Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the problem Courtney and Marsia, many on here are not happy as they are stating of the the control agencies have of the INA. Perhaps INA was formed as Marcia said by nannies, agencies and educators and became the umbrella of the industry. Where I think things should have changed with the INA is when agencies and educators decided they wanted their own thing. Why cant the agencies now step down and let nannies run the INA? Everyone is invited to INA conferences but with APNA no nannies allowed. Nanny Palozza and NNTD was formed by nannies for nannies and agencies can attend these as well as educators, these two bodies did not break from INA.

IMO I think INA would have more respect from nannies if at least only nannies comprise the board and nannies voted for this. Let APNA do their thing and let INA do theirs, or ask APNA to allow nannies on their board.

I can't speak for the INA, but the facts are that in any large organization, about 10% of members are actively involved, and about 1% are willing to take on any actual responsibility. So before the agencies can be kicked off the board, someone needs to find a bunch of nannies who also have business experience and experience running a non-profit. Or a bunch of nannies willing to learn how to make a non-profit organization run. Or even just nannies willing to commit to being a board member for a year, as long as they aren't expected to do much.

So those of you here who are angry about agency involvement in the INA, feel free to step up and tell us who you are and when you plan to run to be an INA board member.

Anyone?

<crickets>

Please take note, people. The above poster is a perfect example of what another poster called the "superior" attitude of INA agencies. They need to get off the INA board if INA is to become a successful nanny association. This is very clear.

Exactly!


Many nannies have a college education and would be very capable of running INA without agencies. Nannies are dedicated and work far more hours than agencies. MY guess is nannies are not stepping up because of the way some agencies look down on them as example above the PP, nannies are not looking to mingle with these people.

Anonymous wrote:NP here. My personal experience is that there are not enough genuine learning opportunities for the credential to have any practical, day-in-the-life utility. I passed the INA exam and was excited to add my credential to my resume. Here is what I observed:
1. not one employer asked me about the INA during my interviews although I did try to create interest by bringing it up,
2. since joining the INA there have been few opportunities to be actively involved on a local level,
3. the exam was fairly easy to pass which makes me a bit hesitant to present it as a hard earned accomplishment as the INA seems to want to portray it as.
$. as anr experienced nanny there has not been any return on investment, tangible or intangible.

All of that said, I do believe the INA has it's own mission that is a great benefit for it's target market -a think tank for those who want to build a dialogue and forum to analyze the philosophy and politics related to the nanny profession.

Anonymous wrote:NP here,

The INA responded appropriately (IMO) by clarifying that the INA is founded as an umbrella association - one where all aspects of the industry meet and work together.

It is not and never has been a nanny only club. There have been nanny only associations - and the closest to that now is Nannypalooza. The National Association of Nannies folded years ago because they did not have enough nannies volunteering to do the hard work needed to run an effective association.

INA board members meed in person 2x a year - this means that the board members have to take time off from their regular jobs to meet together in one place. These meetings run 12 hours over 2 days and a lot of work gets done.

Additionally, there are 2 virtual meetings of 3-4 hours in between, again all business, and you have to take the time out of your work or personal time to be on the conference call.

Board members and committees work year round - projects like the annual conference and the development and testing of the Nanny Credential Exam require tons of work and organization to produce.

EVERY month that there is not an in-person board meeting or the quarterly conference call meeting, there is a 90 minute "board connect" conference call to update all on what is happening, what needs to happy, who is doing what, and to brainstorm ideas together to keep projects on track. Again this is time out of work or personal time.

VERY FEW nannies are willing or able to make this time commitment.

INA is an umbrella professional association, never intended to be all of anything.

APNA is a business professional association of nanny agencies - they formed to work together to learn and update the best business practices in their industry.

Nannies are welcome to organize a nanny-only professional association and the INA would support that endeavor. The INA provides financial support to Nannypalooza for example, and to National Nanny Training day events.

You are barking up the wrong tree lambasting the INA for not conforming to your warped view of what their mission SHOULD be, rather than understanding what their mission IS.

My 2 cents worth - I personally am looking forward to attending their annual conference in Reston in May to meet with and learn from nannies, educators, agencies and supporting services so I have a more rounded understanding of everyone's roles and the challenges we face together.

Anonymous wrote:NP here,

The INA responded appropriately (IMO) by clarifying that the INA is founded as an umbrella association - one where all aspects of the industry meet and work together.

It is not and never has been a nanny only club. There have been nanny only associations - and the closest to that now is Nannypalooza. The National Association of Nannies folded years ago because they did not have enough nannies volunteering to do the hard work needed to run an effective association.

INA board members meed in person 2x a year - this means that the board members have to take time off from their regular jobs to meet together in one place. These meetings run 12 hours over 2 days and a lot of work gets done.

Additionally, there are 2 virtual meetings of 3-4 hours in between, again all business, and you have to take the time out of your work or personal time to be on the conference call.

Board members and committees work year round - projects like the annual conference and the development and testing of the Nanny Credential Exam require tons of work and organization to produce.

EVERY month that there is not an in-person board meeting or the quarterly conference call meeting, there is a 90 minute "board connect" conference call to update all on what is happening, what needs to happy, who is doing what, and to brainstorm ideas together to keep projects on track. Again this is time out of work or personal time.

VERY FEW nannies are willing or able to make this time commitment.

INA is an umbrella professional association, never intended to be all of anything.

APNA is a business professional association of nanny agencies - they formed to work together to learn and update the best business practices in their industry.

Nannies are welcome to organize a nanny-only professional association and the INA would support that endeavor. The INA provides financial support to Nannypalooza for example, and to National Nanny Training day events.

You are barking up the wrong tree lambasting the INA for not conforming to your warped view of what their mission SHOULD be, rather than understanding what their mission IS.

My 2 cents worth - I personally am looking forward to attending their annual conference in Reston in May to meet with and learn from nannies, educators, agencies and supporting services so I have a more rounded understanding of everyone's roles and the challenges we face together.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the problem Courtney and Marsia, many on here are not happy as they are stating of the the control agencies have of the INA. Perhaps INA was formed as Marcia said by nannies, agencies and educators and became the umbrella of the industry. Where I think things should have changed with the INA is when agencies and educators decided they wanted their own thing. Why cant the agencies now step down and let nannies run the INA? Everyone is invited to INA conferences but with APNA no nannies allowed. Nanny Palozza and NNTD was formed by nannies for nannies and agencies can attend these as well as educators, these two bodies did not break from INA.

IMO I think INA would have more respect from nannies if at least only nannies comprise the board and nannies voted for this. Let APNA do their thing and let INA do theirs, or ask APNA to allow nannies on their board.

I can't speak for the INA, but the facts are that in any large organization, about 10% of members are actively involved, and about 1% are willing to take on any actual responsibility. So before the agencies can be kicked off the board, someone needs to find a bunch of nannies who also have business experience and experience running a non-profit. Or a bunch of nannies willing to learn how to make a non-profit organization run. Or even just nannies willing to commit to being a board member for a year, as long as they aren't expected to do much.

So those of you here who are angry about agency involvement in the INA, feel free to step up and tell us who you are and when you plan to run to be an INA board member.

Anyone?

<crickets>

Please take note, people. The above poster is a perfect example of what another poster called the "superior" attitude of INA agencies. They need to get off the INA board if INA is to become a successful nanny association. This is very clear.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the problem Courtney and Marsia, many on here are not happy as they are stating of the the control agencies have of the INA. Perhaps INA was formed as Marcia said by nannies, agencies and educators and became the umbrella of the industry. Where I think things should have changed with the INA is when agencies and educators decided they wanted their own thing. Why cant the agencies now step down and let nannies run the INA? Everyone is invited to INA conferences but with APNA no nannies allowed. Nanny Palozza and NNTD was formed by nannies for nannies and agencies can attend these as well as educators, these two bodies did not break from INA.

IMO I think INA would have more respect from nannies if at least only nannies comprise the board and nannies voted for this. Let APNA do their thing and let INA do theirs, or ask APNA to allow nannies on their board.

I can't speak for the INA, but the facts are that in any large organization, about 10% of members are actively involved, and about 1% are willing to take on any actual responsibility. So before the agencies can be kicked off the board, someone needs to find a bunch of nannies who also have business experience and experience running a non-profit. Or a bunch of nannies willing to learn how to make a non-profit organization run. Or even just nannies willing to commit to being a board member for a year, as long as they aren't expected to do much.

So those of you here who are angry about agency involvement in the INA, feel free to step up and tell us who you are and when you plan to run to be an INA board member.

Anyone?

<crickets>

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the problem Courtney and Marsia, many on here are not happy as they are stating of the the control agencies have of the INA. Perhaps INA was formed as Marcia said by nannies, agencies and educators and became the umbrella of the industry. Where I think things should have changed with the INA is when agencies and educators decided they wanted their own thing. Why cant the agencies now step down and let nannies run the INA? Everyone is invited to INA conferences but with APNA no nannies allowed. Nanny Palozza and NNTD was formed by nannies for nannies and agencies can attend these as well as educators, these two bodies did not break from INA.

IMO I think INA would have more respect from nannies if at least only nannies comprise the board and nannies voted for this. Let APNA do their thing and let INA do theirs, or ask APNA to allow nannies on their board.

I can't speak for the INA, but the facts are that in any large organization, about 10% of members are actively involved, and about 1% are willing to take on any actual responsibility. So before the agencies can be kicked off the board, someone needs to find a bunch of nannies who also have business experience and experience running a non-profit. Or a bunch of nannies willing to learn how to make a non-profit organization run. Or even just nannies willing to commit to being a board member for a year, as long as they aren't expected to do much.

So those of you here who are angry about agency involvement in the INA, feel free to step up and tell us who you are and when you plan to run to be an INA board member.

Anyone?

<crickets>

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the problem Courtney and Marsia, many on here are not happy as they are stating of the the control agencies have of the INA. Perhaps INA was formed as Marcia said by nannies, agencies and educators and became the umbrella of the industry. Where I think things should have changed with the INA is when agencies and educators decided they wanted their own thing. Why cant the agencies now step down and let nannies run the INA? Everyone is invited to INA conferences but with APNA no nannies allowed. Nanny Palozza and NNTD was formed by nannies for nannies and agencies can attend these as well as educators, these two bodies did not break from INA.

IMO I think INA would have more respect from nannies if at least only nannies comprise the board and nannies voted for this. Let APNA do their thing and let INA do theirs, or ask APNA to allow nannies on their board.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the clarification Marcia and Cortney!

Clarification of what?

OP here again. Clarification as to why they wanted a vote, and the specifics behind what they have researched, how and why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the clarification Marcia and Cortney!

Clarification of what?

Anonymous wrote:Marcia Hall hear again to answer the question that was posed. FYI, I do not live in the DC area, so this forum is not a place I visit regularly. Again, if you need direct answers about something, I will need you to email me at inanoty2011@hotmail.com

To the issue of blacklisting. I have no idea what this is. In my career as a nanny, I have never experienced it. In my interactions with agencies, I have never heard of such a thing.

To the issue of agencies being in the INA. The INA was founded by not only nannies but also agency owners and nanny training programs. It is the reason we call ourselves the umbrella organization. INA's purpose is to bring together the entire industry and have a place for everyone at the table. To tell agencies that they do not deserve a place at that table would be pretty undemocratic of a non-profit organization that exists to connect us all.

Furthermore, agency members pay 6 times (sometimes more) the amount in membership dues than nannies do. Honestly, if we did not have agencies in our association, we would not be able to exist. We would not be able to pay for office staff, our website or our membership platform. This does not make nannies any less a member and I say this only to point out our need for agencies. We have about 4 times as many nanny members as we do agency owners. Years ago, it was about $100 for a nanny to be a member. But about 6 years ago, the Board recognized that $100 a year for a nanny was proving to be too big of an investment for some and reduced the rate that individual nannies would pay. We did not reduce the cost for businesses to be members. $45 a year is an investment but it is one that almost all nannies can afford.

Again, I personally would LOVE to see more nannies involved in committees and be nominated for the Board of Directors! If you are interested, let me know. But the fact remains that currently we have more businesses willing to serve on the Board. However, I would like to point out that both Cortney (the president) and myself (the 1st VP) as well as 3 other current Board members all identify themselves as caregivers at least in part. So 5 out of our 11 person Board of Directors are caregivers in one form or another.

Also, INA strongly supports both local nanny support groups as well as nanny only groups. We encourage the participation in Nannypalooza, National Nanny Training Day, National Nanny Recognition Week and Domestic Estate Managers Association. We often sponsor aspects of all of these groups. However, INA's purpose is to be inclusive. It never has been the goal to gather nannies only. Now, maybe this means that INA is not the place for some nannies and that is fine. I am not saying that they have to be a member of INA to be a quality, professional nanny. There have been other groups formed for that purpose. However, to rebuke an association because they are following their original mission and purpose, seems counter-productive to the industry to me.

As I said before, from my perspective, the nanny career and industry will never gain the respect and status it deserves in public opinion if we do not all work together. Agencies need quality nannies and nannies need quality agencies. I truly want us to be able to all work together. Call me an optimist, but I think we can do it.

Thanks for listening and let me know via email if you have further questios.
Marcia Hall