Chapters Make The Difference

By W. Laird Hamberlin, SCI, SCIF CEO

Originally published in the September 2025 edition of  Safari Times.

Now is the time for Chapters to lead because Chapters drive SCI’s mission forward. For more than 50 years, SCI Chapters have done incredibly important work locally.

Through the global Chapter network, SCI has a brain trust unequaled in the hunting world. SCI members are the best and brightest among hunters anywhere.

Many of these members are also active in one or more Chapters, and that work is critical to the future of hunting. For those members and Chapters, I invite you to take the next step and offer your knowledge and expertise at the national and global levels.

SCI is international, and that means that members and Chapters that are local in one part of the world are international everywhere else. The bonds among members and Chapters worldwide are what make SCI the force for good that it is.

SCI can win only if Chapters are engaged and are successful in expanding SCI’s footprint, both locally and globally. Chapters are the backbone of SCI’s successes worldwide.

With the increasing legislative and cultural attacks on hunting, Chapters cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. Yet how can local Chapters get into the big game globally? The answer is simple: Convention.

Convention is where we all get together each year, and it is the ideal setting for Chapters to prove their leadership in advocacy, conservation and community. Convention is Chapter leadership in action.

Literally, this is where Chapters can go to the next level in both engagement and prominence. And when Chapters establish higher profiles within SCI, then SCI can, in turn, have a higher profile in all forums associated with hunting and sustainable use wildlife conservation around the globe.

Chapters’ grassroots energy, member engagement and leadership give strength to SCI’s advocacy and conservation impact.

Chapters are the bridge between local hunting traditions and SCI’s global advocacy. Every Chapter’s presence at Convention demonstrates the strength of the movement worldwide.

When chapters attend the Convention in force, SCI has more voices, more action, more unity. There is strength in numbers and Chapters can and should make the difference.

Convention success depends on Chapters’ participation—recruitment, fundraising and representation. Chapters play a critical role in supporting auctions, filling seminars and shaping policy discussions. Chapter engagement is tied directly to SCI’s ability to protect hunting freedoms.

Convention is the premier leadership forum for Chapters and has tremendous value in networking, sharing best practices and learning from one another.

When Chapter leaders leave Convention, they take back tools, energy and inspiration that multiply SCI’s impact at the local level. Chapter presence at Convention literally is a force multiplier.

SCI’s advocacy power comes from members, and members come through Chapters. The more Chapters that are represented at Convention, the stronger SCI’s collective voice is — both in Washington, D.C. and internationally.

Every Chapter must be present if we’re going to keep our edge and protect hunting for the next generation and beyond.

I look forward to seeing all members and representatives from all Chapters at the 2026 SCI Convention in Nashville, Tennessee Feb. 18-21. Together we win!