[nabs-l] Action Plan, Part 1

[T. Joseph Carter]

Joe,

I just don't know what to say--this is an ambitious and carefully 
considered plan.  It is logical, practical, and a good idea to 
consider as well.  Based upon it, I urge you to reconsider your 
decision not to run for the NABS presidency.  I do not know many 
people in or outside of the organization that I believe have the 
power to make things a reality in the year or two span of the typical 
NABS presidency.  You could.

In fact, there has been recent suggestion that I should consider 
running for a NABS board position myself.  I had discounted the idea 
primarily because I was not sure enough of the job duties to be 
confident in my ability to serve in that capacity with any 
effectiveness.  With a plan like yours, I can see several board 
positions for which I believe I could serve well.

When we formed the Oregon Association of Blind Students earlier this 
year, we had five students at the table and one assisting non-student 
Federationist to make sure the legal aspects were followed properly.  
Only three of the students were willing to take on the responsibility 
of board membership, and two of those three had little idea of what 
they were getting themselves into back in February.

Fast forward to the present and we're getting the hang of it.  We 
have had a slow start, for which I am partly responsible.  My time 
tends to get eaten up by having to work through and around the 
blatant discrimination and vindictive retaliation happening at my 
university--that's an entirely separate thread, though.

The time drain is essentially ended (they're pretty much out of 
obstacles with even transparent excuses), and now we can build the 
organization we want to have here in Oregon.  Your blueprint will 
assist with that, now that you've written it.

I think the biggest thing holding our Oregon division is that we 
haven't really had the kind of communication you've described.  We 
should be tied in better both to the national students affiliate, and 
to our state's parent organization.  That tie also should not be a 
single individual as it is now with our state parent, since that 
creates a point of weakness.

Just as there are many out there ready to help us, Joe, there are 
many of us out here ready to help you.  Please reconsider running.  
I think NABS needs the organizational skills you'd bring to the 
position.

Joseph

-- 
T. Joseph Carter, President
Oregon Association of Blind Students
carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
503-562-9299

On Tue, May 05, 2009 at 03:30:49PM -0400, Joe Orozco wrote:
>Dear all:
>
>Over the past week there has been discussion about the state of the student
>division.  The discussion came about as a result of my urging divisions to
>apply for grants offered by way of my employer through its partnership with
>several corporations.  In some cases I understand divisions did not apply on
>account of there not being sufficient time or training or people to design a
>program worthy of funding.  In short, I am told student divisions are simply
>not ready for this level of operation.
>
>, another recent development has been the growing rumors that I am planning
>to seek the presidency of the national student division.  The rumors were
>true.  I did spend several months carefully weighing the pros and cons of
>running for the office.  In the end the cons took it, and I have ultimately
>decided to serve you in a different capacity away from the board.  That
>said, I will now share the plan I developed had I chosen to run for
>election.  I offer the plan I would have exercised in my hypothetical
>presidency in hopes that you will take what you like from my ideas and use
>them to expand your own divisions.  This installment of my plan focuses on
>the NABS board, but there is almost nothing here that cannot be applicable
>at the state level.
>
>The plan that follows is a practical one.  I have no use for idealistic
>nonsense that does not give concrete ideas on how to make a division grow,
>but because it is a practical plan, it is also a plan that lends itself to
>criticism.  This is the sort of plan that meets my leadership style, and so
>you will need to adjust the plan to serve you in your own leadership
>capacity.  And, I fully expect you to publicly challenge those ideas you
>think ridiculous.  This is, after all, mostly an exercise in development
>strategy, and no great nonprofit successfully evolves according to the
>notions of one single individual.
>
>Finally, my purpose in sharing this plan with you is to motivate you to aim
>higher.  I expect there to be dialogue.  At the end of my eight years with
>the student division I do not want to leave it with the sense that nothing
>at all has changed since the first day I came into the ranks.  If you’re
>okay with these expectations, please continue reading.  Otherwise, spare
>yourself the torture of a long-winded post and move on to more interesting
>reading.  It was not fair of me to yell at you for not meeting my high
>standards without providing you a means to get the job done, and so I will
>try to make the reading for those of you who do follow this series of posts
>as beneficial as possible.
>
>Let’s begin with the structure of the national board.  Each position from
>the president down to the fourth board member needs to have associated tasks
>to give people an idea of the position they are running for.  Otherwise,
>people run for positions with only the slate to tell them where they belong.
>People who are not on the slate are then left to randomly run against people
>with no real concept of what the position involves.  Again, bear in mind
>that this is true of any state student division board.
>
>In my hypothetical national board I would divide the eight board members
>into two halves.  My first vice president would be in charge of strategic
>initiatives.  Under this vice president of strategic initiatives would be
>the treasurer, first board member and second board member, only the title of
>these last two would be Director of Online Strategies and Director of
>Outreach.  The other half would be made up of the second vice president, who
>would be the vice president of membership development.  He or she would
>oversee the secretary, third board member and fourth board member.  These
>last positions would be my Director of Advocacy and Director of Education.
>
>The purpose for giving the positions new titles is twofold.  First, it helps
>keep the elected members focused on their responsibilities.  No matter what
>happens in the two years of the term, no matter the activity, they will know
>the scope of their duty, and the general membership will know exactly who to
>contact with their specific questions.  Second, it looks really good on the
>resume.  Ultimately I want my board members to use their positions as a tool
>to learn new skills and then use those skills to impress potential
>employers.  The National Association of Blind Students may not sound like
>much to people outside the NFB, but the title of vice president of strategic
>initiatives gives one pause.  It makes one wonder just what it is you did in
>that position and what qualified you to hold it.
>
>There is no need for constitutional amendments unless the board is
>interested in solidifying the roles in the exact positions I’ve listed them
>in.  I would recommend you maintain a certain flexibility by not committing
>yourself to the constitution.
>
>Now, I know I must have lost some of you in the layout of the positions, so
>let’s briefly examine both sides of this hypothetical board.
>
>The vice president of strategic initiatives would oversee the outreach
>operations of the division.  It would be their responsibility to research,
>identify and engage new members, partners and potential sources of funding.
>He or she would work with the other three members of the team to create a
>compelling image of the organization and sell that image to our audiences.
>What they do specifically would depend on the arrangement agreed to by the
>team, but integral to this position would be the composition of grant
>proposals, letters of inquiry, brochures, press releases, public service
>announcements, etc.
>
>The following job descriptions are by no means exhaustive, but they provide
>a glimpse of what their tasks might look like.
>
>Proposed Duties of the Treasurer:
>
>* Co-manage registration table at all special events with the secretary to
>facilitate the collection of registration fees
>
>* Work with the Director of Online Strategies to create and maintain a
>user-friendly online payment collection system
>
>* Oversee hard fundraising projects including, but not limited to: auctions,
>door prizes, candy sells, Monte Carlo Night
>
>* Maintain bank statements and easily produce balances by program upon
>request to the board and to the membership at large
>
>Proposed Duties of the Director of Online Strategies:
>
>* Maintain NABSLink
>
>* Create and cultivate social networking presences that sync up with the
>main web site
>
>* Use these combined resources to work with the Director of Outreach on
>highlighting current and prospective partners and/or funding sources
>
>Proposed Duties of the Director of Outreach:
>
>* Create and maintain database of DSS coordinators, key legislative staff,
>corporations, foundations, community-based nonprofits and media outlets
>
>* Create templates to actively communicate with all of the above as
>necessary
>
>* Use database and other sources like Idealist to recruit volunteers for
>certain specialties i.e. web development
>
>* Promote upcoming events, initiatives, etc.
>
>* Facilitate communication between NABS and other NFB divisions, including
>but not limited to: Sports and Recreation and National Organization of
>Parents of Blind Children
>
>On the other side we would have membership development.  This vice president
>would work with his or her three colleagues to take the members, partners
>and sponsors discovered by the strategic initiatives team and incorporate
>them into the fold of the division.  What Strategic Initiatives finds is the
>job of membership development to keep.  Again, the specific tasks of this
>vice president would depend on the dynamics of the team.  It is my opinion
>that vice presidents should maintain a measure of flexibility to oversee his
>or her team and work with the president on special projects, but among other
>duties the vice president would oversee the development of seminar agendas,
>event logistics, mentorship initiatives, newsletter publication and resource
>development.
>
>Proposed Duties for the Secretary:
>
>* Co-manage registration table at special events with the treasurer to
>facilitate the collection of guest contact information
>
>* Oversee the production of Braille agendas for distribution at special
>events
>
>* Work with the Director of Online Strategies to create and maintain an
>online registration system, preferably tied to payment process
>
>* Coordinate the assignment and travel schedule of student representatives
>to state conventions
>
>* Provide final editorial review of all outbound communication, including
>online and off-line communication
>
>* Record board meeting minutes and make these available to the general
>membership via NABSLink
>
>* Maintain membership database
>
>Proposed Duties of the Director of Advocacy:
>
>* Liaison to NFB governmental affairs office
>
>* Use outreach database to cultivate partnerships with DSS and legislative
>offices
>
>* Listen to and make recommendations on cases of alleged discrimination or
>lack of accommodations, working with appropriate professional staff in
>Baltimore as necessary
>
>* Provide tip sheets and brief guides on dealing with professors, employers
>and other common public entities
>
>* Create and maintain repository of advocacy resources on NABSLink with the
>assistance of the Director of Online Strategies
>
>Proposed Duties of the Director of Education:
>
>* Liaison to Jernigan Institute
>
>* Plan and carry out monthly membership teleconferences with key topics
>benefiting division development
>
>* Provide resources and guidance on writing resumes and drafting cover
>letters as well as interview skills
>
>* Oversee the creation and implementation of resources benefiting
>age-appropriate audiences i.e. elementary, middle and high school
>
>* Tailor specific materials benefiting teachers of blind students
>
>* Co-manage mentoring initiatives with the president
>
>As the plan unravels we will come back to look at these roles more fully.  I
>realize state divisions will probably not have eight members on their board.
>The positions above are flexible enough so that occupations can be
>collapsed, and even these eight members are not expected to carry out their
>work without assistance.  We will also take a look at the nurturing of
>volunteers later in the plan.
>
>For now, what is important to remember is that the positions need to be
>balanced in such a way as to create interdependence.  One half cannot
>function without the completed work of the other.  Membership Development,
>for instance, cannot put on a successful seminar if Strategic Initiatives
>did not do a good job of promoting the event.  The Director of Advocacy
>cannot very well run a good legislative campaign if the Director of Outreach
>has not developed a functional database of congressional and state
>legislative offices.  The examples evolve from there, but try to create an
>atmosphere of accountability, not necessarily one of hierarchy.  There is a
>difference.
>
>Now let’s look away from the board at the components that would help support
>the work of the directors.  First, each board member, including the
>president, would be assigned to a seasoned leader in the NFB, preferably
>someone in the National Board of Directors.  This would facilitate
>communication between the student division and the organization at large,
>but it would also provide each board member a means to gain guidance from
>someone with superior experience in all areas of recruitment, fundraising
>and general outreach.  More importantly, it would provide each board member
>with the philosophical anchor by which to direct all of that member’s
>assignments.  We want a vibrant division, but we want a division that is
>well-grounded in the organization’s fundamental principles, otherwise we run
>the risk of creating an independent animal.  At the state level the board
>members could be mentored by chapter presidents and members of the affiliate
>board.
>
>Second, all state division student presidents would come together to form
>the Council of Student Presidents, chaired by a person elected by the
>members of this Council.  This Council would meet quarterly to provide the
>NABS board with the framework for the board’s activities.  Ultimately it is
>the state divisions that provide the front line of communication with local
>entities.  It only makes sense that state divisions should have an official
>voice in how the board carries out its business.  The Council would pass
>resolutions similar to those seen at the national level of the NFB and would
>be approved or rejected by the general membership at either Washington
>Seminar or at the annual business meeting at the National Convention.
>
>Passing resolutions is a practice of the NFB.  We want to train future
>leaders, and thus it stands to reason that students should become familiar
>with the process of writing and submitting resolutions to be debated by
>fellow students.  These resolutions could not run contrary to the
>resolutions adopted by the parent organization.  They would simply
>crystallize the work of the board of directors in cooperation with the
>general membership on issues pertinent to students.  At its simplest, these
>resolutions would give the NABS board clear goals to be accomplished within
>a specified length of time.  It would certainly create a level of
>accountability to the board by the general membership.
>
>For this facet of division structure there is not a comparable arrangement
>at the state level unless the state division has multiple chapters across
>different campuses.  Texas has been one division to have previously operated
>student chapters at three separate campuses.  The idea then was to be able
>to officially register with the school so that the groups could benefit from
>fundraising, meeting space and donations from the school.  Consider
>incorporating resolutions into your operations only if your membership is
>large enough and the needs of your state distinct enough to necessitate such
>a strategy.
>
>You will, of course, notice that I did not include the responsibilities and
>expectations of the president.  We’ll get to that office in a future
>installment of my plan.  It is a position that in many ways warrants its own
>installment.
>
>What is important to take away from this section is that you will fail
>miserably if your house is not organized.  You do not have to run elections
>according to the positions I’ve listed.  You may continue to run them as the
>standard constitutional labels, but keep in mind that you will set yourself
>up to attract excellent talent if the positions are defined in advance.  If
>you apply the specialties after the election, make sure that people
>understand the full scope of their position.  Writing job descriptions like
>a business may seem like overkill, but then again, what is the real
>difference between a business and a nonprofit?
>
>Second, do not overlook the support systems you can create for yourself with
>the NFB.  You are not alone, and while I do not want to include any
>pointless clichés in this plan, there really are people interested in
>helping you get your student division off the ground, inside and outside of
>your state, hence the benefit of mentors per board member.  Something in me
>must care enough about you to write a hell of a long post to see you
>succeed.  I assure you I am only one of many.
>
>Now, enough with the fluffiness.  Let’s get down to the real business.
>
>To be continued...
>
>Joe Orozco
>
>"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the
>crowd."--Max Lucado
> 
>
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