On May 5, 2026, HETMA members and partners gathered at the beautiful Shure headquarters for the SAVe Certification workshop, an experience that left many attendees energized, informed, and honestly, a bit stunned by the scale of the sustainability challenges facing our industry and the world around us.
A huge thank you goes out to Michelle Motherway and Kyle Marshall for hosting us and handling the countless logistical details that made the day run smoothly. From coordinating the space to ensuring attendees had everything they needed throughout the workshop, their efforts helped create an environment focused on learning, discussion, and collaboration.
Special recognition also belongs to Christina DeBono and Tim Alevizos for the incredible work they continue to do in the sustainability space. The passion and dedication they bring to the mission of SAVe are impossible to miss, and the certification program they have built is already making a meaningful impact across the AV industry. We are proud to say that our cohort is now almost fully certified, and even prouder to be part of an initiative pushing our industry toward a more sustainable future.
I also want to give a personal shoutout to Natalie Gillespie from my team at Northwestern University. Natalie completed the SAVe Certification at InfoComm two years ago and continued encouraging me to connect with Christina and help bring this workshop to life. Her passion for sustainability and persistence in pushing this conversation forward played a major role in making this event happen, and I am grateful for the leadership she showed throughout the process.
An especially appreciated moment during the workshop came when Chris Schyvinck and Althea Ricketts took time out of their incredibly busy schedules to speak with attendees. Their perspectives on leadership, responsibility, and sustainability within manufacturing and business operations added tremendous value to the day and reinforced just how seriously Shure approaches these conversations.
One of the biggest takeaways repeated throughout the workshop was that most attendees already understood sustainability was an important issue, but many had not fully grasped the sheer scale of the problem. Discussions around e-waste, energy consumption, supply chains, manufacturing impact, and long-term environmental consequences helped put into perspective how interconnected these challenges really are. At the same time, the workshop also emphasized that meaningful change does not happen through one massive action alone. It happens through consistent improvements, better planning, smarter purchasing decisions, extending product lifecycles, and organizations being willing to have honest conversations about responsibility and impact.
The day was a reminder that higher education AV professionals are uniquely positioned to help influence positive change. As institutions increasingly prioritize sustainability initiatives, programs like the SAVe Certification help ensure our industry is prepared to be part of the solution.
If your campus, organization, or corporate headquarters has an interest in hosting a future SAVe Certification event or sustainability-focused workshop, HETMA would be happy to help facilitate those conversations and assist in bringing an event together. The more opportunities we create for education and collaboration in this space, the greater impact we can have as an industry.
