Highlights of the 9/24 WILPF US National Board Meeting

WILPF's UN Program exposes young women and members to the ideals of the UN. In the United Nations, Norman Rockwell’s “Golden Rule” depicts these values well. Picture taken by Eileen Kurkoski.

By Eileen Kurkoski
WILPF US Secretary

On September 24, 2019, the WILPF US National Board met. What follows are highlights from that meeting.

1. Board candidate applications and extending the deadline:
Laura Dewey, Acting Nominations Committee Chair, reported she has received three applications for the board by the deadline. The three include: Jan Corderman for Treasurer, Shilpa Pandey for Membership Development Chair, and Joan Goddard for the one year Program Chair position. The Board voted to extend the application date to October 6, so other prospects may apply after being asked.

2. Finances and online fundraising:
The budget deficit has been significantly reduced with efforts to further decrease it. Chris Wilbeck, WILPF office administrator, will be setting up a means for online fundraising campaigns, including for Giving Tuesday. Nancy Price and Marybeth Gardem are strategizing ways to bring in more money for the California tour about toxic contamination around military bases (discussed more below), since the grant we received from Patagonia for the tour covers only two-thirds of the expected costs.

3. Membership Development Committee:
Shilpa Pandey reported, “As of 9/6/19, 1390 members qualify to get ballots. Branches in DC, New York City, and Texas are no longer active. The Seattle branch might re-establish itself?  Work continues to establish a virtual branch for at-large members, the “Jane Addams branch.”

4. Issue committees and ad hoc committees: Guidelines are being proposed for all committees to help standardize expectations and accountability. Several of the issue committees have responded with greater activism.

• Earth Democracy Issue Committee: Nancy Price reported on plans underway for Pat Elder’s speaking tour of California to raise awareness about military base contamination. Also, a Public Banking bill in California has been signed by the governor, making it legal for local public banks to return monies to cities and counties; they can now divest from fossil fuels and fund climate change mitigation projects. WILPF and many organizations worked on and supported this.
• Corporations v Democracy Issue Committee:  Marybeth Gardam chairs this committee which is finalizing a framing statement for sign-ons. They want an audiobook of anthology of readings they select, and they are developing a feminist tool kit.
• Disarm Issue Committee: They are updating their literature. Ellen Thomas has rented 2-3 rooms in Code Pink’s office/house to put up members to lobby for the Norton bill, calling for the US to dismantle its nuclear weapons by 2020.
• Cuba and Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee: In the face of tightened sanctions on Cuba and aggressive US moves against Venezuela, this committee is renewing itself to continue its national WILPF work.

The Board addressed the work of two ad hoc committees.

• Social Media: Discussion concerned what we want posted and how much help we want from our communications contractor, Michael Ippolito. Darien De Lu continues to look for branch social media activists and other WILPF members to volunteer to help on the Social Media Committee.
• Program 2.0: The Holistic Committee has completed Program 2.0, a proposed plan to unify WILPF US work on different issues. The Board approved sending out a survey to members requesting them to review the proposal and comment on it, including offering suggestions and questions.

5. July Board Meeting minutes were approved and posted to the website.

6. WILPF US Regional conferences in 2020:  Because of the lack of capacity and probable added expense, this idea was put on hold.

7. Update on CSW Programs: To bring in different perspectives and skills the search committee recommended having three well qualified faculty/coordinators for the 2020 Practicum and Local2Global programs. The programs will be partially subsidized by a generous donor and a grant committee will work to obtain additional funds. The Board approved all of these plans.

8. Next Board meeting: The next board meeting will be the last Tuesday of November, November 26. For further information on the Board meeting, contact Info@WILPFUS.org.