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A Special Message from Outgoing Board Members
Connie, Diane, Tasca, and Clara!<!–
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Special Message from Outgoing Board Members
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To the NWMAF membership:
Our NWMAF board election is scheduled to open on March 25th. We’re so grateful to those members who have self-nominated for the Digital Coordinator and Self-Defense Coordinator positions! As a reminder of additional roles that must be filled:
Urgently Needed (terms expiring at the end of summer 2026):
• Chair
• Secretary
• Development Coordinator
Additional Open Positions:
• Events Coordinator
• Marketing Coordinator
• DEI Coordinator
These roles are a 2‑year commitment with participation in monthly Zoom Board meetings. We very much hope that we’ll find members to step forward onto the Board.
Please reach out to our Vice Chair, Monica Villanueva, at vicechair@nwmaf.org to learn more — or visit our Board Member page to nominate or apply. In the meantime, the outgoing board members wanted to share some messages with you!
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Connie Halporn, Outgoing Chair
To the membership:
NWMAF has been a beacon for my journey in Judo. There were so many times I was the only female judoka on the mat, and had to ‘prove’ to my male dojo-mates that I was just as entitled to be there as they were.
When I decided to run for the Chair of NWMAF I contemplated what kind of commitment I could give and how long. I knew I could only give NWMAF one term so I wanted to make sure I gave it all I could. Here is a small part of my candidate’s statement:
My vision is to return us to our roots with our expanded community to create safe spaces to learn, teach and support each other. NWMAF needs to do outreach to society at large to show how Martial/Empowerment Self-defense/Healing arts will elevate the world. To accomplish this NWMAF needs to have a secure financial base. NWMAF can’t just depend on the generosity of its current membership. Most importantly, I want to learn and study with my NWMAF compatriots. We are all in this together, to make a better and more inclusive NWMAF.
What I discovered is that not only does NWMAF need to be secure financially, but more importantly, the membership needs to become more involved and present. There have been too many vacancies on the Board in critical positions for much too long. Brave and honorable members stepped up before me doing much too much of the work to keep NWMAF afloat, because of their love and commitment to our mission. With the turn-over being what it’s been, things have been left undone, and institutional knowledge has been lost, with the result of reinventing the wheel in many cases.
As I look towards the end of my term (July 31st) I want to assure the membership that I will work with whomever is elected to the position of Chair, as long as they want.
Yours in solidarity
“Connie”
Constance H. Halporn
Rokudan (6th degree) Kodokan Judo
Chair, NWMAF (2024-2026)
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Diane Wallander, Outgoing Development Coordinator
Prior to serving on the NWMAF Board, I had served on several boards and was familiar with the expectations of these sorts of positions. What struck me from the outset at NWMAF was the clear dedication of the board members. My thought was, ‘I can really work with these people!’ Then, as I shifted gears into the Event Coordinator role for the 2025 conference, I came to know and deeply appreciate my colleagues for their knowledge, skill sets and creative mindset in planning and executing such an event. These are friendships and connections that I now treasure. As is often the case, it’s not what you are doing that defines your experience, but rather the people you meet and work with that inspire and enrich you.
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Tasca Shadix, Outgoing Secretary
I joined the NWMAF Board as Secretary almost on a whim, during the Synergy Conference, when the then-outgoing co-chair Carmel Drewes asked if I would consider doing so. At the time I was returning to Martial Arts and ESD after a nearly two-decade hiatus, and had come to the past two conferences more as a chaperone for my daughters than an active martial artist. (I wonder if it’s any coincidence that my time at those conferences drove me to start training in earnest again – and to finally earn my ESD Certification? Hmmm…our trainings are a powerful force!)
Joining the Board was scary for me. I viewed it as the realm of my NWMAF heroes. I was nervous that I wasn’t “enough” of a martial artist to join the board. I was nervous that I wasn’t very technical. I was nervous that helping to put on conferences would be an overwhelming task. None of those things turned out to be true.
I have absolutely loved my time as NWMAF Secretary. Everyone was patient and friendly and so grateful for the help. I’ve learned so much and made such great friendships! My connection and commitment to my training has been strengthened. And putting on the Conference, while a big job for everyone, was a shared task that came together beautifully. Seeing old friends (and new) converge in Chicago was an absolute joy.
The time commitment for the Secretary mostly revolves around the monthly meetings. I make and distribute agendas and minutes. I have also been putting together the monthly newsletter and posting on FB and IG, although if we had a Marketing Coordinator they would probably take on at least some of those tasks.
After three years in the role, it’s time to move on. However, like the other Board members, I’m 100% committed to staying on until a thorough onboarding has been completed for the next Secretary. If my successor felt more comfortable ‘shadowing’ for a month or two before fully taking on the role, that would be fine with me. I’ll still be a committed NWMAF volunteer (sign me up to help with the next conference!) and available for questions anytime.
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Clara Porter, Outgoing ESD Coordinator
I was asked to consider joining the NWMAF board in 2022. After more than 20 years of membership and witnessing the huge lift the board made during the pandemic lockdown, I knew it was time to make this commitment to giving back to the organization which has given so much to me personally and professionally.
I first attended a NWMAF conference in 1997 as a member of Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts. What I found there: a community of powerful women, changed my life and offered connections and friendships which continue to grow nearly 30 years later. Whether it was participating in the 1,000 punches with 100s of women or late night conversations, I felt I had found my place.
NWMAF is unique in that it strives to blend two quite distinct cultures, martial arts and empowerment self defense. In many ways the third strand in the braid, Healing Arts, provides the bridge between the two. This has not always been an easy alliance but it has been a fulfilling one, making both better in the process. We produce conferences that are welcoming as well as positively challenging, with a huge array of Martial Arts represented and an equal number of ESD sessions from the Model Class for those seeking certification, to sessions about research, specific populations, trauma, and the business of self defense.
From my time on the board, I am most proud of our efforts to institutionalize important aspects of the conference such as the true inclusion of trans people, shared community agreements posted in every room, and the balance between Martial Arts and ESD offerings. We also successfully tested regional conferences and now have entered into a rotating schedule of alternating annual and regional gatherings allowing people to experience NWMAF more economically in their home regions and encouraging membership.
I feel deep appreciation for the board leaders who came before me and for the fore mothers of both NWMAF and of ESD who gave us the foundation on which to build. It is my hope that NWMAF will continue to grow and will thrive again.
In community,
Clara
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