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NPC Conference Call
meeting notes
4/21/09
Notetaker: Danielle Mahones
Facilitators: Rocio Valerio and Cindy Wiesner
Present:
Rocio Valerio: EMEAC, Maureen Taylor: Michigan Welfare Rights, Elena Herrada: Centro Obrero, Jackie Smith: Sociologists without Borders, Alfredo Lopez: NY May 1st People Link, George Friday: IPPN, Jerome Scott: LRNA, Steph Guilloud: Project South, Cindy Wiesner: GGJ, Ricardo Martinez: Padres Unidos, Ariel Dougherty: Women’s Working Group, Sylvia Orduño: MWRO, Larisa: PODER in SF, Michael Guerrero: GGJ, Danielle Mahones: CTWO, Jacqui Patterson: Women’s Working Group, Sarita Gupta, Jobs with Justice, Bill Bryce: SE Michigan JWJ, Genaro Lopez-Rendon: SWU, Josue Guillen: The Praxis Project

Agenda

  • Overview of Agenda- Cindy
  • Updates from Detroit meeting: Sylvia
  • Intro of Interim Coordination Team: Sylvia
  • Update on May 9 meeting: Adrienne
  • Protocols on Financial Reimbursements: Stephanie
  • Tasks for NPC to take up.- Checking in with folks in next month to call folks on the list if they will be coming back on to the NPC.
  • Outreach Working Group- need an announcement with date and location.
  • Discussion on relaunching working groups (WG)and identifying point people per WG: Josue
  • Update on Peoples Movement Assembly: Steph
  • Next Face-to face meeting in Detroit: Rocio


  • Update on Detroit NPC mtg- Sylvia
Great weekend, energy and passion. Tour of Detroit and overview of purpose of USSF. Saturday we adjusted the agenda so we could communicate more effectively and address our assumptions/confessions. Some items flagged for further discussion on finances and signing contracts, We flagged having a space for further political dialogue and what it really means to represent community. Local concerns on staffing especially to increase resources on local level. :Need to hire national coordinator,logistics coordinator, tech and bookkeeper.
Interim Coordination Team approved from NPC and Anchor- to do drive some of the work in general, provide political leadership, monitor the process nationally. We need a roll out plan- flyer save the date. Need for strategic planning meeting with anchors and other folks. 5 anchors and 2 at large from local. 5 NPC mtgs from now thru 2010.
June 22- June 26 2010 with June 21 as set up date.
Cobo Hall and Hart Plaza and Wayne County are the main locations for the USSF.
WE need a letter of interest signed by all NPC regarding fiscal liability. We need a local anchor to take fiduciary responsibility. The anchors are meeting weekly f2f. Local Organizing Committee meeting every 2 weeks and is growing.
The anchors will have a hiring proposal draft. WE are working on an assurity letter to Hart Plaza. Cobo is requiring 20% deposit and then payment in full by May 2010.
EMEAC, JWJ, and MWR signers of checks. MWRO will provide meeting space.
First USSF fundraiser on May 1st.
  • Interim Coordinating Team from now until next face to face NPC meeting: Sylvia
Rocio, Elena, Will, Sylvia, Cindy, Josue, Tom Goldtooth (IEN), Adrienne until anchor strategic planning meeting in May.
WE have met twice. WE meet weekly. Also Maureen, Steph, Michael and Will have met. Cindy and Josue cleaned up the NPC list and sent a clean copy to all of us for review. The anchors are holding the strategy session on the 9th with Steph, Micheal, Josue and Adrienne will be present from NPC.
MLG: I also started a draft of overall staffing structure-I could share that with the local anchors and maybe it will be helpful.
Rocio: We are almost ready with our proposal we will post it on the wiki to get input from local groups. So yes it would be good fur us to check in on that.
Alfredo: One question-what’s the relationship between particular staff people and the working groups. I am wondering if the relationship between the tech staff person and the tech WG.
Rocio: Diana and I have drafted job descriptions for the positions that would include the tech/communications position. We will think about what that relationship is. In our proposal we thought that the logistics person would be guided by the logistics WG in Detroit
Bill: Subcommittee on communications and technology in Detroit- what’s the connect with the broader tech WG.
  • Anchor Strategic Planning Meeting in Detroit early May: Adrienne
Update on anchors strategic planning session for Detroit. We hope to come up with a very in depth work plan for how we are going to get thru June 2010 and beyond. What does the work look like locally. We need 1-2 reps from each organization and then selected reps to represent the Detroit Local Organizing Committee. We need to have capacity to make decisions at this meeting. We want to resolve some of the issues around staffing, WGs and how are they working at the local and National level. Right after first anchor meeting there was alot of energy to try to get everything done right away. But now we need to come up with a sustainable workplan for the local level as well as identifying hw national folks can support that work. May 9th is the day scheduled but I think we need parts of May 7th and May 8th as well to get thru it all. Will said he’d be down to help coordinate with Adrienne.
Cindy: We need to get the priorities from the local groups. Hopefully the dates are locked up by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. Full report back on next month’s NPC call on the recommendations.
Adrienne: Sorry I dropped the ball on the notes from the Detroit meeting. I will reach out to Sylvia for help. I will try to get them all to you and posted to the WIKI.
Sylvia: WIKI.ussf2010.org and then there’s a link for for Detroit Local Organizing Committee (DLOC) the other one is detroitussf.org. I don’t know if there is a place for NPC notes- not sure where to post.
Alfredo: I don’t know. There are a couple tools nationally that can be used as needed. Does everyone on this call have all of the URLs?
Sylvia: Is there any problem with us putting NPC info on local wiki? It will be a good idea to keep DLOC connected to NPC.
Josue: I have been on the call a little bit. The USSF planning wiki doesn’t have to be just a local tool. I’m in favor of having the national conversations available to as many people as possible.
Reimbursements the other is fiscal sponsorship criteria and conditions: Steph
We had talked about GGJ as an option to be the fiscal sponsor and a lot of the most recent events around fundraising and the need to have a larger organization who can receive large funds. All of that is in the email I sent today. I wanted to check in with folks on this proposal and see if there are questions.
Main points- we need to contract with a bookkeeper for this next period. There are USSF accounts not Project South accounts. In May 9th meeting we will draft short and long term financial protocols. Definitely including a local account in Detroit as well as a fiscal sponsor organization. Please submit a reimbursement and include back up/documentation i.e. receipt. We will cut checks weekly on Fridays. Please mail reimbursements and receipts to our Project South office 9 Gammon Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA 30315
Can we approve? Maureen moved to support. Alfredo seconded If there are questions or suggestions, please email me directly.
  • NPC follow-up with Inactive members: Cindy
11 organizations not active.
7 organizations are on leave-mostly base building groups. These are also members of GGJ. They felt they didn’t have time to participate and sustain their local work. We also need to contact them to ask if they still want to continue on the NPC, who will they send to NPC, what WGs are they interested in joining and if they can’t come back on- in what other capacity can they commit to support the USSF II planning process.
Please look at list, if your reps are changing-let us know.
We need a membership committee to take up the task of calling the 18 groups. From now to May 19th.
Maureen- I’m looking at the list. I’d be willing to try to manage this task.
Danielle: I can take on 4
George- I can help
Maureen, Danielle, George-is the team on this.
Cindy: Also please all NPC members check the contact list and make sure your info is correct. Before our May 19th to get a report.
  • Announcement of Dates and Location to USSF to listserve and website: Cindy
We don’t know if outreach working group is working on the announcement to send to the list serve. The dates, and message out to the world. Did you all talk about this?
Sarita: we talked about doing it-I can’t remember who took responsibility or by when. I am happy to check in with folks on it.
Cindy: Can the outreach WG take this on with a 2-3 paragraphs also with info on how to get involved, draft it and get feedback from NPC and then send out to the world.
Rocio: Can it be done in 3 weeks?
Sarita- we can try for May 9th.
Cindy and we need it in English and Spanish- we can send to hemispheric and international council as well.
  • Working Groups (WGs) and Relaunching them: Josue
Josue-I am actually transitioning from the Praxis Project at the end of this month. I will no longer be their rep. This is my last NPC call.There is a chunk of work and I will be still very active in the process. You aren’t getting rid of me.
In last NPC meeting we broke up into some WGs in f2f. we need to officially get them up and running. We are needing to identify organizations that will take responsibility for initiating the WGs, process that each group will get their work done.
Current WGs
Communications/Media
Tech
Program
Culture (is that separate or can it live within Program?)
Resource Mob
Logistics
Outreach (question about a PMA- is it part of outreach? Would the women’s working group or youth or does it live within outreach?)
Language Access
International
Right now Culture was added b/c missing from Program WG. How do people feel about it being integrated into Program. The history was that the program WG was not taking up culture in an explicit way- so they self organized.
No it was always separate and it was understood that it needed to be connected to Program or as a subcommittee at the least.
Bill: could Culture have seats in various WGs so that it’s integrated throughout?
Josue- program WG needs to meet and figure this out.
Alfredo: One question on Culture- because it involves artists- what has been exacerbated of the economic issues for artists and arts organizations a constituency that is a real political community. I’m wondering who can lead up the organizing of those folks. Maybe it’s not a subcommittee of program
Ariel: It seems to me that of these WGs there is a mixture of task oriented versus groups that are constituency oriented. The Program committee will deal with the overall programming of workshops etc. It’s hard to think about the groups without being clear about the tasks versus constituency.
Cindy: Can I make a suggestion? Most important thing is to come up with point people to figure this stuff out. Figure out the vision and work and come up with what makes sense. What was hard last time is that we have inconsistent co-leads and participation. Our hope this time around WG's can have consistent leadership and follow through.
Interim Leadership in WGS
Communications/Media: Is there an organization that can take on point of that wg?
Technology: We want 2 co-chairs and want it to be a national group and a local group.. May first is offering to be one of the chairs.

Program

Jerome is on Program committee. We have a call scheduled for a week from Wednesday and we will try to determine interim leadership at that phone call. Jerome will be a point person.
Culture: (is that separate or can it live within Program?) Are we looking for a point person for that? Jerome they met with Program at the f2f. WE can continue that for now.
Resource Mobilization: Genaro we at SWU, we will chair the WG. We had a couple of conference calls leading up to Detroit There is a strong group of 8 participating. We should schedule something between now and next f2f meeting. I’m also working on the Funder Movement process and part of accompanying the USSF as well. Trying to bring that together.
Logistics: Do we have a point in the interim. Sylvia, Can we offer MWR?
Outreach: Sarita- Tammy was playing a convening role- not sure if LCSC will take it up. I am happy to do that. I will take back the announcement piece back. We have not met since Detroit and we are scheduling a meeting. Women’s Working Group should meet with outreach
Language Access: is there an organization on the call that wants to take interim point?: We can talk to Highlander and TIGRA on that.
International- Is there an organization that would like to take point. Rocio I would like to continue on but I don’t know if EMEAC can take that on. I will take on the interim point person role. GGJ willing to help on this.
Peoples Movement Assembly (new working group): SWU and Project South will take leadership on this.
Cindy: a request that WG’s send out invitation to calls/mtgs you have scheduled so that others who are interested can join.
  • NEXT STEPS:
NEXT NPC call 5/19: 3pm EST (1.5 hours)
We should set up a subcommittee that thinks thru expansion plan for the NPC. it is also connected to the conceptualization in the NPC. If you are interested in participating just to respond to the email invite on that.
PMA conf call meeting next Monday, April 27 4pm EST
Possible next f2f NPC meeting in Detroit:
June 26-28
July 13-15
July 20-22
Rocio will set up meeting wizard to figure it out since we lost so many folks on the call. Please be looking for that. Please answer by Friday or Monday.
Interim Coordinating Committee will take up issue of relooking at standing Tues. call colliding with anchor organizations’ mtgs.