Buenas yan Hafa Adai!

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We welcome you to the AGA Guam Chapter.  This Program Year is truly going by fast. Your nomination committee worked collectively to secure nominations for elective positions for program year 2022-2023 (President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer-Elect). The Nominating Committee will be presenting the proposed during our March 23 meeting.

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AGA has also announced its rebranding to better communicate and convey AGA's purpose and value. A rebrand to now Advance, Grow and Accelerate to be more inclusive and that the organization will simply be known as "AGA". Our name has been simplified and the rebranding changed the meaning of each letter is significant.

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• "A for Advance" -- stands for advancing good government accountability and transparency.

• "G for Grow" -- represents helping professional growth.

• "A for Accelerate" -- refers to accelerating careers and driving excellence and transparency in government accountability.

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The AGA's logo was also changed and it is bolder and brighter. The design represents AGA's commitment raising the standard of excellence in government accountability and advancing our members' professional development. To be successful in AGA's mission, these changes aim to be more inclusive of all professionals who work to ensure and raise the standard for good governance, transparency, and accountability.

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We would like to thank Mr. Edmund Brobesong, CPA, and Ms. Minako Sakuta, CPA for being our featured guest speaker last month on their "Tax Updates" presentation. Their presentation was very useful and timely as we start to file our 2021 taxes. The topics presented on the areas of eligibility, where to file, and dependents were very informative. We are grateful for the time and effort that Mr. Brobesong and Ms. Sakuta took in their very busy schedule to prepare their insightful presentation and for sharing their expertise with our members. We also appreciate their responses to the various questions posed by our members.

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Education and fostering continuing professional development have been on the forefront of our mission. To date, our chapter has offered 7 CPEs during our general membership meetings since July 2021. The Certification Committee planned and carried out several activities to celebrate the "Certified Government Financial Manager" (CGFM) Month throughout March. These activities are provided below and please read our newsletter for more details.

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1. March 4: CGFM Month Proclamation by the Governor

2. March 4: CGFM Month Resolution by the Legislature

3. March 4: CGFM Recognition Letters to Agency Directors

4. March 18: "Finding that Balance: On Becoming a Personal Certified Financial Manager" Training - Up to 4 CPEs

5. The CGFM and Community Service Committees - Hosting a toiletries donation drive for Sanctuary Incorporated. Recipients will be the children staying in their shelter. Drive will run through March 25, 2022.

6. CGFM & Red Cross Month Donation - March is CGFM month and Red Cross month. In honor of our 34 CGFMs, the AGA Guam Chapter will donate $5 per CGFM for a total donation of $170 to the American Red Cross of Guam.

7. Throughout March: Daily CGFM Member Feature on Guam Chapter social media in recognition and celebration of CGFM Month.

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We also want to remind the membership about our annual Professional Development Training Raffle in May 2022.  Winners will be sent to Anaheim California for a face-to-face conference or virtual forum to be held from July 17 – 20, 2022.  The Chapter will cover the winner’s registration fee, hotel, and a coach ticket taking the most economical, direct route to the conference.  In order to qualify for the raffle, members must meet all the following requirements: (1) must be an AGA member in good standing; (2) attend at least 8 of the 10 meetings during the program year; and (3) complete an approved community service/activity.  More information will be announced about this raffle.  

AGA membership is more important than ever. It is a key link to our profession, an opportunity to learn from others, invest in ourselves, and make our profession stronger.  We encourage you to please renew your membership by March 31, 2022. AGA Membership has many privileges, including education and networking opportunities, awards, and scholarship programs, discounts on training, and access to our resources. At the minimum, every year members receive at least 14 complimentary hours of training on a variety of topics for FREE! At a value of $361, this benefit easily covers the cost of your membership. This does not include the FREE trainings offered by your local chapter and not to mention the additional networking, leadership, and education experiences.

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So please, renew your membership by March 31, 2022, if you haven't done so. Let’s grow stronger together and help our National President achieve his recruitment challenge of Everyone Get One!  Our target for the 2021–2022 membership year is to recruit 2,022 new members by April 30, 2022.

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Please read our award-winning newsletter for more information.    

Visit our website at http://aga.guam.net for more information. You may send us an email at agaguamchapter@gmail.com.   Please reach out to me or any of the executive members for resources, assistance, or if you would like to get involved in a committee.  We look forward hearing from you.  Take care and be safe.