DSEF is ramping up our efforts to educate external constituencies about the value of the entrepreneurial opportunity associated with direct selling. The DSEF team is growing and moving with renewed urgency and focus to advance our long-standing mission to engage and educate key audiences about how direct selling empowers individuals, supports communities and strengthens economies. To accomplish that mission, the Foundation is moving aggressively to ensure that there is a “big tent” of credible voices beyond our industry that are educated, empowered and equipped to effectively speak on our behalf.
An important element of that work includes the partnerships that DSEF is forging with key academics, consumer influencers and regulators. For example, the Foundation’s relationships with the Federal Trade Commission and organizations like the Council for Better Business Bureaus help us shine the light on the ethical standards the industry works to promote and uphold.
We are excited to see some of these leaders in action as participants in the Foundation’s upcoming event on consumer protection and self-regulation featuring key consumer regulators, a national leader among academics in the field of regulation studies and a multi-industry panel discussion that will include DSA President Joe Mariano speaking on behalf of direct selling. Additional details on the event and how to participate are here. We hope that many of you can join us.
I’m also excited to announce that Regina Clay has joined DSEF as our Director of Consumer Initiatives. Regina spent more than 12 years in state and local government, most recently as Community Liaison for former Howard County, MD, Executive Ken Ulman. She will play an important role in expanding the reach of partnerships with consumer organizations to touch those at the state level, particularly in states with high concentrations of direct sellers, and pursuing new organizations, such as those focused on economic opportunity, women and Hispanic Americans that can help our stakeholders appreciate that direct selling is an entrepreneurial opportunity for all.
You can read more about our upcoming efforts in my recent column in Direct Selling News. I’m excited by what I see on the horizon and hope you will join with us on this important journey.
Gary M. Huggins
Executive Director, DSEF