National Board

Published on May, 05 2012

The WILPF US Board meets every other month, and the Steering Committee meets in alternating months. Board meetings are usually via teleconference and are open to all WILPF members; pre-register to receive call-in information and agenda in advance of meeting by writing to secretary@wilpfus.org.

Board Meeting Schedule for 2024

With a new 2024 Board, the regular Board meeting will continue to recur every other month.

WILPF US members are welcome to attend Board meetings and are hereby notified that the meetings in 2024 are currently and usually will be at 10 am PT, 11 am MT, noon CT, and 1 pm ET – on the fourth Saturday of alternate months – namely January 27, March 23, May 25, July 27, September 28, November 23, and – in 2025 – January 25.

Please contact the Secretary (see above) to obtain additional meeting information.

Possible Special Board Meetings

The Board occasionally has additional special meetings to address pressing or accumulated business (as well as Board gatherings, for board retreats).

The Bylaws stipulate that —

Any Board meeting ... must be preceded by notification to all Board members at least sixty days in advance of the meeting. Failing such notice, the meeting may not make policy decisions. In addition, WILPF US members shall be notified in advance of all meetings by the means specified in WILPF US organizational policy

In addition to the schedule on this webpage, please see the WILPF eNews — especially the Updates section — for announcements of any such additional and special board meetings.

Special April Board Meeting

The Board will have a special board meeting on Saturday, April 27, to consider the 2024 budget proposal and address other business, as needed.

The meeting will occur at the usual board meeting times: 10 am PT, 11 am MT, noon CT, and 1 pm ET. WILPF US members who wish to attend the meeting should, please, pre-register to receive the meeting link and agenda in advance of the meeting by writing to secretary@wilpfus.org.

Board Minutes

Board minutes are usually posted following board approval at the subsequent regular meeting.

Click here for a list of board minutes

Opportunities for National-Level Involvement and Leadership Development

Are you an activist who wants to shape and develop WILPF at the national level? Spread your leadership wings! WILPF US members can become active at the national level by applying for membership in ad hoc committees and Board committees. Contact the Secretary for additional information on specific committees or committees that work in your areas of interest: secretary@wilpfus.org.

In addition to that option, experienced and interested WILPF US members are invited to seek a leadership position by applying for the national Board. Elections take place annually, for about a third of the board positions — generally, in the fall. You can apply and run for one of the open board positions.

We seek candidates who can develop respectful working relationships with sister board members and are ready to actively participate in WILPF US deliberations on policy, budget, and other issues. We especially encourage candidates with the special qualities of passion, clear sightedness, and other leadership abilities.

Between the regular elections, the Board sometimes makes appointments or takes other actions to address unfilled board positions. The Board may consider appointments to fill these positions, to serve to the end of the current board term (up to one-year). Contact the Secretary for additional information on currently vacant positions: secretary@wilpfus.org.

Hear from past and present Board members about what they like best about being on the Board

Current Board of Directors
Members, Brief Biographies, and Contact Information

President: Darien De Lu (Sacramento, CA)
Term ends: January 2025
conjoin [at] sonic.net

Darien draws support and strength from her "activist home" in WILPF, where she has been active for over 30 years. Outside of WILPF work, Darien uses leisure time to sing and write political and labor songs, for gardening and being in nature, and in other peace and justice organizing, including as a Latin America solidarity activist. She speaks multiple languages and has traveled extensively in Latin America, North Africa and West Africa, the Middle East, many parts of Asia, and all of Europe. She considers herself fortunate to have over forty years of participation in—and education from—many of the political movements that have often found innovative expression in California, such as nonviolent direct action, feminist process, ecological activism, and the ending of nuclear weapons and power. She agrees, to paraphrase Noam Chomsky, "since privilege confers responsibility, the question always arises as to how [one is] using that responsibility."

Treasurer: Barbara Nielsen(San Francisco, CA)
Term ends: January 2026
treasurer [at] wilpfus.org
[Declined to provide information]

Secretary: Dianne Blais (Fairfax, VA)
Term ends: January 2024
secretary [at] wilpfus.org

Dianne had numerous jobs in Washington, DC and Virginia before becoming an active volunteer while raising 4 children. Her interest in local politics gradually became more national and then international. She has been horrified by US policy and the large number of people hurt by it. Our DOD spending needs to be cut! Dianne first joined WILPF and the Disarm sub-committee after learning about WILPF at a World Beyond War conference 6 years ago. She is now the Jane Addams branch convener which is WILPF US’s virtual branch. She wants to do all she can so the goals of WILPF US’s issue committees are realized.

Program Committee Chair: George Friday (North Carolina)
Term ends: January 2026
programchair-friday [at] wilpfus.org

George grew up in Lincolnton and Gastonia, NC in the 60s. She holds degrees in Political Science, Economics, and African American Studies from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where she graduated in 1982.

George works with grassroots organizations to provide leadership and skills training ranging from strategic planning, organizing, fundraising, marketing and community building with particular focus on communication, oppression, change and the role of ”privilege” in transforming power dynamics to create broad, deep, economic and social justice change.

She is currently Coordinator for NC Peace Action and United for Peace and Justice, and consultant to various non-profit groups.

Development Committee Chair: Martha Collins (Wisconsin)
Term ends: January 2024
devchair [at] wilpfus.org

Martha Collins is an advocate, human rights activist and experienced nonprofit leader who has dedicated her career to working for social justice organizations that focus on building power within marginalized communities. For over two decades, Martha has had the opportunity to collaborate and strategically develop several coalitions to help create public policy groundwork for advancing social and economic agendas. She has extensive fund development and nonprofit advocacy experience.

In 2015, Martha led a successful coalition to prevent the Wisconsin Family Medical Leave Act from being repealed by the state legislature. During 2016, she led the largest “Fight for $15” rally in Wisconsin and developed and implemented a community-focused program which trained and employed over 200 Milwaukee residents as Peacemaker Ambassadors. In 2017, Martha served as a Commissioner on the Equal Rights Commission with the City of Milwaukee and introduced a resolution for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Martha actively serves on the United Nations Association Women Affinity planning committee working towards build awareness of the Cities for CEDAW campaign. Since joining WILPF, she has actively served in various leadership positions with the local WILPF Milwaukee Branch and on the WILPF US Advancing Human Rights and Women, Money & Democracy issue committees.

At-Large Board Member: Phillip Cole (Brisbane, CA)
Term ends: January 2025
at-largebdmemberPhillip [at] wilpfus.org

My name is Phillip Cole, and I am a member of the San Francisco Branch, and an active member of the East Bay-San Francisco branches joint policy planning committee; I am looking forward to my three-year term of service to our membership (2022 – 2024) as an At-Large Member of the USA Section National Board.

I was born into a family of social activists. My first memories of activism include watching the adults in the house preparing to be arrested for integrating a lunch counter, and their discussion of who would be guardians of the kids left behind. We move to San Francisco when I was still a child, and when I was age 10, my mother took us kids to what turned out to have been the largest anti-war march that had ever taken place in the city, where I had a huge wake-up call , as I saw my schoolteacher there, playing a guitar while standing on the back of a flatbed truck in the march. I then realized that everyone has a part to play in stopping war.

When I was a child, every single day, my mother would sing the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” As I join our USA Section Board, I say to all of our WILPF members, everywhere, together let us Lift Every Voice!

At-Large Board Member: Joan Goddard (San Jose, CA)
Term ends: January 2024
at-largebdmember-joan [at] wilpfus.org

Joan has been a WILPF member since 1999, after retiring (early!) from the San Jose (CA) Public Library. At the library she was involved in her AFSCME union, with leadership roles during and after the local strike around “comparable worth” in 1981. Joan has been active in WILPF as a member of several issue committees and of the Site Committee (helping with local arrangements) for the 2005 triennial Congress in San Francisco. Currently she’s involved in multiple way in WILPF and other organizations: participating in local single payer health care efforts, representing 9to5 with the countywide Wage Theft Coalition, serving on her WILPF San Jose branch’s Steering Committee, and representing her WILPF branch in an area coalition against human trafficking. Peace work and racial integration are other long-time pursuits. She also manages to make time for her “hobby” – helping people get to Ashland for musicals and plays (old and modern) offered by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

To contact the National Board, please contact president@wilpfus.org

Other Governance Positions in WILPF US

In addition to the Board members, WILPF US has several important “Internationals” who serve important governance positions. These positions are all established by the WILPF International Constitution and By-Laws, and their terms of office are about three years, with starting and ending dates related to the WILPF International Congresses

The WILPF US Liaison to the Americas Region Representative (generally referred to as “WILPF US Liaison”): Jane “Cricket” Doyle (Santa Cruz, CA)
IntlLiaison@wilpfus.org cricket.wilpf@gmail.com

The WILPF US Member of the International Advisory Board: Dee Murphy
AdvisoryBdRep@wilpf.us.org

The WILPF US Member of the International Advisory Board, Alternate: Julie Kabukanyi (Brockton, MA)
AdvisoryBdRep@wilpf.us.org

National Board Minutes

2023

National Board Minutes - November 18, 2023

National Board Minutes - October 14, 2023

National Board Minutes - September 30, 2023

National Board Minutes - July 22, 2023

National Board Minutes - May 27, 2023

National Board Minutes - March 25, 2023

National Board Minutes - January 31, 2023

2022