By Daniel José Piñeiro, MD, FACC, chair of ACC's Assembly of International Governors.

The international member section of the ACC has grown tremendously in recent years. Today, the College welcomes more than 52,000 members, including over 15,000 international representatives from more than 130 different countries. As the Chair of the Assembly of International Governors (AIG), I have been privileged serve as the voice of international members in ACC leadership and have witnessed the section’s growing enthusiasm to play greater role in College activities.

Though still in progress, governance changes being implemented at ACC have already created opportunities for greater involvement. One example is the ACC’s recent committee nomination cycle in which seven committees actively sought international candidates for open seats. In addition to greater integration of international members into our committee and councils, the collaboration between the AIG and the Board of Governors (BOG) on the newly established membership committee has created further opportunity for partnership between domestic and international ACC chapters. This spring, the AIG and BOG collectively launched the Chapter Exchange Program, a vehicle established for to increase educational collaborations between international and domestic Chapters. Exchanges between three new Chapter pairs have been established and we are excited to see the fruitful partnerships that stem from these programs.

I have been involved with the ACC for the last 22 years and have had the opportunity to work closely with the leadership team on a variety of issues. The ACC's continuous drive for excellence has helped it become a global authority in cardiology and develop strong collaborations around the world. I applaud the Colleges' efforts to examine and improve its governance structure and am energized by the positive outcomes I see from the application of these changes in its early stages.

Keywords: Cardiology, Committee Membership, Cooperative Behavior, Governing Board, Leadership

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