Since then, the Board of Directors has voted to reduce its size from 17 members to 5 and to create a Leadership Council led by the Chairs of the Marketing, Professional Development, Conference, and Membership Engagement Committees.

These committees also create meaningful opportunities for NRWA members to volunteer their time in areas where they have a genuine interest or passion. Committee involvement can serve as a pathway to deeper leadership engagement within the organization.

The committees formally kicked off their work in Q4 of 2025 and are already actively engaged in strategic planning for membership, events, and professional development, while also building robust marketing plans to communicate new initiatives and programming underway.

This work is critically important. Our industry is at a true inflection point—shaped by volatile market conditions, shifting client expectations, increased saturation within the career services industry, and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence into every aspect of our work and lives.

The NRWA recognizes that the value of your membership matters more than ever in helping you meet these challenges. We are fully committed to delivering on the promises I shared in my last message. With that, here are several key ways we are increasing the value of your membership in 2026.

What’s New in 2026

Beginning in January, all webinars—including both monthly live sessions and past on-demand recordings—will be included as a free benefit of membership. We are also introducing special engagement masterclasses featuring selected industry speakers and topics.

In addition, we are launching a new Business Resource Page on the NRWA website. This page will include curated resources that support the full business lifecycle—from starting your business, to operating and growing it, to eventually considering an exit or sale—along with white-label documents to use with your client engagements. This page is currently in development and is expected to go live by the end of the first week in February.

We have also renewed our engagement cadence across our member communities, including increased activity in both the private members-only Facebook group and our public-facing Facebook and LinkedIn groups. We have already begun hosting live events in the members-only Facebook group and will expand live programming to our public LinkedIn and Facebook communities in February.

If you are a member and are not yet active in the private Facebook group, I invite you to join us there. This members-only space hosts exclusive educational and informational events, deeper conversations, and specialized engagement opportunities not open to the public. The energy in the group is fantastic, and the response to increased engagement has been overwhelmingly positive.

Finally, we will be hosting two major events this year. While I won’t steal the spotlight from the committee leading that work, I can share this: you asked for new event formats, and we listened. You’ll be hearing more soon, and I believe you will be genuinely excited about what’s coming.

We are building a stronger, more connected, and more future-ready NRWA together. Thank you for being part of this community, for your engagement, and for your trust as we continue to move the organization forward.

The best is still ahead. We look forward to sharing it with you.

Warm regards,

Cathy Lanzalaco
President, National Résumé Writers' Association

On behalf of the NRWA Board of Directors