

Committee Mission
The SAME Membership Committee develops and communicates to all Posts the strategies, best practices, and tools that are most effective for them to grow their membership, to foster greater member engagement and leadership, and to enhance their members’ experience with SAME, further enabling each Post to support the current Strategic Plan of the Society.
Join the SAME Engage Membership NetworkOverview
As one of the “operational” Communities of Interest (vs. “technical” COIs), the Membership Committee serves as an extension of the national office staff to assist all Post leaders, especially Posts’ Membership Chairs/POCs, with the tools, resources and connections necessary to help enhance their members’ society experience through their locally relevant Posts. Between our COI members and the post membership chairs/POCs, invited to our calls and sponsored webinars, we are over 140 people strong across SAME.
SAME’s Membership Committee is open to any SAME member to participate. Unlike many of our other COIs that focus in on special professional and technical interest areas important to SAME members, the Membership COI provides participants with a broad-ranging opportunity to become involved at the national level. Our forum has the potential to positively impact the experience of every current and future member of the society as it pursues its strategic goals.
COI Objectives
- Provide opportunities to foster connections with other Post leaders across all sizes and post geographies
- Engage with best practices employed at other Posts by their leaders and members
- Share creative tools and resources aimed at improving post level retention and recruitment successes

Committee Chair
Bobbi Jo Lang, Olsson
Organization Structure
Vice Chair, Tools & Resources: Dick Kochanek
Chair-Elect, Strategic Direction: Lee Ann Zelesnikar
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:
- Shante Fields – Mead &Hunt
- Lalitha Benjaram – Mead & Hunt
Staff Liaison: Jill Murphy
Webinar: Understanding the New Membership Structure
Military Membership – What’s in it for You?
Upcoming National Webinars
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- Webinar
The Hidden Power of the Middle: Bridging Strategy and Execution
Mid-level leaders are the linchpins of organizational success, uniquely positioned at the crossroads of strategy and execution. Often overlooked, this demographic is responsible for translating big-picture vision into actionable outcomes while managing the day-to-day realities of implementation. -
- Webinar
Construction COI: Accelerating Innovation: The NIH Modular Laboratory Journey
This webinar takes an inside look at how modular construction enabled the delivery of a $34M NIH research laboratory 18 months ahead of schedule without compromising quality or performance. This session will highlight how a fully modular, design-build approach accelerated speed-to-market, maintained stringent aesthetic and functional requirements, and relied on rapid design decisions, rigorous spec reviews, and the right project team. -
- Webinar
SAME Energy Security Webinar: Exploring the Challenges at Mountain Home AFB’s New Water Treatment Plant
Mountain Home AFB in Idaho currently uses groundwater to meet the base’s water needs. The aquifer that supplies the groundwater is rapidly depleting and is expected to run out of water in 30 years. This webinar provides an overview of the 15+ year effort to identify new water supplies and how the base chose to get water from the C.J. Strike Reservoir along the Snake River, 14 miles away.
Related TME Articles – Membership
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The Benefits of Defensive Wetlanding
The practice of strategically creating wetlands to enhance defensive terrain can have significant environmental benefits in addition to increasing defensive military advantages. -
Fortifying Energy Resiliency and Preparedness
At Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, the U.S. Army is achieving energy reliability through a partnership with the private sector on a commercial power plant that is capable of rapidly providing standalone, off-grid power to the base and which it has already proven in a real-world outage event. -
Mitigating PFAS at Naval Air Station Alameda
Historical firefighting training at the former Naval Air Station Alameda led to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance impacts in the groundwater, necessitating the installation of a 720-ft permeable adsorptive barrier. -
Leveraging Data for Better Stormwater Drainage
An extensive drainage study conducted for a pair of airfields in Oklahoma leveraged geospatial technology, stormwater modeling, and data analysis to develop tailored solutions that will help contribute to improved readiness at these key training installations.