Dear NJABA Members,

Fall is officially underway, and we have even more exciting news to share this month as we continue looking ahead to our 22nd Annual Conference, April 15–16, 2027, at The Palace at Somerset Park.

I’m very excited to announce that Dr. Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi will join us on Friday, April 16, as the presenter for our half-day conference workshop. Dr. Cirincione-Ulezi has extensive experience as a special educator, clinician, administrator, professor, and leader in behavior analysis, with particular interests in supervision, mentoring, leadership, and culturally humble practice. We are thrilled to welcome her to New Jersey.

I’m also excited to officially share the theme for our 2027 conference – Growing Together: Advancing People, Practice, and Profession. Both Dr. Linda LeBlanc and Dr. Cirincione-Ulezi embody this theme through their commitment to developing professionals and strengthening behavior-analytic practice. Their work highlights the connections between supporting people, improving services, and advancing our profession. I’m looking forward to seeing those ideas reflected throughout the conference.

Our Call for Papers and Posters for the 22nd Annual Conference will open next week by October 15, and I hope many of you will consider contributing to this year’s program. Paper submissions will be accepted through November 16. Poster submissions will be accepted through January 21. Our Annual Conference is always strongest when it reflects the breadth of work being done by behavior analysts, students, researchers, practitioners, and organizations throughout New Jersey and beyond, and I’m excited to see what our members submit this year.

The NJABA Speaker Series is also continuing this fall. On October 12 from 10:00–11:15 a.m., Dr. Meredith Mates and Mandy Tiech will present Bridging the Gap: A BCBA’s Guide to Ethical and Effective Collaboration in Speech Assessment, offering 1.5 Ethics CEs. Please stay tuned for details about our November Speaker Series presentation.

October is also a natural time to consider renewing your NJABA membership for 2027. If you are already a member, I hope you’ll continue with us next year and consider whether Supporting Membership might be right for you. You can also receive a discount by signing up for a recurring membership. For members who originally joined NJABA as students but have since graduated or moved into professional roles, this is a good opportunity to transition to the appropriate Full or Affiliate membership level. Membership remains free for students and behavior technicians, so I encourage those of you who teach, supervise, or mentor trainees to continue inviting them to join NJABA. With 2027 memberships now open, anyone who joins or renews now will remain an NJABA member through December 2027.

Finally, one last reminder that the celebration of Dr. Sandra Harris’s life and legacy will take place this Sunday, October 11. I hope many members of our community will be able to join her family, colleagues, former students, and friends as we come together to remember and celebrate the extraordinary impact that she had on so many people and on our field. Additional event and RSVP information is included below.

There are many ways to be part of NJABA: sharing your work at the conference, attending a Speaker Series event, renewing your membership, becoming more involved in the association, or simply staying connected with colleagues across our state. Growing Together feels like an especially fitting theme for the year ahead, and I’m excited about what we can continue to build together as an NJABA community.

Warmly,

Robert Isenhower, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA-NJ
President, NJABA

President, NJABA