2025 SAME National Leadership Nominations are closed.
SAME National Leadership Assembly nominations for President-Elect, Vice President, and Elected Director are now open. The deadline to submit a nomination, or self-nominate, is Dec. 1, 2025.
SAME is led by volunteers who give their time and experience to govern the organization at the national level on the SAME National Leadership Assembly, and its decision-making subset, SAME Board of Direction. The positions elected by the membership play a key role in advancing the Society’s mission, vision, and strategic plan, and ensuring Society members have an active voice in the organization. A webinar detailing the leadership positions is set for Oct., 2, 2025.
Once nominations are submitted, the governance process convenes separate nominating committees for National Officers (President-Elect, Vice President) and Elected Directors. The nominating committees will determine the candidates who will be voted on by the entire membership during online elections, which are held starting March 1, 2026. Please ensure you have read the 2025 President’s Guidance and the Nominating Procedures prior to submitting a nominee.
National Leadership Opportunities Webinar, Friday, October 3, 2025.
Questions? Contact Kathy Off with the SAME National Office.
2025 President’s Guidance – National Leadership Nominations
September 15, 2025
Dear SAME Members,
Each year at this time, SAME does something truly extraordinary. We begin a process to infuse our national governance with new leaders who will take us into the future.
Among you are difference-makers, thought-leaders, strategic thinkers, and inspirational professionals who can bring a vast spectrum of expertise to our national leadership. You come from military, industry, government, and academia. You represent large, medium and small businesses. You serve in uniform, or as an agency civilian. You live here at home in our great country, or are stationed around the world, serving our nation’s strategic interests and as ambassadors of our profession.
From our founding in 1920, SAME was designed to “serve no selfish purpose.” Building and preserving the bond between members and our national engineering institutions is paramount and deserves this careful, intentional selection process we have refined to elect effective leaders who are committed to advancing our Strategic Plan. There is a continuity of excellence that defines our SAME community, a continuity of strong leadership helps us remain resilient and focused as we have for over 105 years.
To elect national leaders, we follow the National Leadership Nominating Procedures Guide.The guide provides every member an understanding of the nominations process and the expectations of each leadership role in full transparency. Nominations will open October 1, 2025 and the deadline to submit nominations is December 1, 2025. There is a wealth of information on the National Leadership Nominations webpage about what is expected of national officers and elected directors, as well as what type of characteristics, experiences, and qualities that best succeed in these positions.
Every SAME member has a role in this process. Whether you are interested in self-nominating or nominating a colleague, encouraging a colleague to step up, or you are already actively mentoring someone. Some of you have even been asked to serve on this year’s nominating committees.
- Elected Director: this role is an incredible opportunity to represent the Society “at large” at the national level and to gain experience with national governance in SAME. There is no requirement to be a Fellow, but a variety of contributions and experiences at the Post level in support of our Strategic Plan are expected of each candidate.
- National Officer: the only minimum qualification is that every candidate must be a Fellow. Candidates for President-Elect and for Vice President do not have to be current members of the Board of Direction or sitting on the current Executive Committee (XC).
A potential candidate may be concerned about being nominated and elected to a national role while they are “mid-stride” in another volunteer position in our Society. To that candidate, I would remind them that we have an expectation of succession planning across all levels of our governance, so there may be great value in having an earlier succession occur if it would enable you to step up and apply your leadership skills to a national role as a candidate.
Throughout 2025 and into 2026 we will continue to see historic challenges affecting government and industry, including reductions across the federal workforce, major shifts in program funding priorities affecting entire agencies, and infrastructure readiness challenges. Now more than ever, SAME’s essential role as an integrator for government and industry, focused on long-term enduring relationships, remains a priority for our Society. We require leaders who are seen as trusted stewards of this bond and can help inspire other leaders to serve in the same manner.
We utilize two separate nomination committees: one for National Officer candidates and one for Elected Director candidates. For all National Officers and Elected Directors, we are looking for “whole person” candidates who bring a variety of professional experience and leadership skills. This year, the two nominating committees have met in advance and determined the following are some of the key leadership characteristics we are looking for:
Key Leader Characteristics:
- Passionate Advocate for SAME
- Visionary & Growth-Oriented
- Courageous Change Catalyst
- Practical & Action-Driven
- Motivational & Inspirational
SAME will also host a live/recorded webinar on Thursday October 2, 2025 at 1:00pm ET to provide guidance and answer questions for anyone interested in submitting a nomination. Both Nominating Committees for National Officer and Elected Director have received guidance as part of their upcoming review process of all candidates, and it is consistent with what I have shared here with the SAME membership.
– Michael Huffstetler, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, F.SAME, DLR Group | 106th SAME National President
Standard Evaluation Criteria & Qualifications
National Officers
- Is an SAME Fellow
- All serving Fellows will be screened for consideration by the committee
- Nominations for National Officers may be made by any Board of Direction member, Post President, Post or Regional Fellows Point of Contact, AOF Executive Committee member, SAME Foundation Board of Direction member, any past SAME National President, or as a self-nomination.
- National Officer candidates must submit a two-minute video, answering: “addressing President’s Guidance which addresses the leadership needs of the Society.“ Videos can be sent to Kathy Off at koff@same.org.
- NOTE: National Officers consist of a President-Elect, who serves a one-year term then ascends to National President; and three Vice Presidents who serve two-year terms, although one may be selected for President-Elect after one year and vacate their second year as Vice President).
Elected Directors
- Contributions to local Post
- Contributions to the SAME Strategic Plan
- Nominations for Elected Directors may be made by any Post President, National Board of Direction member, Post or Regional Fellows Point of Contact, AOF Executive Committee Member, SAME Foundation Board of Direction Member, any past SAME National President, or as a self-nomination.
- NOTE: Each year, four Elected Directors are selected through membership voting, with a minimum of one being a Young Professional. Elected Directors serve three-year terms.
2025 Leadership Nominations Webinar (10/2)
National Leadership at SAME
Leadership Roles & Responsibilities
(NOTE: Descriptions/Qualifications/Responsibilities of national leadership positions shown refer to the previously structured Board of Direction; the governance has been updated to now have a National Leadership Assembly, of which a 16-person Board of Direction is selected annually, which includes the National Officers and three RVPs, three C3 Chairs, and three Elected Directors.)
Hear From Past Society Leaders
Building and preserving the bond between members and our national engineering institutions is paramount and deserves this careful, intentional selection process we have refined to elect effective leaders who are committed to advancing our Strategic Plan.
Michael Huffstetler, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, F.SAME, 106th SAME National President | 2025-2026
