Measuring progress in fulfilling mission

As the National Governing Body for the sport of sailing, US Sailing’s mission is to provide leadership for the sport of sailing in the United States. To measure their effort, they have released the organization’s 2021 Annual Report. Here are messages from two of its leaders:

Rich Jepsen, President, US Sailing Association:
Like the year before it, 2021 brought its fair share of uncertainty and challenges. But, thanks to your support and the dedication of US Sailing’s staff and volunteers, it was also a year of progress and growth.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Board continued to deliver on the ambitious goals of our five-year strategic plan. Improvements in Olympic high performance, member experience and value, and organizational effectiveness are benefitting sailors of every stripe across the country.

To better serve the complex sailing community, we’ve worked to diversify our ranks at both the board and staff levels. And we codified our commitment to DEI by establishing a yearly budget for this important area.

Every member of our board dug deep to ‘walk the walk’ with you by making a personal financial commitment in addition to their substantive volunteer roles.

We are honored to be committed donors who support access for adaptive sailors, scholarships for children in the Siebel Sailors Program, and an innovative, evolving program to return America to the Olympic podium. And remember, your gifts to the Siebel Sailors Program will be matched, up to $5MM, by The Tom and Stacey Siebel Foundation and gifts to our Olympic Endowment will be matched to $2.5MM by the Ding Schoonmaker Foundation.

Alan Ostfield, CEO, US Sailing Association:
Looking back on my first year as CEO, all of us at US Sailing worked to create a solid foundation for long-term success and improve our service to the sailing community. I am proud of the strides we have made and extremely grateful to you – our members, partners, supporters, and volunteers – for the trust you have placed in us.

You are the core of our mission and purpose, and I am honored to serve you.

Whether you cruise, compete, or charter; whether you’re a seasoned sailor or new to the sport; whether you sail singlehanded or captain a yacht, US Sailing is here for you.

We remain focused on our goals of building America’s sailing prowess at all levels, including the Olympics, providing best-in-class education on a range of sailing topics from race officiating to safety, and providing welcoming access to sailing for all.

To read the report, click here.