Letters from the CEO (10/14/21)

Dear Friends of USRowing,

October is one of my favorite rowing months. The weather is beginning to turn crisp and fall head races are truly underway. Speaking of which, if you're at the Head of the Charles, please come say hi at the USRowing tent.

My first year at USRowing is coming to a close on November 1st and, although there is still work ahead of us, I feel optimistic about the changes we've made as well as those you will all begin to see in the months and years to come. Throughout this short journey I've begun to appreciate the amount of effort and patience that is necessary to effect change—it is certainly not a switch that we flip on. But, here are a few things I'm proud we've accomplished:

To date, we are on sound financial footing. We do not yet have the cash reserve I hope to build over the coming years, but we are on budget for the fiscal year to meet our financial goals.

In partnership with STEM to Stern and with generous support from Winklevoss Capital, we are launching USRowing's first national youth inclusion program.

A USRowing podcast, in conjunction with Row360, is up and swinging along (sorry, bad pun, I couldn't help it).

Our PR3 mixed 4+ brought home a silver medal from the Paralympics in Tokyo!

Our U19, U23, and coastal rowers brought home hardware too.

We have built, for the first time ever, a full development team within USRowing to generate revenue through individual giving as well as fundraising events and corporate sponsorships. They have already brought $3.1 million to date!

We have increased communications with monthly DEI Community Zooms, Business of Rowing Zooms, as well quarterly CEO Town Halls. Our next one is scheduled for October 26, 2021 2:00 p.m. ET. Click here to join.

We had over 1,000 coaches go through levels one, two, and three of Coaching Education.

As we came out of the worst of the pandemic, we were able to host three national championships (youth, summer, and masters) with wonderful participation and great feedback from rowers.

Like all rowers, though, I remain focused on what more we can do as we head into 2022. There is still a great deal to "get right" at USRowing around how we function and how we best support you, our rowers, administrators, coaches and friends of rowing. Tied to that, we have launched our search for the new head of High Performance and look forward to sharing more about our vision for our national team athletes as we look toward Paris2024 and LA2028. And we'll also be sharing an update on the USRowing Foundation which is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2022. Lastly, we'll be deepening our support for members with new staffing and initiatives informed by feedback from all of you over the last year—for which I am very grateful!

I hope all of you will help us vote in the USRowing board bylaws change on October 18th. If you're an athlete or a member org with a vote or part of a member org with a vote, please encourage a "yes" vote. Together, we can make USRowing a national governing body we can all be proud of—one that is inclusive, forward thinking, and excellent!

All the best,

Amanda

Amanda Kraus | CEO

United States Rowing Association

609-751-0701