MPI Foundation – Board of Trustees Spotlight

Name and designations: Jennifer Beatty, DES, HMCC
Position: Director of Business Development & Chair Elect for MPI Foundation Global Board of Trustees
Employer: Tourism Calgary
Joined MPI in: I have been a member for 15 years! 😊

Contact information:
Email: jbeatty@meetingscalgary.com
Linked IN: (1) Jennifer (Holly) Beatty, DES, HMCC | LinkedIn

Board Members:

• Jennifer Beatty with Tourism Calgary representing Canada
• Global Board of Trustees

When did you join the Board of Trustees?
I have been on the Global Board of Trustees (GBOT) since 2018. I was approached when I served on the Ottawa Chapter board as Immediate Past President in 2016 to consider joining the MPI Foundation Canadian Council. I was inspired by the thought of serving the industry further on a national level to help grow a confident, capable, and caring meeting and experiential event community with the skills to thrive.

In 2018, I was asked to consider running for the Canada Council chair. At that time, I was invested in my journey to continue to aspire to help our industry. Following my Canada Council Chair position, I moved to the Executive committee and served as Vice-Chair of Programs on the GBOT; this role was exciting. We improved the scholarships and grant process and ensured requests for grants and scholarships were reviewed fairly and properly by the Global Board of Trustees. In 2021, I moved into the Vice-Chair of Finance on the Executive Council. It was during this year, amid the Pandemic, that I decided to run for Chair-Elect of the Global Board of Trustees. I am thrilled to be the current Chair-Elect and will take the reins of Chair in 2023.

What was your motivation for joining the Global Board of Trustees?
I am not shy in sharing that MPI gave me the real start to my career. Crazy enough, it was at the MPI Ottawa “SNOW DAY” for those who remember this annual event. I was surrounded by like-minded individuals and knew at that moment this was the Industry I was passionate about, and I was going to make my career in it. I started volunteering almost immediately and just never stopped. Joining the Global Board of Trustees was the natural next step in my journey, and I knew I would continue this path until I was done doing all I could to support the Industry I LOVE.

What MPI Foundation initiatives have you participated into so far?
You are only as good as your team, and I have had the pleasure of working with several Council volunteers in creating unique Initiatives that would influence and encourage my fellow MPI Community to give back while learning.

Here are some of the incredible initiatives the Canada Council has created and executed or executing this year:

• Inaugural: Shop for Love Event – Ottawa Meet week 2-22 https://mpifcanada.wixsite.com/shop-for-love
• College Connect happening again in 2022
• Rally on the Rails happening again in 2022
• Inaugural: HTE Golf Scholarship Tournament August 29^th, 2022
• Inaugural: Yogathon National event with Chapters June 2022

And more to come, we are working hard to help our fellow MPI community to recover!

What are the MPI Foundation primary goals for this year?

• Support our global community of 15,000 Meeting and event professionals through our 65 chapters;
• Raising funds to advance the meeting and events industry by:

• Strengthening our people;
• Growing our communities;
• Championing our causes;

• Highlighting that our industry matters; Oxford Economic Research values business events globally at $780.7m CAD and over 10.3 million jobs.

Describe the most impactful moment you’ve experienced while being on the Board?
The pandemic was by far the most impactful moment for me while being on the board. We had several meetings in the early days because we saw the impact of the pandemic immediately and how it was directly affecting our community globally. The MPI Foundation was more important than ever. Throughout the last two years of the pandemic, the Foundation helped by providing industry grants and assisting over 3,100 individual MPI members across the globe. We distributed $1.1 million in US dollars during these tough times while deploying prudent fiscal measures and maintaining consistent reserves.

In 2021 alone, the Foundation issued 23 Grants, including Chapter grants and Major grants, to help keep Chapters going in the worst of times.

The Foundation wants to ensure we are there the next time, because we live in an ever-changing world and are not sure what could happen next. In light of all the uncertainty over the last few years, the Foundation launched a critical initiative; an MPI Legacy Giving program called “The Forever Fund” this is a program for planned support to the endowment.

I have never been so proud to be part of the Foundation during these past two years. I was honoured to be sitting on the GBOT alongside exceptional people who care about the industry as much as I do, with the same thought process to help the MPI community recover and move forward together.

How has your experience on the Board impacted you?
Volunteering means something different to everyone. I have learned so much from fellow MPI colleagues in my years of volunteering at the chapter, national, and global levels. But the biggest takeaway from my experience on the Global Board of Trustees is that the MPI Family is huge! The Community goes well beyond our local chapter, because we have 65 chapters globally. If your career takes you elsewhere in the world, there is sure to be an MPI Chapter there to welcome you.

With a family that big, we all need to do our part and help each other, help our industry, and leave a stronger MPI Global community when we are done for those who will follow.

I love what I do, and I will continue to support our Industry community as it is my passion and who I am.

Special Shout out to thank the MPI Canada Council for all their fantastic work and thank you to the Canada Chapters who continue to give, share, and support our message. We couldn't do it without you!

How can you Help the MPI Foundation and the MPI Community?
Please support our year-round efforts by participating in our Foundation events and auctions.

You can donate online here: https://www.mpi.org/foundation/donate

Article edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales and Marketing Services and
 Disa-marie Cameron, Account Manager, Encore