As we close out another remarkable year and welcome in the new year, the AME Home Team and Board of Directors extend our heartfelt gratitude to our members, partners and friends for your dedication, passion and continuous pursuit of enterprise excellence. Together, we’ve advanced our community, strengthened our shared mission and inspired one another through connection, learning and leadership.
As we step into 2026, we wish you a joyful, healthy and hope-filled new year. May the coming year bring you fresh opportunities to share, learn, grow and make a lasting impact in your organization, your communities and your personal journeys.
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Our dedicated AME Home Team members shared their wishes for 2026.
Andy Kirschner shared, "My wish for the new year is to bring people together and connect them to something larger than themselves in order to take action toward a more vibrant and bright future for our families, communities and countries. One of the ways that I'll be starting that work is through my new role at AME as the corporate engagement manager. I'm looking forward to meeting the amazing practitioners who comprise the AME membership and learning how AME can best grow their success in 2026."
Barb Clayton, our director of operations and membership, sent her wishes to all. "Best wishes for a new year filled with growth, balance, collaboration and shared success."
Jessi Elder, our senior marketing specialist, shared her words for the year. "Professionally, my 2026 word is credibility. I want to focus on gaining confidence as a leader, being known for a dependable and clear leadership style, and consistently delivering high-quality work that earns trust. Personally, my 2026 word is steady. I want to choose consistency over reactivity and live a lifestyle that supports calm, clarity and deep focus on what matters most to me."
Our director of conferences and events, Regina D'Alesio, shared, "My goal is to create more opportunities for the AME community to build relationships, share learnings and stay connected."
And our director of events and corporate engagement, Sara O'Hara, said, "In 2026, I’m choosing to be intentional with my energy, focusing on what truly matters, letting go of what doesn’t and making space for joy, creativity and balance."
The AME Board members shared their wishes, too.
Keith Hamilton, president of Georgia-Pacific Corrugated, stated, "Each new year provides an opportunity for personal reflection on the challenges, learnings and blessing of the prior year along with recognizing the two to three pivots we should make to improve in the new year. This process helps each of us self-actualize and close the gaps to our full potential. Happy new year! Go be great in 2026!”
Mickey McCallion, Emerald Textiles' COO, shared, "Wishing all Association for Manufacturing Excellence members a successful, innovative and healthy year ahead as we continue to learn from one another and advance manufacturing excellence. My new year’s resolution is to stay curious, collaborate generously, mentor and coach when possible, and help turn continuous improvement into lasting impact for our organizations and communities."
These words from our Home Team and Board members reflect the heart of AME: a community united by purpose, driven by improvement and strengthened by service.
I want to thank all of you for your engagement and passion. My personal goal for the new year is to continue to work with all of you to advance manufacturing excellence and uphold the spirit of continuous improvement. Thank you for being an essential part of our AME family. We are honored to serve you and look forward to an extraordinary 2026 together.
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
