ASP holds first national town hall meeting

ASP Chapter Leaders bonding mid-afternoon videoke

A town hall meeting is an American term given to an informal public event that is open to everybody in a town community. Attendees generally present ideas, voice their opinions, and ask questions of their leaders.

ASP welcomed 26 chapter leaders from all over the NCR and nearby provinces to the attend ASP Leaders Town Hall Meeting held at the ASP National Headquarters last 05 September 2015. The event is envisioned to be a periodic discussion between the national and chapter leadership on critical concerns and upcoming impact projects. The event was broadcast over U-Stream for leaders who were based in provincial areas.

Leaders were engaged in topics geared towards a more energized organization, such as:

• Mona Magno-Veluz discussed the status of the A-OKPhilippines campaign; and the exciting partnerships in the pipeline towards PWD employment and livelihood.
• Jan Peña advised the team on chapter strenghtening strategies.
• Donna Lim, Zumba Instructor extraordinaire and a mother to a teen with autism, announced the schedules of Auti-Zumba classes.
• Ms. Cathy Lopez, President of ASP Laguna Chapter announced that the chapter will be receiving the Best Civil Society Organization honors from the Municipality of Los Baños at the Banamos Festival. She shared proposed that the Festival of Arts in December 2015 become ASP’s activity for International PWD Day.

The event also served as the kick off for the planning for the National Autism Consciousness Week 2016. The national leadership shared the major events for that week -- the ASEAN Autism Friendship Games, the Angels Walk for Autism, 1Bansa-1Pangako, the First Philippine Autism Expo, among others. Project teams were create and timelines agreed upon.

The team also had some time to discuss some organization matters -- contributing to the Chapter Toolkit, creation of a financial planning project team. Exciting work ahead! The event culminated with a simple meal and bonding time with mid-afternoon videoke.