The NRRA was founded in 2026 to give reverse recruiting what every real profession has: a published standard, an earned credential, an enforceable ethics code, and honors that mean something. The governing principle throughout is separation — no single person or firm can set a standard, certify against it, judge a competition, and review their own conduct.
The governing body
Who governs, on the record.
The association is governed by a board of directors and officers whose names, seats, and recusal obligations are public. Founding officers: Arno Markus, BA, MSc, CPRW — Founding President & Chair — and Tamara Cameron, MA, BA, BEd — Vice President, Standards & Certification. Independent, public-member, and member-elected seats are defined in the bylaws and are being filled during the founding year.
01The Board
Sets association strategy, adopts standards on the recommendation of committees, confers honors, and holds fiduciary responsibility. Board members who compete in the Championship are treated identically to all entrants and are recused from every related decision.
02Standards Committee
Owns the competency model and the Code of Ethics: drafting, versioning, and periodic review. Publishes changes publicly with effective dates.
03Certification Committee
Administers examinations and portfolio review, maintains the credential registry, and rules on certification appeals. Reviewers never assess candidates with whom they have a personal or commercial relationship.
04Integrity Panel
Runs the Championship's blind-judging protocol: anonymization, judge assignment, conflict screening, and the audit trail. Structurally separate from the Board and from every entrant.
05Ethics Review
Receives complaints from clients, members, or the public; investigates against the Code; and applies sanctions from remediation to revocation, recorded in the registry. Decisions are appealable to the Board, with conflicted members recused.
06The Registry
The public record: every credential issued, every honor conferred, and any sanction applied — verifiable by anyone at /verify. The registry is what makes NRRA claims checkable rather than promotional.
Corporate form
The association is organized as National Reverse Recruiters Association, Inc., a nonstock corporation under the Delaware General Corporation Law, operated on a non-profit basis incorporation in progress — filings published as they complete. Its certificate of incorporation, bylaws, registered agent, and compliance calendar are published on the Corporate & Legal page — the same public paper trail the association asks of its members.
Founding period
During the founding year, committee seats are held by founding members and appointed independent advisors while the first certified classes are established; seats transition to elected terms as the membership grows. Founding status confers no exemption from any standard — founding firms certify, compete, and answer to Ethics Review exactly as any member does.
Accountability in public
The association publishes its competency model, its ethics code, its Championship rubric, and its scoring distributions. Where a professional body asks for trust, it should first show its work — that is the standard we hold ourselves to.
The NRRA