Press release
Walter Abernathy to retire in June 2028
NANA's CEO since 2017 will retire effective June 30, 2028; the board has formed a Search Committee chaired by Vice Chair Dominic Ferrante.
Walter Abernathy, NANA's Chief Executive Officer since 2017, announced today that he will retire effective June 30, 2028. The board has formed a Search Committee, chaired by Vice Chair Dominic Ferrante, to lead the process of selecting his successor.
Eleven years by the retirement date
Abernathy joined NANA in 2017 after a decade running a regional trade association. Board Chair Margaret Oyelaran credited him with steering the organization through membership growth, the 2026 member portal relaunch, and the current dues model study.
"Walter gave us two years' notice on purpose. He wanted the board to run a search without a clock running out on us, and he wanted members to have time to weigh in before a name is ever on the table."
— Margaret Oyelaran, Board Chair
The transition timeline
The Search Committee also includes Haruko Tanaka, Yolanda Pruitt-Ames, and Priya Ranganathan
A member town hall on the search is planned for March 2027
A successor is expected to be named in November 2027, with an overlap period beginning in spring 2028
Abernathy's retirement takes effect June 30, 2028
Abernathy will have served just over eleven years as CEO by his retirement date, the longest tenure of any NANA chief executive to date.
No search firm has been retained for the process as of this announcement. The board plans to give a fuller account of the search's structure and timeline at the 2027 Leadership Summit, where a general session is planned on governance during a leadership transition.
Why a two-year runway
Abernathy said he chose to announce two years ahead of his departure date deliberately, rather than give the board a shorter window that would force a compressed search. Oyelaran said the board had discussed the tradeoff at length: a longer runway risks a period where staff and members treat the CEO as already departing, but it buys the Search Committee time to run a national search without an artificial deadline pressuring the outcome.
"Two years feels long until you've run a CEO search. Then it feels like exactly enough time to do it without cutting a corner you'd regret."
— Dominic Ferrante, Vice Chair and Search Committee Chair
What the Search Committee will do
The Search Committee's initial charge is to define the role's requirements, retain any outside search support the board decides it needs, and build a timeline that lands a named successor by November 2027, leaving roughly seven months of overlap before Abernathy's retirement takes effect. Ferrante said the committee has not yet decided whether to retain a search firm and expects to make that call after the March 2027 member town hall gathers input on what members want in a successor.
What's expected between now and 2028
He is expected to remain fully engaged in NANA's operations through his retirement date, with no phased reduction in duties currently planned. The board's next scheduled action on the transition is the March 2027 member town hall, followed by the naming of a successor that November.
About NANA
NANA is the professional society for association executives, boards, and staff, providing research, peer community, and advocacy for the people who run the organizations that hold civic life together.