By Will Mulligan, Membership Engagement Manager,  Arlington Chamber of Commerce 
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Hello everyone, I am Will Mulligan, the new Membership Engagement Manager at the Chamber. I am happy to be joining the Chamber staff as of May 1, 2022, and begin working with all of our members. 

I was born in Worchester, Massachusetts and I graduated from Murray State University in 1998 with a degree in Political Science and Economics. Since then, my professional career has given me the amazing opportunity to live all over the country. I have spent the last two years as the Executive Director of the Indian River Michigan Chamber of Commerce, so I am bringing in a lot of great experience to my role here in Arlington. A little bit about me — I am a golfer and curler, love to cook, and enjoy trying the food of different cultures. I am looking forward to exploring Arlington’s fantastic culinary scene! I also enjoy going out with my dog Fuji for a hike or even just some time at the dog park. 

By Lesa Hanlin, Director of Strategic Initiatives, University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies
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Coming back from my first monthly Director’s meeting at a former position, I had a decision to make. How much of the high level information I’d learned at the meeting should I share with my staff? On the drive back, I worked out my approach. 
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What I was grappling with was transparency. In a recent Forbes article, transparency is defined as “the practice of being open and honest with others, no matter how challenging it might be” (Atchison, 2021).  

​Transparency is one of the top factors consistently cited for employee satisfaction. The more transparent employees feel the management is, the more satisfied they are with their jobs. The benefits of transparency go far beyond job satisfaction, of course, contributing to a healthy culture, genuine relationships built on trust, more innovation, higher employee retention, and some say there’s a financial benefit to workplace transparency as well.