Lester L. Dahms Memorial Foundation

Curriculum Director: Dr. M. Eugene Bierbaum, PRP, CPP-T

Dr. M. Eugene Bierbaum, CPP-T, PRP, is a practicing professional parliamentarian serving many international, national, and state organizations since 1972. He currently serves as Accrediting Director for the American Institute of Parliamentarians [AIP], has served as AIP Education Director, and as Chairman of the Registration Examiners Committee for the National Association of Parliamentarians [NAP]. He also chaired a joint AIP-NAP special committee which drafted the Joint Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians, adopted by both organizations in 2001. In the early 1980s, Gene Bierbaum and Lester Dahms founded Dahms and Bierbaum Associates.

Instructor: Michael E. Malamut, CPP-T, PRP

Michael Malamut is an attorney and parliamentarian practicing in Dedham, Massachusetts, in the Greater Boston area. His practice focuses on governance, appellate law, employment law, and administrative law for municipal and nonprofit clients. His work in the nonprofit sector concentrates on entity formation, reorganization, governance structure, governance policy formulation and review, membership association-subordinate unit relationships, member discipline, and meeting procedures. He has written numerous articles on these and related topics.

Previously, Mr. Malamut was a senior associate at Kopelman & Paige, P.C.; Deputy General Counsel for the New England Legal Foundation, where he worked from 1998 through 2008; Assistant General Counsel to the Boston Housing Authority; worked at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Foley Hoag. He has been active in nonprofit issues in the American Bar Association, serving as Vice Chair of the Business Law Section's Nonprofit Organizations Committee and Co-Chair of the Nonprofit Governance Subcommittee.

Mr. Malamut is one of the few attorneys nationwide who has also obtained the highest credentials as a professional parliamentarian and is currently serving as Chair of the Opinions Committee of the American Institute of Parliamentarians, Chair of the National Parliamentarian Review Committee of the National Association of Parliamentarians, and Treasurer of the American College of Parliamentary Lawyers. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University Law School, a member of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Board of Editors, and an elected Commissioner of Trust Funds in his hometown of Dedham, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.

Instructor: Alison Wallis, PRP

Alison Wallis is originally from a farm in northwest Louisiana but has lived in New Orleans since the late 1980s. She has a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and a law degree from Loyola University School of Law. After graduating law school, Alison was a prosecuting attorney with the Jefferson Parish District Attorney for over 15 years. She has handled post-conviction matters for the district court in Jefferson Parish and worked on the central staff of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. She now is an advocate in criminal appeals, state and federal.

In 2005, Alison obtained the designations of Registered Parliamentarian and Professional Registered Parliamentarian through the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP). With these credentials, she enjoys working as a professional parliamentarian for organizations meeting in New Orleans and other locations. Educational presentations are her favorite parliamentary activity.

Alison served as the President of the Louisiana Association of Parliamentarians from 2007 - 2009. She is a member of the NAP bylaws revision committee for the 2009 - 2011 biennium. Alison is the Secretary of the American Institute of Parliamentarians and is a member, since founding, of the American College of Parliamentary Lawyers. She is always delighted to visit and work with fellow parliamentarians.

Instructor: Jeanette N. Williams, PRP, CP-T

Jeanette Williams has been a professional parliamentary consultant since 1983 and serves a variety of local, state, national, and international organizations. One of her favorite parliamentary activities is her volunteer work with the Minnesota Association of Student Councils.

Jeanette was president of the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) from 2005-2007. She currently serves as Education Director for the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP). She has served in a variety of other appointed and elected positions in both AIP and NAP. She has served as a trustee for the Dahms Memorial Foundation since it was founded, and has served as treasurer and workshop coordinator for the foundation on several occasions.

She feels very privileged to have known Les Dahms who served as a mentor, colleague, and friend. Jeanette thinks that Les would enjoy one of her favorite sayings, "If you don't stick your neck out during the meeting, don't stick your tongue out afterwards."