When Barry Hooper stepped into the role of Chair at WorldCC, little did he know the traumatic times that lay ahead!
That was at the beginning of 2020 and the Association was confidently predicting a period of strong growth, on the back of a record-breaking year in 2019. Within weeks, COVID was upon us, disrupting our plans, the plans of our members and providing Barry with major challenges in his role as Chief Commercial Officer at the UK’s Ministry of Justice.
As we all know, the chaos didn’t end there. Supply disruptions, geopolitical conflict, inflation – the shocks came thick and fast. Through it all, Barry remained solid as a rock, a constant and reliable source of advice and counsel, exemplifying the incredible value of sound commercial judgement.
Now, due to the WorldCC term limits, Barry is obliged to step down from the Board (though unsurprisingly we have found many more tasks for him to undertake!). We know we speak for the entire WorldCC team, for the Board and for the host of members who have benefitted from Barry’s incredible openness, generosity, and wisdom over the last few years.
A hard act to follow, indeed.
But up steps Rod Wade, showing once more how blessed we are to have such depth of talented, committed, inspirational leaders within our WorldCC community. Although relatively fresh to the Board, Rod, who is VP of Contract Management and Procurement at MedImpact Healthcare Systems, has been one of our most active members for many years, well known to our webinar and conference community for his lively interjections and pearls of wisdom.
Once again, WorldCC is growing strongly, the demand for contract and commercial research, training and insights at an all-time high. Still, we take nothing for granted – but we know that with Rod at our side, we once again have steady hands and an enormous shoulder on which we can lean when needed!
A note from Barry:
“It has been a privilege to serve as Chair for WorldCC. Some highlights include rebranding from IACCM to WorldCC in 2020, launching our virtual event Vibe, building our fantastic community of Inspiring Women, and building an excellent program in Leaders of the Future. And you won’t get rid of me that easily – I look forward to continuing to support the partnership with NCMA and the WorldCC Foundation as an existing non-exec Director.
A note from Rod:
"I am honored to step into this role at WorldCC, an organization I have admired and been associated with for many years. I look forward to building on Barry’s legacy, working closely with Sally and Tim to steer WorldCC towards new opportunities. We will continue to work on improving our capabilities in supporting our members’ needs, and enhancing our training and certification opportunities, leveraging the investments in our systems to best serve the member experience.”