Leadership in action: Celia Besore retires from TMA after evolving industry practices

MCLEAN, Va.—As she concludes her 19-year career at The Monitoring Association (TMA), retiring CEO Celia Besore is proud of what she has accomplished. “It's been a ride,” she said. “I've always been very proud of TMA. I've always believed in it, which is the reason why it was never a job for me.”  

‘Dream come true’ 

Besore’s tenure with the association spanned two separate time periods. She first joined the former Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) in April 1999 as director of marketing & communications, later becoming VP of marketing and programs. In the ensuing 11 years, she also guided TMA’s membership and education initiatives before departing to become executive director and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) in August 2010.  

She returned to TMA in January 2017 as vice president of membership and programs before getting appointed as executive director in November 2018 and later promoted to CEO. 

“My love was always with this industry,” Besore noted. “Being in charge was just amazing. It was like a dream come true in my career, honestly.” 

Standards & pandemic response 

Besore’s accomplishments at TMA are numerous – the development of Operator Level 1 and Level 2 online training courses for monitoring center operators; the formation of the ASAP-to-PSAP (Automated Secure Alarm Protocol to Public Safety Answering Points) service designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm companies to PSAPs; the implementation of the AVS-01 standard that assists law enforcement with resource allocation; and the creation of the Five Diamond designation, recognizing monitoring centers that satisfy all requirements of five points of excellence, to name a few.  

However, what she is most proud of is TMA’s response during the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented an unprecedented challenge for the association and the industry as a whole. During the height of the pandemic, the association held weekly town halls covering the most critical issues of that week and provided them with many other resources and assistance. Members were encouraged to share what they were doing to take care of their customers during the lockdown.  

“The thing I'm proudest of is how we helped our members every week,” Besore said of the town halls. “We found people who could provide information that could educate our members. We wanted people to feel free to talk and ask questions. It was essentially by members for members.”  

Parting words 

As she winds down her career at the helm of TMA, Besore is “very excited” about some of the technologies that will have a significant impact on monitoring center operations, particularly the advances in video surveillance.  

“Unfortunately, crime has increased, and we need more sophisticated ways to protect people,” she said. “All of these preventive technologies are very exciting to see becoming part of our industry.”  

Before heading into retirement, Besore offered the same advice to monitoring professionals that she gave the first day she joined TMA.  

‘If you offer monitoring to your customer, either on your own or through a third party, join TMA,” she urged.