Alliance Overview and Rationale

Overview

• Mission and Goals• Brief History• Rationale for creating the

Alliance• Organizational structure

Our Mission Statement

The Alliance is the voice, advocate and resource for the community of massage

therapy schools and educators

Alliance Goals

• Strengthen and improve massage education by providing information and educational opportunities to institutions, administrators, teachers, and continuing education providers

• Provide forums for learning, fellowship and mutual support

Alliance Goals

• Advocate for the interests of its members

• Serve as the designated representative for massage education in dealing with other stakeholders within the field, as well as organizations and regulatory bodies outside the field

Alliance Goals

• Develop standards that guide and inform the effective teaching of massage therapy

• Promote access to massage education to all who seek it – from entry-level training programs through post-graduate studies

Organizational History

• In the Summer of 2009, a group of six veteran educators came together to create a new independent organization for massage schools and educators

• Combined, this Leadership Team had more than 180 years of experience in education and the healing arts

Organizational History

• Their initial work involved crafting the mission and goals, determining membership categories, name and image package, and a funding plan

• The Alliance was officially launched to the massage therapy field on August 31, 2009

• A 12-week Founding Member campaign was conducted in October, which generated $49,350 from 75 members

Organizational History

• A national search for an association management company led the Alliance to partner with Coulter Nonprofit Management, in McLean, Virginia

• Coulter’s professional staff handle the day-to-day operations for the Alliance

• Most of the independent education organizations in other health care disciplines are based in the Washington, D.C. area

Organizational History

• The Alliance’s First Annual Conference was held in Park City, Utah on June 3-5, 2010

• Bylaws are in place, and the first open election for the Board of Directors was held at this meeting

• The Alliance is in an active phase of recruiting new members in all categories

Scenes from the Alliance Inaugural Conference

Park City, Utah • June 3-5, 2010

Rationale

The BIG question we’ve been asked is:

Why do we need another massage school organization?

Rationale

• In its movement towards becoming a full-fledged profession, our field needs an independent organization for massage therapy education

• Most other professions already have this component in place

• These organizations include...

Rationale

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing• American Association of Cosmetology Schools• American Dental Education Association• Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical

Colleges• Association of American Medical Colleges• Association of Chiropractic Colleges• Career College Association• Council of Colleges of Acupuncture & Oriental

Medicine

Rationale

What does a full-fledged profession look like?

Most mature professions have a similar organizational structure with these six standard components. They exist in relationship to one another, with each entity performing a specific and vital function.

If one or more of these components are missing, or are under-performing, the entire structure loses its integrity and goes into a random mode of organization without a well-defined center

With the establishment of FSMTB in 2005, and the Alliance in 2009, the massage therapy field moves closer to status as a full profession.

Rationale

• The Alliance represents a powerful step forward in the evolution of massage therapy as a profession

• With a solid foundation in place, we can now begin the next stage of the Alliance’s development

Organizational Structure

The Alliance is the first education organization in our field to include three

distinct, but inter-related groups of members under one “umbrella”

The common ground for all of these groups is the commitment to serve students in the learning

process.

Different Structures of Massage School Ownership

IndependentProprietary Massage

Schools(Single Location)

Proprietary MassageSchool Groups

(Multiple Campuses)

Career Collegeswith

Massage Programs

Publicly-FundedSchools with

Massage Programs

Beauty & Spa Schools with

Massage Programs

Health Care Colleges with

Massage Programs

Creating Unity within Diversity

In light of the significant differences in the structure of massage schools and programs, we can use the motto on the Great Seal of the United States as a guiding principle:

E pluribus unum – which meansOut of many, one.

Organizational Structure

• The Alliance is incorporated as a non-profit organization, and is seeking 501(c)(3) status

• It is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors elected by the membership

• The Board’s officers are President, Vice President and Treasurer, who are elected annually by the Board members

The Alliance in Relationship

• It is our intention to form mutually beneficial working relationships between the Alliance and the other stakeholder organizations in our field

• We are seeking to compliment what each is doing, rather than to compete

• Cooperation is the key to raising massage therapy to the status of a full profession

A journey of a thousand milesbegins with a single stepLao-Tsu

Visit us on the web at www.afmte.org