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Post by Board (Admin) on Sept 10, 2015 15:41:47 GMT
CO-CHAIR INTERNAL ROLE DESCRIPTION:
The Co-Chair (Internal) oversees the administrative functioning of St. John's Pride as a corporate entity. This includes but isn't limited to filing, paperwork, grants, and legal requirements. Some of the expected duties, rights and responsibilities of this Co-Chair are:
serve a two (2) year term (notwithstanding removal or voluntary leave)
in tandem with the other co-chairs, ensure the productivity of the Board
partner with, encourage, and when necessary assist and be assisted by two (2) Directors-at-Large with their portfolios
act as the primary contact for the Registry of Companies and with other governing bodies (e.g.: the City of St. John's) to ensure the corporation is in good standing
act as the primary enforcer of the By-Laws of the corporation and regularly review the By-Laws for potential amendments to improve Board functionality
take minutes or delegate minute-taking and ensure that proper minutes (including all motions, votes and resolutions) are being taken during meetings
prepare action items for each Board member at the end of each meeting reflective of the tasks assigned to them that meeting (i.e.: "to-do lists")
publish minutes in accordance with the By-Laws
act as a facilitator or delegate facilitation to a suitable candidate within the Board to assure productive, synergetic meetings
prepares general meeting agendas with input from other Board members
ensures that all board business is documented in some fashion (preferably electronic and paper-trail copies) for posterity and sees to its filing
researches necessary permits, licenses etc. for board business and completes or delegates their completion
recruit and manage volunteer base and associated resources
complete a comprehensive year-end report and annual return by August of each year
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Post by Tj Jones on Sept 26, 2015 21:04:53 GMT
Hello!
As stated before, I am now running for this position as opposed to Co-Chair External.
I see value in taking the opportunity to learn the intricacies of contributing to the smooth internal operation of an organization like Pride, and would gladly take on the challenge of continuing the good work that's been done by the previous Co-Chair in this position and build upon it. A big part of this would be maintaining the good standing that St.John's Pride has built with the City of St. John's and the work I did this last year negotiating a relationship with the City via application regulations and requirements gives me a great foundation for that very task, along with insight that can be applied to other aspects of this position.
I look forward to applying what I know, and myself to learn what I don't, to best serve our community by working with the institution that is Pride.
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Post by taylorstocks on Sept 30, 2015 17:09:40 GMT
Tj- Can you talk about your experiences with the festival site and how they will contribute to Pride in the coming year.
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Post by jordanlestercandid on Oct 1, 2015 1:17:59 GMT
do you see a role for St Johns Pride Inc building relationship with other municipalities in the GSJA (Greater St. John's Area) such as Mount pearl, CBS, Paradise, Torbay, Portugal Cove, etc. And if so, do you see St Johns Pride inc having a role in organizing Flag raisings there between the months of October/November to May month prior to the annual July St. John's Pride week.
Also to ALL Co-chair internal candidates: What do you feel is unique to your candidacy, and what experience (if any) do you have in things like TM(talent management), volunteer training, etc.
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Post by Tj Jones on Oct 1, 2015 16:02:36 GMT
Thank you for the questions Taylor and Jordan! I will reply at length this evening when I have more time to consider them properly!
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Post by taylorstocks on Oct 2, 2015 16:20:42 GMT
I recognize that I'm no longer serving in this position, but if I may, Jordan- I can honestly say that I do not believe STJP has the capacity to extend our reach to other communities right now. In fact, my recommendation to the board would be to do less during the interim months before the main festival simply because I have seen two boards nearly burn out by the beginning of June. Visibility and growth are great, but not at the cost of the well-being of the board.
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Post by jordanlestercandid on Oct 2, 2015 18:55:25 GMT
Hey Taylor, I am glad that you answered that question. With that being the case, maybe the best approach would be for the new board once elected to have a frank and honest conversation.
And if your recommendation to the Board was not to expand any further to avoid burnout, then maybe the focus needs to be that less is more.
That it's better to do a few things well and not have people burn out, then it is to expand or the status quo and have people burn out.
I appreciate your insight and tomorrow I will want further feedback from people on this.
As I was never on the board before, I was unaware that this was the largest contributing factor to board turnout.
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Post by taylorstocks on Oct 2, 2015 19:08:59 GMT
Yeah, it's hard to measure some times. And we all want to do as much as we can for the community and we can get ahead of ourselves. I agree that a frank conversation at the beginning of the year mapping out priorities is one of the first things that should be done.
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Post by jordanlestercandid on Oct 2, 2015 19:13:36 GMT
First of that frank conversation should be a strategic review of St. John's pride inc where we examine the schedule of every St. John's pride inc from its inception to the present: what worked, what didn't, interview any outgoing and former and confounding board members as well as volunteers and organizers. Another solution could be expanding the number of St. John's pride inc sanctioned events but which are organized by SJPI members and affiliated groups but not by the board. The highly successful Queer Uncensored that LGBT MUN and Eastern Edge have done all but one example of this model. If we have capacity issues that prohibit the 9 board members from reaching outside of St. John's, maybe we could find existing and or new groups who could hold SJPI sanctioned and reviewed events but which are done independent of the board but with the board's blessing.
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Post by jordanlestercandid on Oct 2, 2015 19:17:56 GMT
Also a review of the St. John's pride inc bylaws policies and constitution. We don't want pride to try to duplicate the group existing groups are doing and now that pride is going on its 6 year anniversary, it's time to evaluate how to solve chronic problems such as how do we get more volunteers trained, a volunteer registry etc. Even if there was some kind of way to set up a google plus and or Skype hangout for volunteers where volunteers. Something I would love to assist with on the board is the organizing of the AGMs that our bylaws requires. I have had to plan AGMs for many organizations I was a part of and I know of people with strong background in talent management but whom haven't been involved with St. John's pride inc before. I even spoke to people before who didn't even know the organization existed. These are just some of my thoughts. I know the 3 cochairs have a lot on their plate. The benefit I bring is that I have moved back in with my family rent free and am semi self employed and whatever other wage based jobs I have, I don't need them to live. I used to work overnights at a downtown St. John's hotel so I learned how to adjust my sleep schedule on the fly to adjust to changing work loads and demands and got quite good at it
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Post by Tj Jones on Oct 2, 2015 22:29:28 GMT
Hello! Apologies for the lateness of my reply.
To answer your question, Taylor:
Working as a Site Coordinator for our last Festival was quite the experience. It was the first event of this scope and scale that I've been involved with, and I learned a great deal during each step of the process. This included doing a walkthrough to determine its layout; securing the tents, tables, chairs, porta-potties, hand-washing stations and dumpster; notifying any businesses in the area that would be affected by the arrival of the Parade/our use of Quidi Vidi; gaining access to the structures on-site; helping to coordinate vendors that were interested in supporting us with wares or services while navigating the City's requirements for all of the above and finally seeing the set-up through the day of. There was a lot put into it. And there was a lot of emailing!
This past year we received a nod from the City by way of it acknowledging the growing size of our Festival. Along with that came far more logistical requirements than St. John's Pride had encountered up to that point, so even past years provided no frame of reference. Meeting these requirements - particularly as they related to insurance - was one of the greater challenges relating to Festival Day we faced this year, I believe. Along with insurance for both Pride as a corporation and all vendors wishing to be on-site, we needed to navigate food licensing for any vendors hoping to provide food, and sanitation needs based on projected attendance. Having all of this information moving forward will greatly benefit the securing of a successful Festival Site.
To sum up: I walked in blind last year, and signed up to do things I had no experience with in the past. While it was stressful as I learned these new skills (and my support network and the Board can attest to that), I believe in the end I gave the Parade a welcoming place to land - weather notwithstanding, can't do anything about that one! - given the restrictions and requirements that came to light throughout the process. That knowledge will help shape the building of the Festival Site this year, and make it a much less complicated endeavour with hopefully fewer surprises. I also have a much better grasp on what would be a functional timeline for establishing all the aspects of the site, and what sort of vendors our Festival should approach/can include.
Thank you for the question!
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Post by Tj Jones on Oct 2, 2015 22:48:24 GMT
I also agree with Taylor's statement of doing our best to avoid burnout.
Community outreach is important, but the nature of our Board and the resources it possesses are limited, and we need to operate within them.
I myself am a major proponent of continuing school outreach, but realize that the Board's role in that this past year did account for a great deal of planning time that could have been applied to the Festival itself (and potentially help mitigate the time crunch with all the requirements I mentioned before).
I agree with looking at other community groups to help assist with this sort of outreach. I am also a member of the Trans Needs Committee and will be assisting with presentations and training under its purview in the coming months, so that could potentially alleviate some of those demands.
There is definitely a greater demand for Pride's presence, and your suggestions sound like great ideas for moving forward, Jordan.
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Post by jordanlestercandid on Oct 3, 2015 2:51:45 GMT
I am loving the discussions that are happening during this St. John's pride inc board election campaign!  |
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