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2008 Election Candidate Forum:
The Questions
Question 11: The Club is structured with a Board of Directors, governance committees, Council of Club Leaders, chapters, groups, and sections as the prominent entities. If you could change this structure or how it functions, how would you change it?
Candidate responses were limited to 150 words per question.Lane
Boldman
We are a complex organization with multiple layers. Any efforts we can make to reduce the number of steps needed to connect National back to Chapters would improve our overall structure. The Council exists as a result of fulfilling a California Law, so this entity would need to continue. As Chair of the Council, I would like to see them more directly involved in advising Leader Support programs, since they have a direct connection to grassroots leaders.
In the Club, we are currently rolling out new online organizing tools and more online outreach. We must design ways in our structure where organically-organized online activists, those who have taken an online action, can be encouraged to migrate their activities into face-to-face contact in their local cities and states. The Chapter structure is a great support mechanism for this, so we need to connect online activists with Chapter and Group activists. Joni
Bosh
Questionnaire Not Returned Clark
Buchner
Project Renewal will change much within the club. I would not change the Council as an elected body, however enhancement of regional approaches to the CCL could be valuable. The Board could be slightly enlarged, but no more than 17 members, with some members voted in by the CCL. This would strengthen the CCL as an important body within the club. Establishment of a bi-annual election cycle for the Board could result in substantial savings. There will need to be middle management for conservation aspects of the club to staff and monitor activities of committees, and whether these are called strategy teams or otherwise, this will be a necessary level of involvement. The parallel aspects of staff and volunteers needs to be studied carefully to avoid duplication of effort and funding. This is one of the half-baked aspects of Project Renewal that needs to be address by the future board. Jeremy
Doochin
Dwight Eisenhower once said that “you do not lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.”
Leadership is not about making all of the calls or even all of the policy decisions, but rather empowering others to step up. Change should come not from the top down, but rather from the bottom up. Our activists must be the voice of the Club. Currently the Sierra Club structure is very top-heavy. However, I am optimistic that with the right implementation, Project Renewal could help not only to improve our communication but also increase the efficiency of our governance structure. I would implement more effective communication tools and advocate for an online organizational Club network, with individual accounts and profiles. This would also help at the local level. More than anything, we must succeed in creating a fluid and effective Club that has low entrance barriers to potential activists. Jim
Dougherty
In my view this question is moot in light of the Board’s recent approval of Project Renewal. Larry
Fahn
Questionnaire Not Returned Barbara
Frank
I would love to see trust and accountability built into our organization. We have many wonderful, dedicated, passionate members who see only their particular niche, mission, whatever. We truly need to be connected, and we need to operate in the spirit of “One Club”. Structurally, Project Renewal may make improvements but we need to change some of our culture as well, moving to a more open, inclusive, dynamic organization, operating with trust and accountability. That's harder than changing the structure, and it's more important. David
Scott
See my answer to the Project Renewal question above. I support a review and streamlining of national entities – consolidating redundant entities and looking for ways to increase the authority and budgets of those that we kept intact. I would not have gone as far as the OCSC proposals go. I do not see a pressing need for other structural changes – to the Council or chapters or groups, for instance. What we need to do is involve more people and get more people doing activist work, but that can be done in the existing chapters and group structure. Jerry
Sutherland
Sierra Club governance is complicated and frustrating to those not familiar with it. Internal communication has been an impediment though improvements are being made. Some national programs operate next to each other and chapters without interacting. We must simplify and integrate whenever possible. But we must also understand that covering a great breadth of issues, and operating in egalitarian ways, is the basis of our power, and we must accept that this will inevitably be messier than operating as a hierarchical for-profit corporation. Project Renewal was initiated for good reasons, but complete annihilation of all existing national structure to experiment with new ideas threatens chaos at a time when we need to be working together. Every year it seems some new initiative distracts us. Let’s improve what we’ve got as best we can and get on with our work. Matt
Urban
Much of this question is largely moot due to the Board’s adoption of the Project Renewal recommendations.
But the thing that was missed in that process is how we can continue to build bridges between national and local entities, so that there is true partnership throughout the organization.
I believe that shortly after the changes from Project Renewal are implemented, we need to take an equally in-depth look at how we can restructure the relationship between the board and chapters and groups to empower the chapter and group structure within the club. We need to be providing Chapters and Groups with the resources and tools and resources they need to be successful, enhanced communication with and support from the National club, and board-level acknowledgement of the continuing importance of our local entities to the success of the Club at achieving it’s mission. Nathan
Wyeth
Questionnaire Not Returned
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