Minnesota Northland ABA

By Angelica Aguirre

Hello from the Minnesota Northland Association for Behavior Analysis (MNABA)! We welcomed two new faces to our full board this year: Dr. Shelby Wolf as our communications chair and Danielle Curtis as our student liaison. We said “see you later, never goodbye” to our communications chair, Elizabeth Harri-Dennis, who was in the position for over 6 years. Below are a few 2021 highlights:

• Created an Instagram account: www.instagram.com/mnorthlandaba/; Current followers: 158
• Created a Communications Committee to streamline communication efforts between members, our website, and social media platforms.
• Developed a partnership with Minnesota Positive Behavior Supports Network to collaborate on dissemination of ABA/PBS initiatives: https://mnpsp.org/mnpbs/
• Our legislative chair, Dr. Eric Larsson, BCBA-D, LP, recharged his BCBA licensing bill task force.

We hosted our largest attended conference from September 23-24, 2021! The conference was held virtually and provided attendees with up to 25 CE credits. Our keynote speaker was Gregory Hanley, PhD, BCBA-D. Additionally, we offered four 3-hour workshops, six breakout sessions (three autism and three non-autism tracks), and two panel events:

• “ABA and PBS in a Shared Context of Values and Ethical Practices”
• “Local Practitioners’ Perspective With Dealing With COVID-19 Pandemic”

This conference also featured a Data Blitz Event—six virtual poster presentations with a discussant and offering free CEUs. There were 235 attendees for this event.

Below are our goals for 2022:

• Create tasklists for communications committee
• Host our annual conference in-person after 3 years
• Edit and finalize 2022-2027 strategic plan
• Redesign our website
• Continue initiatives as addressed in our “Dissemination of Compassionate ABA” statement
• Continue to support and contact local representatives to approve the BCBA licensing bill

We look forward to all that 2022 has to offer MNABA and its members, including our conference scheduled for September 22–23. Please check www.mnaba.org often for details on this event and everything else we have going on—we would love to see you in Minnesota!

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