PROFILE
THE PATH FORWARD Despite identifying challenges and opportunities, Sliefert is adamant that she is not coming in as SFMA CEO to make changes for the sake of change. Rather, she points out that change for SFMA will be a journey.
“ It starts with listening— understanding what our members are facing— and responding with resources and strategies that are practical, innovative, and inclusive,” she said.
Sliefert admits that having served on the SFMA board and being familiar with SFMA’ s challenges brings with it the pressure to hit the ground running, but that she will not skip the process of discovery and research— or what she calls her“ listening tour.”
“ I ' m asking what we are doing well and what aren ' t we doing that we should be doing, and I will summarize the feedback,” she said.“ I started with staff, board, past presidents, committee members and SAFE, and then I want to make sure I talk to all of the different segments of members.”
As such, Sliefert is doing her best to manage expectations, and plans to take several months gathering input as part of her listening tour.
“ You won ' t see a lot of changes right away, but I ' m going to prioritize which changes I might recommend,” she said.“ The board will determine what to prioritize or which recommendations will bring the most benefit to the members the quickest.”
Although Sliefert is just getting up to speed and working through the feedback from her listening tour, she does have a sense of the priorities that need to be addressed— with the budget being foremost on that list.
“ We need to have a vision for the future on the financial situation,” she said.“ We ' ve been borrowing from our brand equity, and we need to figure out how to invest again. We are solvent, but we have to stay healthy in order to grow.”
Sliefert wants to better understand SFMA’ s revenue streams; she wants to conduct a brand audit on how SFMA markets itself; and she wants to strengthen board and staff alignment.
“ When you’ re clear on the strategic priorities, it becomes easier to filter decisions and allocate
Sliefert with SFMA Founder George Toma
( From left) Sliefert; Amy Fouty, CSFM; Abby McNeal, CSFM, CPRP; and Sarah Martin, CSFM sportsfieldmanagementonline. com July 2025 | SportsField Management
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