Association Management Excellence

The CAE certificate is one of the most selective and unique credentials in business today. There are, in fact, only 4,000 Certified Association Executives, a mere 2.5% of all professionals managing associations and non-profit organizations. If you aspire to become one of them, it’s an excellent ambition. I’d like to help you succeed. This book is designed to do three things. First, it seeks to explain the CAE certification and its many benefits, in the hopes that you will join me in preparing for and attaining this credential. Second, it will provide a step-by-step process for preparing for the CAE examination, strategically and comprehensively. Third, it sets out to explain how to ready yourself for the test itself, and to offer specific recommendations and solid tactics for approaching it, so that you achieve your objective and complete it, successfully and with ease. It also includes two bonus chapters based on my other books. Because Diversity and Inclusion are integral to my personal understanding of how best to manage and understand non-profit institutional excellence, this book includes a special section on D&I that will benefit every executive preparing to take this test. The other bonus focuses on new-school leadership in the 21st century, and details my framework for succeeding as a leader in a dynamic but ever-changing management landscape.

The CAE certificate is one of the most selective and unique credentials in business today. There are, in fact, only 4,000 Certified Association Executives, a mere 2.5% of all professionals managing associations and non-profit organizations. If you aspire to become one of them, it’s an excellent ambition. I’d like to help you succeed. This book is designed to do three things. First, it seeks to explain the CAE certification and its many benefits, in the hopes that you will join me in preparing for and attaining this credential. Second, it will provide a step-by-step process for preparing for the CAE examination, strategically and comprehensively. Third, it sets out to explain how to ready yourself for the test itself, and to offer specific recommendations and solid tactics for approaching it, so that you achieve your objective and complete it, successfully and with ease. It also includes two bonus chapters based on my other books. Because Diversity and Inclusion are integral to my personal understanding of how best to manage and understand non-profit institutional excellence, this book includes a special section on D&I that will benefit every executive preparing to take this test. The other bonus focuses on new-school leadership in the 21st century, and details my framework for succeeding as a leader in a dynamic but ever-changing management landscape.

D.A. Abrams is Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the United States Tennis Association, and a Certified Association Executive™. He has worked for the USTA for over 22 years on both the national and sectional levels. Prior to his transition to leading the D&I effort, he served as the Executive Director of the USTA’s Eastern Section, where he led it through unprecedented growth. Under his leadership, the section’s membership increased by more than 20 percent, and its recreational programs for adults and juniors expanded, as well. Prior to joining the USTA’s Eastern Section, Abrams served as the Director of Outreach for the USTA’s national office in White Plains, where he helped to expand the organization’s National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network and other programs for special populations. He has been a pioneer by becoming the first African-American executive director of a USTA regional office at the USTA Missouri Valley section. While there, Abrams increased USTA individual and organizational membership and exceeded goals set for growth in USTA programs, including USA Tennis 1-2-3, Team Tennis, Community Tennis Associations, NJTL, Schools and Park and Recreation organizations. Abrams began his USTA career in 1993 as a national coordinator for the NJTL program in the USTA’s national office. He played tennis at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, and earned a Master’s degree from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis. Abrams was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he participated in the city’s NJTL program. D. A. is also the author of Diversity & Inclusion: The Big Six Formula for Success, Certified Association Executive Exam: Strategies for Study & Success, and New-School Leadership: Making a Difference in the 21st Century. He is a popular speaker and advisor on the topics of Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, and Association Management. Please feel free to contact him via Twitter - @DAAbrams1 | Instagram - DAAbrams1 | LinkedIn - D.A. Abrams, CAE.