Bio

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Marie is the founder and CEO of Association Development Services, LLC (ADS).  In 2018, association veteran Marie Stravlo saw her job disappear as her employer exited the association management services industry. This was the sign she needed to know that the time was right to open her own association management company.   

Marie has over 15 years of non-profit experience with a focus on organizational governance and operations. She has a passion for creating strong volunteer boards that are guided by a strategic plan and who set clear policy and priorities so that staff and other volunteers can do their job and execute the goals and objectives of the organization. 

Marie is highly committed to the non-profit sector and her industry specific credentials indicate her desire to employ best practices and ethics to any organization she works with. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organizational Management (IOM), and is sitting for the Registered Parliamentarian exam in the near future. She also studied business administration at the University of Oklahoma. 

She also owns the consultancy Governance Gal®, under which Marie helps non-profit organizations with governance best practices. She has helped many non-profits with their bylaws, policies, procedures, board orientations, organizational restructuring, volunteer engagement revitalization, and strategic planning.  She regularly contributes to her blog about non-profit best practices and creates FREE resources for industry professionals and volunteers to use for their success.

Marie has spent the majority of her professional career in the non-profit industry working with state and national organizations. Personally, she has  served in a volunteer capacity on many boards from the role of director to president. Because she seeks out these personal opportunities, she completely understands what it's like to have a day job and volunteer in her free time.  This is why she is fully committed to employing only the most competent staff and efficient processes to support volunteers of the associations served by ADS. 

During her career she has: 

• overseen marketing and registration for 30 annual summer programs
• oriented and led up to ~1,000 volunteers a year
• coached many Board of Directors on how to operate at strategic levels
• officiated over association elections
• facilitated strategic planning meetings
• guided associations through drafting original bylaws as well as periodic bylaw reviews and amendments
• planned events for thousands of attendees
• drafted and implemented policy and procedure manuals
• raised PAC funds
• brought awareness to advocacy efforts
• rolled out rebranding on multiple occasions

She is passionate about:

• Governance - something that puts most people to sleep, energizes her! Governance is the skeletal structure of the association and Marie is watchful that that structure and foundation of the organizations ADS serves are strong.
• Ethics - morality is the key in life. She is personally guided by her Christian values and principles. 
• Family - The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family. - Lee Iacocca

Personally, she:

• is originally from Edmond, Oklahoma so sometimes the word "y'all" slips into her conversation 
• has three children and recently became an empty nester 
• enjoys the outdoors, particularly in the warmer months
• aspires to hike the Triple Crown (the one in Virginia, not the one that traverses the US!)