USA Fencing

Three At-Large Director positions were vacant at the start of 2024. As stipulated in the USA Fencing Bylaws, two seats will be filled through an election, while the third was already filled through Board appointment. (Molly Hill was appointed to that vacant seat in February.)

Two At-Large Directors to Be Elected

• Two At-Large Director positions are up for election.

• These seats are currently held by David Arias and Peter Burchard.

• The two successful candidates will serve four-year terms that will begin Sept. 1, 2024 and conclude on Aug. 31, 2028.

In August of 2020, the USA Fencing Bylaws were amended to change the method of voting in Board of Directors elections to use a preferential voting system. While we used a different system in 2023, for 2024 we will return to the preferential voting system called the "Borda Count."  In this system, a point value is assigned to each preferential rank.  With seven candidates in the current election, the points for each rank are assigned as follows:

Rank 1 = 7 points

Rank 2 = 6 points

Rank 3 = 5 points

Rank 4 = 4 points

Rank 5 = 3 points

Rank 6 = 2 points

Rank 7 = 1 points

Voters rank the candidates by preference, which adds the specified number of points to each candidate's running total. 

Candidates not ranked by a voter do not get any points from that voter's ballot. 

At the conclusion of the election, the total number of points earned by each candidate is reported. The two candidates earning the most points will be elected to the two At-Large Director positions.

• Jan. 2, 2024: Window for nominations opens
• Jan. 12, 2024: Window for nominations closes at 5 p.m. MT
• Feb. 15, 2024: List of election candidates announced, appointee candidates recommended to BoD
• Feb. 17, 2024: Appointed At-Large Director named by Board of Directors.
• March 29, 2024: Petition Deadline
• On or before April 15, 2024: Final ballot announced to membership
• April 29, 2024: Bios, one-minute candidate videos posted to USAFencing.org 
• May 13, 2024: General election opens
• May 27, 2024: General election closes
• May 28, 2024: Winners announced
• Sept. 1, 2024: Four-year terms begin for the newly elected At-Large directors

All USA Fencing members are invited to apply for the two open at-large director positions and/or to suggest potential candidates for consideration by the Nominating Committee. 

All applications are welcome and will be considered. 

Applicants with a background/expertise in education, financial services, marketing, fundraising, development, DEIB and innovation are strongly encouraged to consider applying.

The USA Fencing Nominating Committee will be particularly seeking individuals who have prior board experience (inside or outside of the sport), or have held senior leadership positions in business, who preferably have expertise in finance, education, fundraising, strategic planning, or another knowledge gap of the USA Fencing board, who have an ability to collaborate and work well with fellow board members, who has the vision and ability to lead and inspire USA Fencing to move forward in a positive strategic direction, and who understand the difference between governance and operations.