Natural Evolution To More Sustainable Organizing Structure—(5/1/08)

Proposal:

Dissolve “Owl Collective” as it is currently. Equalize power and pay. Move towards more inclusion by first positioning coordinators in specific interest areas and form working groups who will identify priorities and include all interested community members as volunteers.

Ask already positioned potential group coordinators to review this document, ask questions, to make comments and additions. Invite all to attend 5/7/08, meeting, as able (if not submit feedback via email) to flush out fully and plan to implement. Roles, stipends and commitment of coordinators will be reviewed in 3 months, ideally at in person meet up 8/08 where all guiding documents will be compiled.

Break out into 5 work groups:
o Education/Outreach-NYC (Michael/Open Position)
o Admin/Development-NYC (Mimi)
o Website (Nick/Web Admin)
o Media/Publications (Will)
o Support Network (Molly)

Paid Team Coordinators assigned to each work group.

Stipend at 8-10 hours weekly/$500 per month. Some teams may choose to job share coordination with 2 workers splitting stipend and sharing role of coordination.

Support workers (Sascha & Madigan) stipend at 5 hours weekly/$300 per month will be assigned to teams with greatest workload and highest budget priority (education/outreach and admin/development).

Work groups open to volunteers.

Coordinators are responsible for identifying volunteers/including diverse perspectives.

Work groups set priorities, assign tasks, and seek support and resources while collaborating and communicating with other teams.

Each group has a budget that reflects Icarus overall yearly budget priorities and is charged with tracking spending beyond stipends.

Coordinated teams/areas will allow for grant seeking based on specific programs/proposals and allow for more simplicity in tracking benchmarks for funders.

Group coordinators have equal decision-making power in collective body and equal pay.

Decisions within work groups and council will be made via consensus. Work groups will decide what form of consensus to utilize. Council will also develop style of reaching consensus with attention towards the future when more people are involved in process.

Proposals come to council already developed by work group.

Subgroups will form out of working groups and leaders will be self selected from volunteer crew and community.

Group coordinators will cultivate and support subgroup leaders.

Work groups will first prioritize co-creation and updating of guiding documents, policy and procedures that fall within their domain, leaving a legacy for those who follow.

Work group members responsible for presence on web forums, calls and/or in local groups as needed to stay in touch with community and remain open to inclusion.

Work groups are responsible to keep notes on meetings and circulate prior to regular posting on open plans and/or organizational blog.

Team meetings occur monthly at minimum (regularly occurring) and adhoc.

Community call monthly for input. Work group rep on community call to give update, ask for feedback and seek volunteer support (adhoc depending on the current priorities of the work group).

Collective (initially made up of team coordinators but will include others in future) meets monthly for check in, updates, decision making on proposals (may be more frequent during transition phase 5/08-8/08).

Education/Outreach (2 Coordinators):
o Campus Icarus
o Intern coordination
o Fountain House Relations
o Events/Tours
o Skill Shares/Workshops
o Conferences
o Speaking Gigs
o Media relations

Routine presence working out of NYC office. Supports the work of Admin team with volunteers cultivated within the FH community and local group. Media opportunities and similar engagements will be shared with other teams to identify diverse voices. Edu/Outreach will collaborate with support network to offer opportunities to individuals already geographically positioned to participate while decreasing overall travel spending.
Those attending conferences should write summary afterward and workshops should lead to curriculum development for others to use in the future.

Admin/Marketing/Development:
o Accounting/Budget/Bookkeeping
o Distro
o Mailings
o FJC Relations
o Funding/Grants
o Funder Relations
o Marketing
o Payroll Requests
o Supplies/Ordering/Inventory

Coordinator will be main point person for all relations with funders, including FJC, thank you notes, tracking dates of grant reports, communicating with accountant and making sure payroll and contractor fund requests are filed on routine basis. Tracking of inventory for distro and developing base of support for in-kind material donations. Maintain a routine presence in NYC office and collaboration with Edu/Outreach team. Answer distro@ emails.

Website/Tech Team:
o Forum Administration
o Web Editor
o Moderator Coordinator
o Contractors/Web Development
o Clean Up/Organizing

Potential job share between forum admin and web editor. Daily maintenance of web forums and upkeep of open plans. Identifying and cultivating volunteers for web development and forum moderation. Available to other teams for technical assistance to utilize org blog, open plans and database development. Answer (web)admin@ emails.

Media/Publications/Promotional Materials:
o Madness Radio
o Print Publications
o Graphics/Design
o Promotional Materials/Development

Work with admin team to develop marketing materials and support the development of distribution networks for publications/materials. Cultivate relationships for collaborations on publication creation, radio guests/hosts, develop promotional materials/merch for income generation and volunteer appreciation. Curate writing and art from community members, forums, etc for future use in publications. Edit/update already existing publications prior to printing future editions. Develop priorities around content and need for new publications. Seek community contributors.

Support Network:
o Local Group Liaison
o Web Host Liaison
o Volunteer Cultivator
o Ally Org Relations
o Ombudsperson

Potential for job share coordination of support network.
Support Network Group aims to eliminate job by creating avenues for local groups to have more supported involvement. Move towards local group reps participating on council for stipend. Support local groups in being responsible for quarterly updates via blog posts, keeping stats on events, actions and attendance (for purpose of funneling more funding to support local groups). Local group reps will include collaborating ally orgs like freedom center, etc. Support Coordinator will be responsible for identifying community members stepping up and will provide link to relevant work group contacts. Keep pulse of community. Update and routine check ins with local groups. Provide technical assistance for emerging groups by providing resources. Cultivate mediators within ally collectives to provide skill building and consultation when grievances can’t be addressed within. Be available to hear concerns and support resolution when interpersonal issues arise within working groups and local groups.
Answer support@ emails.