Table of Contents
Contact
General inquiries can be sent to:
Mailing Address
Cactus & Succulent Society of America, Inc.
PO Box 41187, Pasadena, CA 91114
Board of Directors
Officers
Rod Haenni, President
Irwin Lightstone, Vice President
Nick Diomede, Treasurer
Roxie Esterle, Secretary
Jeff Pavlat, Past President
Members
Jackson Burkholder
Dave Ferguson
Kelly Griffin
Der-Shing Helmer
Ann Hopkinson
Phuc Huynh
John Martinez
Nick Renteria
Zack Repko
Art Scarpa
Vonn Watkins
Kyle Williams
Advisor – Laurel Woodley
C&S Journal Editor – Peter Breslin
Haseltonia Editor – Peter Breslin
Publications Layout & Design – Maria Voris
To The Point Editor – Linda Tamblyn
Show & Sale Chair – Nick Renteria
Librarian – William Wilk
Business Manager – Julie Taber
Governance
How the CSSA Election Process Works
The search for new board members begins each January at the CSSA Board of Directors Meeting when three current board members are elected to form the Nominations Committee. The Committee Chair is selected and the search for qualified nominees begins.
Recommendations come from both the Board and the broader CSSA membership. Nominees must be current Standard, Life, or Fellow CSSA members, and Affiliate Clubs are encouraged to submit names of active leaders from their local societies. Nominee names submitted at the annual CSSA meeting in June are retained until the following election cycle.
Each year, four or five nominees are recommended by the committee. This may include current board members wishing to serve for a second term. Directors serve four-year terms with a two term limit. Officers serve for a two year term and may run for a second term or, in the case of Secretary and Treasurer, until replaced. Continuous CSSA Standard, Life, or Fellow membership is required throughout board service.
Nominee Selection Criteria
The Nominations Committee carefully reviews and interviews each potential nominee. CSSA members who are active in their local clubs and demonstrate leadership, collaboration, and communication skills are especially encouraged to serve.
The CSSA BOD is a working board and we seek Board Members who have the time and dedication to bring special knowledge and skills to the board. The committee seeks a diverse board with representation from around the country. Board Members are required to:
- Attend three Board of Directors meetings per year, one of which is in-person at The Huntington in Pasadena, CA
- Sign and adhere to Conflict of Interest Statement and Code of Ethics
- Serve on two or more committees (permanent or ad hoc) that will require work outside meetings
- Use standard tools such as Google, Word, Excel, Email, and video-conferencing for communication and documentation
From Nomination to Election
The selected nominees are announced and approved by the Board at the April meeting, after which they are required to submit a short personal statement and a photo for publication with the ballots.
Nominees are officially presented to the CSSA membership at the June Annual Members Meeting.
NEW IN 2026: The CSSA election process will be conducted digitally. Ballots for Standard, Life, Fellow, and Affiliate Society representatives will be available through the member portal. Members must log in to the portal to access and submit their ballots.
To reduce paper use and eliminate the costs associated with printing and mailing ballots, voting by mail will no longer be available.
Ballots must be received by November 1st to be counted.
If you need assistance logging into the member portal, please contact our office.
Standing program committees
These committees are responsible for the programs they administer. Information about them is at the bottom of their respective program pages
Financial transparency
History / Archives
The CSSA Archives are in the process of being moved to this site. We hope to add more historical records and tables, metadata about the Journal, article series, biographies, etc.