Friend:

This week marks my two-year anniversary as President and CEO of Americans United. I’ve learned so much in that time, and I want to share just a few highlights here (you can read my full blog post on our website).

To start: Working on this issue puts you on a roller coaster. AU has had some incredible victories over the past two years – in courts, in Congress and in state legislatures. And we’ve seen some bitter losses as well. You have to be prepared for that in this job. We celebrate the former and learn from the latter. There’s no time to lick wounds – we just keep pushing ahead, but always strategically.

And through it all, there’s one constant: Americans United’s staff is amazing. You often see and read about the efforts of our legal and public policy teams, our outreach department, our communications folks, and our fundraising staff, but the people behind the scenes managing AU’s budget, making sure the bills are paid and ensuring that we all have functioning computers and a comfortable place to work are every bit as crucial.

The same goes for you, AU’s members and supporters. You come to us from so many different backgrounds, geographic locations and motivations, but every one of you is a loyal and devoted AU supporter. You donate. You write lawmakers. You march in the streets and attend rallies. You share AU’s material on social media. You write letters to the editor. You fight and fight and never stop.

In short, you make all of our work possible. I look forward to many more years of working in partnership with you.

To read my full two-year anniversary blog, click here.

With hope and determination,