April Rai, formerly Director, External Affairs of WTS International, was promoted to Deputy Director on July 16, 2020.  In her new role, April will lead organizational effectiveness at WTS, and will partner with Sara Stickler, Executive Director, to achieve the WTS mission and vision.  April will focus on continual process and operational improvements, oversee daily operations including staff management, planning and quality control.  She will oversee project execution by ensuring staff collaboration and deliverability of projects and events on time and within budget.  April will partner with Sara to implement growth and retention strategies of membership, chapters, and corporate partners.  Together, April and Sara will work to foster meaningful relationships with WTS chapters, members, key industry stakeholders, and other professionals to elevate the organization.

“I am excited and ready to move into this elevated position with WTS and look forward to supporting Sara as we drive WTS International and the WTS Foundation forward.  My time at WTS has been focused on streamlining our membership and chapter relations activities and bringing transparency and consistency to the membership and chapter relations department. In this new role, I will be able to apply similar process improvements to the entire organization and work more collaboratively with the entire WTS staff.  I have enjoyed getting to know our members and working collaboratively with our chapter leaders and look forward to expanding that connectivity in my new position,” stated Rai on her promotion.

“April has worked tirelessly over the past year and a half to clean up our membership data, standardize membership processes, and led us through an association management software migration,” Stickler said of Rai’s promotion. “She has functioned as Deputy Director in our partnership to bring operational updates to the organization, and as we shift our focus beyond these rollouts, it was important to acknowledge April’s hard work and elevated position.  In her new role, I trust April to manage daily operations of WTS allowing me to prioritize the strategic priorities of the organization.”

Stickler continued, “We have a dynamic, creative, and dedicated team at WTS.  We recently brought on Tiffany Fisher, Administrative Assistant, to help support the organization’s activities.  I encourage you to reach out and engage with this phenomenal team. Connect with Keith and MeKayla on your membership and chapter relations needs, reach out to Hale and Katie for communications and marketing- especially our chapter leaders as you roll out the new WTS brand for your chapter, and Shelby is available to connect on WTS events and support your virtual chapter events as needed.”