Growth And Expansion
By John McLaurin, SCI President
Originally published in the May/June 2025 issue of Safari Magazine.
Two years pass much quicker than one might imagine. Two years as President of SCI, even quicker.
Having created a Strategic Plan almost a decade ago that has grown and adapted over the ensuing years through multiple Boards of Directors and Executive Committees and Chief Executive Officers proved to be a great roadmap for success.
The beauty of our roadmap is that it doesn’t end with our journey to this point. It will live on through future Presidents, Executive Committees and CEOs.
I celebrate what has been achieved these last two years just as I celebrate what was accomplished before that, and most assuredly, I am excited to see what new achievements are written for SCI in the future.
But now I want to reflect on my two years as President of Safari Club International.
Over these last two years, SCI has cemented itself, holding the single most important leadership role in the history of protecting the Freedom to Hunt and Sustainable Use Wildlife Conservation. There is no doubt the world leader.
I’m not just talking about in the United States or any other single country in the world, but it is every country, with members and chapters and joint venture partners around the world. Protecting wildlife has for a very long time now been successfully funded by hunters and hunting.
Sustainable use is the only studied and proven way to preserve the diverse wildlife of the world. Without hunters and hunting, wildlife that we are privileged to enjoy would wither and fade from our world.
SCI, with the hard work of Volunteers, Staff, Chapters and Members, supportive Governments, Legislatures and Courts from around the world are paving the way for SCI successes, and they are amazing. Relying on facts, validated scientific studies, credible analyses — we have all established a model of truth, reliability and credibility that decision makers know they can trust and upon which they can rely. Thank you all for making SCI what it is today and what it means for the future of wildlife, hunting and our hunting heritage!
The 2025 Convention was the best ever — we have had three of the best in a row, actually! Which illustrates that a plan is only as good as the execution of initiatives and accomplishments that result from it. And SCI has had a cascading series of accomplishments that tell a story of purpose, perseverance and progress emanating from that strategy.
I am in awe of what we all, working together, have done, some of which follow:
- Created the Hunters’ Embassy, built upon the generous donations from Armand and Mary Brachman, Dr. Gerald Warnock, Lee and Penny Anderson, Johnny and J.P. Morris, and innumerable individual and Chapter donations. Those donations provided sufficient funding to pay off the note on the building.
- Built the most formidable Advocacy Team that SCI has ever had — a team sought after by legislators and jurists alike for their expertise in the U.S. and abroad.
- Renegotiated SCI’s presence in Nashville for the next 10 years. SCI is effectively set for the long term and has experienced three years in a row of positive growth.
- Expanded the SCI Chapter network with 16 new Chapters and 10 more in development.
- Membership has continued to grow every month for 37 of the last 39 months.
- Competed the joint venture agreement with Cinegètica, the biggest hunting show in Spain.
- Created the new Texas Trophy Hunters Association/SCI extravaganza in Dallas in January 2025.
- Launched a new TTHA website, 3 and 5-year membership programs and TTHA/SCI memberships.
- Continued to grow TTHA extravaganza success and created another new one in Midland.
- More than doubled TTHA’s business operations and initiatives.
- Moved the SCI Business Operations Center from Tucson to San Antonio, and all that the move entailed, from locating space, negotiating a lease and creating offices, working severances, and relocating staff, including the actual move itself, was accomplished without disrupting day-to-day business operations.
- Created and launched the Grand Slam Club Ovis/SCI convention partnership that generated a six-figure revenue.
- Improved SCI financial practices, performance and structure.
- Significantly reduced outside legal expenditure.
- Created a revised Corporate Sponsor Program which has increased revenue generation by over 500%.
- Rolled out Sporting Conservation International, the new umbrella organization.
- Opened an SCI Southern Africa operations center in Pretoria.
- Signed joint venture agreements with the largest outfitter/professional hunter organizations in four countries: PHASA, PGOAZ, NAPHA, and ZPGA (South Africa, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, respectively).
Thank you, everyone, for your dedication to furthering SCI’s mission and for your faith in me to lead the biggest and best worldwide organization protecting the freedom to hunt and sustainable use wildlife conservation. It has been an honor and the greatest privilege to serve you and SCI as your President.