Susan Sarfati

“It just seemed that it was time for me to move on,” said Susan Sarfati, CAE, executive vice president of the American Society of Association Executives and president and chief executive officer of the Center for Association Leadership, Washington, D.C., on her decision to resign from the organizations, effective August 31.

Sarfati, who was the driving force behind ASAE and The Center's recent Global Social Responsibility Summit (see cover story, page 20), does not plan on retiring, however. “Going forward, my work and career will continue to focus on leadership development, social responsibility, women's issues, and contributions to the association and meetings community,” Sarfati said in a press statement. She did not have further details on her future plans at press time.

After 13 years as president and CEO of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, and founding CEO of The Center for Association Leadership, Sarfati moved to ASAE in 2004 after GWSAE and The Center merged into ASAE to become ASAE and The Center.

Sarfati's contract with ASAE and The Center was not up until September 2009. In a statement, ASAE officials said it was Sarfati's own “carefully considered decision to depart the organizations.”

From now until the time of her departure, Sarfati will direct her attention to moving the outcomes of the Global Social Responsibility Summit to the next step. “I believe that a social responsibility movement for our profession will be a tipping point for this profession.”