Whether you were able to participate in July's TownHall or not, we hope you engaged in some good discussion since then and are prepared, educated, and ready to come together once more with your ideas as membership considers where we'd like to go with RID and the implications of selecting a new organizational structure, or continuing with our current approach. This TownHall will be SCRID's second of two, intended to elicit member involvement and direction in the course of RID.

The structure and related intent of RID is a critical discussion that's been floating around for years, and it's time to make a decision and take action. How do you envision the future of RID? As a professional certifying body, we have the ability to accredit our certification, lending credibility to our profession among the ranks of professional industries and increasing political weight in legal and other issues. As a membership body, we take an active interest and role in guiding and directing the field. Do either of these fully satisfy our needs? If not, what kind of hybrid approach might we consider? Or is there another solution out there that will meet our needs and allow RID to most effectively support interpreters and Deaf communities?

The RID Board has requested your input. They have a sincere desire to know the thoughts and preferences of the membership. We ask you to please join us in the discussion during the upcoming SCRID TownHall. Participation is open to SCRID members and non-members within our area, and will be held in ASL via Zoom.

Registration is required in advance for this Zoom meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. And, if you find yourself nearing the start time without a registration, don't worry, you can still join - the registration process is quick and will not be closed in advance of the meeting.

In order to be better prepared and to ensure that everyone has the same background information, below are resources that will be helpful to review before the meeting if you have not yet done so:

• Transition to Professional Organization Brief History and Rationale (Mish Ktejik, RID Region 5 Representative)
• May 2020 VIEWS President's Report
• May 12th and May 28th RID Town Hall
• 2013 Accreditation Gap Analysis Report

Our national board is looking forward to member guidance in determining action. All RID Affiliate Chapters are being asked to hold local discussions on this topic. Following this discussion, a summary of community response will be provided to RID. We look forward to gathering with you for informed assessment of our needs and how RID will be best positioned moving forward to support interpreters, and thus improve our ability to serve deaf communities.