08/14/2026
Brother, on behalf of the Professional Firefighters you have so positively impacted in Mason County, Congratulations. Your retirement is well deserved and your impacts will be lasting. Ricky Walsh - IAFF 7th District
This post on behalf of the Alumni, of the IAFF 7th District Executive Leadership Series:
Our District Vice President... completely beside himself as he hears from the floor of the International Association of Fire Fighters 58th Convention a propsed amendment to the presented resolution, naming a newly created IAFF Executive Leadership Program after him. Read on...
As many of you know, the IAFF Convention is where our union comes together every two years to set the direction, priorities, and policy of our International Association. During this convention, delegates considered Resolution 22, titled “Creating the IAFF Executive Leadership Program.”
This resolution was brought forward on behalf of the IAFF Executive Board and reflects an important commitment to the future of our union. It also reflects the intentional advocacy of DVP Walsh, with the support of General President Edward A. Kelly, Frank Lima - IAFF GST, and the members of the IAFF Executive Board.
The vision for this program grew from the success of the Executive Leadership Series, first developed and implemented in the IAFF 7th District by DVP Walsh. That program demonstrated the value of intentional leadership development, real-world education, and preparing members not only to lead within our union, but to serve with humility, purpose, and commitment.
Successor training, leadership development, and the work of building a strong bench of prepared, educated, and values-driven labor leaders are essential to the continued success of the IAFF across both the United States and Canada. The Executive Leadership Series has already proven its value and purpose in the four states of our 7th District. Because of that success, the IAFF General President put forward a framework to model this work through an inaugural group of graduates.
When Resolution 22 came before the convention body, it was amended to name the program the Ricky J. Walsh Executive Leadership Program.
Following the amendment, delegates from across the IAFF spoke in strong support. Many shared personal stories about the impact DVP Walsh has had on their lives, their leadership, their locals, and their understanding of what it means to serve this union. Their words also reflected the lasting influence of the 7th District Executive Leadership Series and the work its members are now carrying forward throughout the IAFF.
After that discussion, the delegates voted unanimously to pass Resolution 22, formally creating the Ricky J. Walsh Executive Leadership Program within the IAFF.
This recognition of DVP Walsh is deeply meaningful because it honors the care, commitment, and personal investment he has given to our members, our families, and the future of this union.
DVP Walsh created the Executive Leadership Series in the 7th District because he believed leadership is not only about the work we do today, but also about what we leave behind for those who come next. He has often reminded those in union leadership that part of our responsibility is to plant trees whose shade we may never sit under.
That belief has been more than words. He built this program during a deeply personal and painful time in his life, while his beloved wife, Kelly, was courageously fighting cancer. Even as he carried that grief and love, he continued to serve others, invest in future leaders, and give of himself to this union.
That is the measure of the man being honored.
On behalf of the members of the IAFF 7th District Executive Leadership Series, Classes I through IV, we offer our sincere thanks and congratulations to our District Vice President, Ricky J. Walsh.
Thank you for your vision. Thank you for your humility. Thank you for continuing to lead through deep personal grief and turning that experience into service for others. Thank you for your belief in the members of this union. Thank you for building a program intended to develop better leaders, stronger advocates, and, most importantly, better humans. And finally, thank you for believing in us.
This honor is well deserved, and its impact will be felt for generations of IAFF leaders to come.
Congratulations, Ricky
