Adopt 2019 Board Bylaws

Yes, I can review and we can discuss at 11 am next Thursday.

I’ll send a calendar invite :slight_smile:

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Yay!

Also, here’s a 45 minute video training on Sociocracy that’s key to understanding the bylaws and to stepping into the facilitator role: http://sociocracyforall.org/moose/. Check it out.

And, kudos for the quick response. Thought you might like the shout-out. :slightly_smiling_face:

Michael, could you send that calendar invite? Or, you can pass that task on to me since scheduling is a strength of mine!

Hey I sent the calendar invite Sunday night. Let me check if you got it.

Thanks for checking! I just accepted the calendar invite.

Hey @rachelkate.miller @Far-Pritte and @kddennis,

Michael and I met today to give the bylaws a first pass and it’s now ready for your review! Here’s how to do that

  1. Read https://hub.youthpowercoalition.org/t/many-voices-one-song-shared-power-with-sociocracy/281 to get an understanding of Sociocracy. If you have time, you’ll also really benefit from going through the first resource on that post: Work through this 45 Minute Interactive Self-Study Tool.
  2. Read our draft Bylaws and add comments directly to that document.
  3. Give those comments (or just a “no comment, this looks great!”) before Thursday October 24th at 10am because Michael and I will be meeting that day to review your feedback and make additional changes.

How does that sound?

@rachelkate.miller @Far-Pritte @kddennis, reminder to skim the Bylaws and add comments (or simply respond to this message with a “+1” [that adds a heart to this post :heart:]). @michael and I are meeting tomorrow to finalize our bylaws proposal! We also have a conflict of interest policy that you can (optionally) skim.

AH, I didn’t realize you were meeting today. I was going to read them this weekend, I will try yo read them this morning. Thanks!

Thanks for getting to this! Your comments were super helpful. Take a look at how we responded and let us know what you think! Michael and I are meeting again on Friday, November 1st at 11:45am to review the bylaws one more time and get them ready for the November board meeting.

Sorry about that, I have read over and added some comments.

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Update! I just had a conversation with Verónica and Alex, two of our amazing lawyers. They proposed the following:

  • What we’ve been calling the Bylaws, they’ll break up into 1) Bylaws and 2) a Policy and Procedures document. The goal of the Bylaws is to make #NYCEDU legally compliant. The Policy and Procedures document will govern more the day to day decision making, particularly around Sociocracy.
  • The Bylaws will be written to be as flexible as possible to allow us room to govern the way we’d like, but in case there’s a conflict between what we currently have written and what’s legally required for nonprofits, we’ll need to make sure we’re being legally compliant. (I don’t think there’s an argument there :slightly_smiling_face:)
  • Alex and Verónica will come back to us with draft Bylaws by November 26th. It’ll be based on the Lawyer’s Alliance template so will look different, but, to the extent possible, it’ll lift language from what we currently have. I’m meeting with them at 10am that day.

Will say more at our board meeting tonight to answer any questions and hear any input, but wanted to write it out as well.

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@board-circle Our lawyers have returned with draft bylaws! Take a look and leave your comments. Would a deadline of one week from now (December 18th) be reasonable for you all?

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@deborahchang I can look and comment by Dec 18th

(cc @board-circle)

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@Far-Pritte @rachelkate.miller Reminder to take a look at the draft bylaws by 12/18. Let me know if you need more time.

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Hi @board-circle

Apologies for being tardy. I looked through the latest (greatest!) bylaws. I didn’t disagree with anything. I only made two to three proposals.

Could you all look through the comments just to ensure consent :slight_smile:

Hey Everyone @board-circle

Just finished reviewing all the bylaws and notes/changes and consider this my sign off on them. Looks great!

Be in touch tomorrow with an updated Flyer!

Cheers, rkm

Hey all @board-circle
The bylaws look great! Made a suggestion here and there but for the most part it was already great.

You all are AWESOME @board-circle! I’ve officially sent our edits to the lawyers, who will look at it and turn it around by next week Thursday. I’ll keep you posted. Good work team.

TIME SENSITIVE @board-circle: Met with our lawyers today, and they are ready to turn the final draft of the bylaws around by next week Friday so long as we’re able to answer a question they have on term limits. Their proposal given what we asked for is that Directors are elected to two-year staggered terms while Officers are elected to one year terms. What this looks like:

  • Year 1 | We divide our board into two “classes”. Class A has a one-year term and then two-year terms following that while Class B starts with two-year terms from the very beginning. For example, let’s say our board members are Aardvark, Alpaca, Bison, and Bear. Aardvark and Alpaca are placed in Class A. Bison and Bear are placed in Class B. Aardvark is elected to the office of President, Bison to Secretary, and Bear to Treasurer.
  • Year 2 | Members of Class A are up for election, as well as all offices of the board. We also elect Anteater to join the board as part of Class A. Members of Class B are not up for election. Aardvark was re-elected to President, Bison to Secretary, and Bear to Treasurer.
  • Year 3 | Members of Class B are up for election, as well as all offices of the board. Members of Class A are not up for election. Aardvark was re-elected President, Bison to Secretary, but Bear has decided to resign from Treasurer and we elect Anteater as Treasurer.
  • Year 4 | Class A is back up for election, as well as all offices of the board. And so on and so forth.

The logic behind this set-up is that only 1/2 of the board can possibly turn over in any given year. And, although terms for Officers are now one year (to ensure that people can be elected to an office regardless of if they’re Class A or B), nothing stops us from re-electing Directors to the same office. When we elect an officer, we can also say that our intention is for a Diretor to serve as the Officer for at least two years, while still going through the formality of electing them after only one year.

Do we have a thumbs up on the staggered board proposal? Any objections or counter-proposals?

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Thumbs up. Staggered elections is definitely the way to go!