website ...

The Story Behind INA
In 1985, Dr. Deborah Davis, then a young mother and educator, founded INA. Her mission was to help legitimize and professionalize the nanny profession. Thanks to her insight and personal sacrifices, in 1985, she brought together nanny agency owners, nannies and nanny educators from the United States, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for the first INA conference. More than 100 people gathered at Scripps College in Claremont, California, to focus on training and professionalism for in-home caregivers in the United States. Since then, INA has become one of the country’s leading associations to press for professional standards, recognition and working conditions for nannies. The public eventually caught on that a professional nanny is not simply a baby sitter or housekeeper—but an educated professional who is trained in child development techniques.

Anonymous wrote:My name is Marcia Hall and I am a nanny member on the INA Board of Directors.

To answer the question - Should a nanny organization have only nanny board members. The answer is NO.
INA was formed by agencies, educators AND nannies and was always ment to represent the entire industry. So it makes perfect sense for the INA board to be made up of people from each of these groups. We may not do this perfectly and there is always room for improvement but we do it to the best of our ability.

We welcome this and any issue being raised in a public manner. At our Conference every year we hold membership caucuses where all those in attendance are welcome to share the issues they have with the organization and its conference. We as board members take this very seriously and use the ideas to help move us forward.

As with anything that you don't like in life, the best way to change something is to get involved and help to change it. If you would like to do that please shoot me an email at inanoty2011@hotmail.com

Thanks, Marcia. Who exactly formed the INA?

So basically, the INA admits that they do not serve our interests. I had considered joining and supporting this organization, but now I know it is a waste of money. Where is the organization that serves to further causes important to nannies? Perhaps the INA needs some competition.

Marcia Hall again. I don't have the exact number but I believe over half of our members are nannies.

My name is Marcia Hall and I am a nanny member on the INA Board of Directors.

To answer the question - Should a nanny organization have only nanny board members. The answer is NO.
INA was formed by agencies, educators AND nannies and was always ment to represent the entire industry. So it makes perfect sense for the INA board to be made up of people from each of these groups. We may not do this perfectly and there is always room for improvement but we do it to the best of our ability.

We welcome this and any issue being raised in a public manner. At our Conference every year we hold membership caucuses where all those in attendance are welcome to share the issues they have with the organization and its conference. We as board members take this very seriously and use the ideas to help move us forward.

As with anything that you don't like in life, the best way to change something is to get involved and help to change it. If you would like to do that please shoot me an email at inanoty2011@hotmail.com

webbkathy wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kathy,

We appreciate your interest. The INA problems being raised on this board are not about educational opportunities. No one disagrees with the benefits of continuing education for all.

The issue is that the INA is supposed to be a nanny organization, not a self-promoting agency marketing scam.

Actually, I believe the quoted poster is confused about what INA is, and always has been.
http://nanny.org/mission

"INA's mission is to serve as the umbrella association for the in-home child care industry by providing information, education and guidance to the public and to industry professionals."

Anonymous wrote:
The INA is supposed to be the International Nanny Association. If you are not a nanny, why are you sitting on the board of this group? Why are you even a member?
www.nanny.org

Again, this shows confusion about the mission of INA - it is an umbrella organization that welcomes all aspects of the nanny industry - nannies, agencies, educators, special service providers, and even families who employ nannies.

From the Mission Statement linked above:
"The International Nanny Association (INA), a nonprofit organization, serves as the umbrella organization for the in-home child care industry. INA members include nannies, nanny employers, nanny agencies, educators and industry service providers. Since 1985, INA has worked to professionalize the industry by setting high standards for industry professionals and nanny agencies. INA leverages the expertise of industry professionals from around the globe to help increase awareness about the industry, to develop the professional skills of nannies, and to educate parents about the benefits of hiring a qualified nanny to care for their children."

Perhaps you are confusing INA with the former NAN (National Association of Nannies)? INA has never been a nanny only organization, and it was organized originally by nanny educators and a small handful of placement agencies to try to establish and articulate norms and standards for the industry, and provide educational opportunities for all parties active in the in-home childcare industry. I was welcomed warmly in 1993, and nannies and agencies alike understood the benefits of professional compensation, which included the proper payroll treatment of the nannies/employees.

Anonymous wrote:
How many nannies are on the board of your nanny agency organization?
www.theapna.org

Zero. Why?

You don't even allow nanny or family membership, let alone be on the board. Why?

Please explain your "no nannies or families allowed" policy, in your own association, but demand to control the "nanny" organization?

Why no equal "balance"?

1. Non-nannies should step down from the INA board. Until you do, there is no hope for any real advocacy for nannies and the families they care for. The priority of agency business owners, is their profits. This is a distinct conflict of interest with nannies and families, who strive to provide the best possible childcare. Few, if any, agency owners have any significant training or extensive experience in childhood development, beyond their own families. Many agency owners are smart business people who recognized a lucrative business opportunity. Some are even attorneys and MBA's who capitalized on the naive nature of nannies and parents in disparate need of childcare.

2. Your own exclusive nanny agency club, should open its membership to nannies and families. If you want to maintain your membership and voting privileges in the International Nanny Association, you should extend the same options for nannies and families in APNA.

Also, it would be worthwhile for you to disclose the current breakdown of the INA membership. What are the current numbers for:

1. Nanny Agencies and other businesses

2. Actual Nannies


INA was started originally started by a group of nannies before it got over run by agency business owners, from what I understand. Let it return to being, what its name says:

The International Nanny Association

This is factually wrong. INA was never established by nannies and then over run by agencies. Again, I suggest you might be confusing INA with NAN, which was by nannies, for nannies, and folded in large part because there were not enough nannies willing to step up and volunteer and lead, something every association needs to stay viable.

I am very proud to work side by side on the INA board with nannies, agencies, and newborn care specialists. We respect each other, work together very cooperatively, hear
each other's different points of view, and put forth a lot of effort to improve the professionalism of the entire industry.

What exactly is factually wrong?
And again, how many INA members are actual nannies?
We hope you (the agency board) don't need all night to figure out how to skew the numbers. I don't mean to be blunt, but why not provide an easy answer?

Anonymous wrote:Kathy,

We appreciate your interest. The INA problems being raised on this board are not about educational opportunities. No one disagrees with the benefits of continuing education for all.

The issue is that the INA is supposed to be a nanny organization, not a self-promoting agency marketing scam.

Actually, I believe the quoted poster is confused about what INA is, and always has been.
http://nanny.org/mission

"INA's mission is to serve as the umbrella association for the in-home child care industry by providing information, education and guidance to the public and to industry professionals."

Anonymous wrote:
The INA is supposed to be the International Nanny Association. If you are not a nanny, why are you sitting on the board of this group? Why are you even a member?
www.nanny.org

Again, this shows confusion about the mission of INA - it is an umbrella organization that welcomes all aspects of the nanny industry - nannies, agencies, educators, special service providers, and even families who employ nannies.

From the Mission Statement linked above:
"The International Nanny Association (INA), a nonprofit organization, serves as the umbrella organization for the in-home child care industry. INA members include nannies, nanny employers, nanny agencies, educators and industry service providers. Since 1985, INA has worked to professionalize the industry by setting high standards for industry professionals and nanny agencies. INA leverages the expertise of industry professionals from around the globe to help increase awareness about the industry, to develop the professional skills of nannies, and to educate parents about the benefits of hiring a qualified nanny to care for their children."

Perhaps you are confusing INA with the former NAN (National Association of Nannies)? INA has never been a nanny only organization, and it was organized originally by nanny educators and a small handful of placement agencies to try to establish and articulate norms and standards for the industry, and provide educational opportunities for all parties active in the in-home childcare industry. I was welcomed warmly in 1993, and nannies and agencies alike understood the benefits of professional compensation, which included the proper payroll treatment of the nannies/employees.

Anonymous wrote:
How many nannies are on the board of your nanny agency organization?
www.theapna.org

Zero. Why?

You don't even allow nanny or family membership, let alone be on the board. Why?

Please explain your "no nannies or families allowed" policy, in your own association, but demand to control the "nanny" organization?

Why no equal "balance"?

1. Non-nannies should step down from the INA board. Until you do, there is no hope for any real advocacy for nannies and the families they care for. The priority of agency business owners, is their profits. This is a distinct conflict of interest with nannies and families, who strive to provide the best possible childcare. Few, if any, agency owners have any significant training or extensive experience in childhood development, beyond their own families. Many agency owners are smart business people who recognized a lucrative business opportunity. Some are even attorneys and MBA's who capitalized on the naive nature of nannies and parents in disparate need of childcare.

2. Your own exclusive nanny agency club, should open its membership to nannies and families. If you want to maintain your membership and voting privileges in the International Nanny Association, you should extend the same options for nannies and families in APNA.

Also, it would be worthwhile for you to disclose the current breakdown of the INA membership. What are the current numbers for:

1. Nanny Agencies and other businesses

2. Actual Nannies


INA was started originally started by a group of nannies before it got over run by agency business owners, from what I understand. Let it return to being, what its name says:

The International Nanny Association

This is factually wrong. INA was never established by nannies and then over run by agencies. Again, I suggest you might be confusing INA with NAN, which was by nannies, for nannies, and folded in large part because there were not enough nannies willing to step up and volunteer and lead, something every association needs to stay viable.

I am very proud to work side by side on the INA board with nannies, agencies, and newborn care specialists. We respect each other, work together very cooperatively, hear each other's different points of view, and put forth a lot of effort to improve the professionalism of the entire industry.

nannydebsays wrote:I'm a member of INA as well. I've gone to one conference, and would have gone this year if I wasn't busy working and planning NNTD for my area.

I believe that one of the reasons nannies aren't the only ones "allowed" to have a say in how the INA is run is the basic reason that most nannies work 50+ hours a week, and flat out don't have the time to devote to also working a second FT+ job running an international association.

Additionally, agency owners, payroll company owners, etc. have more actual *business experience* than many nannies. And the INA is a business. The effort expended to produce a yearly conference is huge, and it needs people with the experience and connections nanny related business owners have to make it all come together!

I can't really understand the venom directed at agency owners - agencies do actually help nannies find jobs. Good agencies (and I bet the agency owners who help run INA are also members of APNA!) can make a difference in whether a job is decent or crummy, so why shouldn't they have a say in how INA operates?

Without nannies, agencies will collapse. Without agencies, many nannies would not be able to find decent jobs. It's all interconnected, don't you think?

I disagree. Agencies make their money on the backs of nannies and generally serve the interests of the parents(paying customers) long before the nannies they supposedly represent. Without nannies agencies would fail to exist. On the other hand, a nanny with a decent head on her shoulders can tell the difference between a decent job and a crappy job and can negotiate the contract she wants. I've never gone through an agency, and I have exactly the contract that I wanted seeing as how I drafted it. As for business experience, many of us are educated and some of business owners ourselves, and I would say what we do on a daily basis is business experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a INA member, but I am disappointed that this association dosent provide more advocacy for nannies. They have/had a job board, but it sucked!!! Why wouldn't they provide a service where nannies can find quality jobs with good standards?

It'd be an obvious conflict of interest for agencies to allow nannies to apply for jobs without first forcing parents paying up $1,000's and $1,000's to the agencies.

Easy money.

What do they do? Background checks and reference checking? Then open their pockets for windfall profits.

If you think it is easy, you have clearly never operated a business of any kind, let alone a nanny agency.

Sorry, I have. How long have you been a nanny?

I'm a member of INA as well. I've gone to one conference, and would have gone this year if I wasn't busy working and planning NNTD for my area.

I believe that one of the reasons nannies aren't the only ones "allowed" to have a say in how the INA is run is the basic reason that most nannies work 50+ hours a week, and flat out don't have the time to devote to also working a second FT+ job running an international association.

Additionally, agency owners, payroll company owners, etc. have more actual *business experience* than many nannies. And the INA is a business. The effort expended to produce a yearly conference is huge, and it needs people with the experience and connections nanny related business owners have to make it all come together!

I can't really understand the venom directed at agency owners - agencies do actually help nannies find jobs. Good agencies (and I bet the agency owners who help run INA are also members of APNA!) can make a difference in whether a job is decent or crummy, so why shouldn't they have a say in how INA operates?

Without nannies, agencies will collapse. Without agencies, many nannies would not be able to find decent jobs. It's all interconnected, don't you think?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a INA member, but I am disappointed that this association dosent provide more advocacy for nannies. They have/had a job board, but it sucked!!! Why wouldn't they provide a service where nannies can find quality jobs with good standards?

It'd be an obvious conflict of interest for agencies to allow nannies to apply for jobs without first forcing parents paying up $1,000's and $1,000's to the agencies.

Easy money.

What do they do? Background checks and reference checking? Then open their pockets for windfall profits.

If you think it is easy, you have clearly never operated a business of any kind, let alone a nanny agency.