COLUMBIA� CHAPTER� # 87

PRESIDENT�S� MESSAGE����������� KATHY HENSLEY

Here we are welcoming another New Year, both on the calendar and in NARFE.� In November, those who were present at the monthly luncheon meeting, voted for a new slate of officers for our Columbia chapter.� I thank each of you for your support and will do my best to be an effective leader for active and federal retirees in this area.�

You may ask who I am � well, here is a brief summary of my background:

I have over 40 years of professional public service experience that included financial management, program management, grants administration and legislative coordination in federal and state government, primarily in the environmental area.� I retired at the age

of 50 after 27 years in the Defense Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC, spent some time getting grants for women�s health research at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, then took a position in the SC Department of Natural Resources retiring again in 2003, and have consulted on various issues with individuals and organizations throughout South Carolina.�� I have been President and board member of a number of local and national non-profit organizations and participated as a volunteer and staff member in too many political campaigns to remember.� As a Life Member of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), I have been a founding member of four ASPA chapters, president of three; was a Co-founder of Section for Women in Public Administration and had numerous roles at the local state and regional level with ASPA. At the ripe old age of 35, I earned a BA in Political Science from the University of South Carolina and did graduate work in Ocean Policy at the University of Virginia.� In 2006, I was elected to a 4-year term on the board of the Lexington County Soil and Water Conservation District and in August, I

was elected to serve as the Treasurer of the SC Democratic Party.� In my spare time, I play with genealogical research and try to keep the fish in my aquarium alive.� For the next year, NARFE will be a passion.

Now, I participate in more organizations than I really need to, but I�m willing to commit to NARFE whatever time it takes to attain our goals of keeping the benefits we enjoy as federal retirees and working to make some changes in policies that affect every one of us � WEP, GPO, and Premium Conversion to name a few.� Several others in our chapter have also volunteered to give the extra time to work hard in these areas.� We need your help!� For those of you who find the time once a month to come to our meetings � THANK YOU.� If you haven�t been to a meeting in some time, please try to make time on the second Friday of each month to join us at Seawell�s at 11:30 am.� We�ve heard from several that the cost of $11.00 is prohibitive, but

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