GHFC BOD Working Session Meeting Notes 09.03.13

ATTENDING:

Aaron Zueck Lawrence Eichorn

April Taylor Nick Collins

Christina Travers Pablo Armijo

DK Holland Sean Mullane

Notes: Michael Randazzo

(1) -- Discuss/revise Board Mission Statement Goal: Finalize between Working Session and General Meeting for discussion/approval at General Meeting.

• DK: obligation to members; empowering membership + long-term goals and strategy <good synopsis?>; renew our vows (Board) at the beginning of each annual meeting

• Christine: board mission vs. coop mission; differentiate

• Pablo: Already worked this out in August meeting at GHFC <facilitated by Giselle>

• Nick: need to have a simple encapsulation of mission

• DK to tweak and share with Board for final comment before presentation at GM Sept. 26 <Agreed>

(2) – Continuation of brainstorming on how the Board will work with Committees – to be presented to committees (at October Working Session?) and to the Membership (October General Meeting?):

Nick: working session with at least one co-chair from the committees

a) -- Each (November?) the Board proposes a (12 month?) roadmap and a prioritized list of Co-op wide goals to the committees, at a meeting of the Board and the committee co-chairs, the membership - at a GM, and the General Coordinator, who can attend either of above meetings

• <Agreed>; will generate an annual plan in January

b)-- Each committee creates and commits to their own (6? 12 month?) goals.

• Pablo: committees should generate 3 – 6 month plans in contrast to board’s 12 month planning; 6 month goals; 2 mandatory WS attendance per year

• Sean: each committee commits to specific goals and means of measurement backwards and forward

• Christine: map to a typical calendar cycle for committees

• April: 12 committees; 2 committees present at each BOD working session and then a 6-month follow up

• Lawrence: 2 per month; math works out

• DK: committees attend a working session every 6 months; how much time can we devote? Less insular; welcome more folks in.

• April: 20 minutes per committee per working session; 2 per WS; 11 WS meetings;

• Christine: Committees should be doing bulk of the work; 30 minutes is adequate/expected

• April: committees can come whenever they want BUT have to come a minimum of twice per year; anyone can come and present

c) -- The Board has liaisons to each committee that check-in monthly.

• In October determine who will be new liaisons

• Lawrence: liaison set-up is working in his two committees; board needs to be held accountable; each board member should report at WS

• Nick: concepts work but need to work on the mechanics

d) -- A large part of each GM meeting is devoted to an in depth prepared update from a committee on its progress towards its goals (Governance in January, Merchandising in February, Marketing in March, etc.)

• Nick: Ask committees one-by-one to present at GMs?

• Sean: GM is direct democracy; valuable to encourage participation by committees

• April: calendar for the board; look at global planning focus – plug in committee responsibilities; schedule kept; Michael responsible for GHFC website calendar

• Sean: start with a plan and then determine where it goes

• Nick: Examples prior of the newsletter and marketing committees presenting; website in September

e) -- All committee co-chairs meet together quarterly to share progress and collaborate.

• Nick: I think we agreed that it will take both time and energy to get committees both to the GM and WS as indicated, and that having 2 committees at each WS will already promote interaction between committees

f) -- Part of each Board working meeting is focused on planning, executing, and removing roadblocks around one particular goal. Appropriate committee members are invited in advance.

• Pablo: as needed, absolutely take this approach – case in point; rodent-proofing store.

• Nick: all the documentation for working with committees to be presented at the Sept GM so that by Oct we can liaison by e-mail with individual committee heads in advance of Oct WS

• Get liaison assignments for all BOD April: need one e-mail template to make these connections; each Director will liaison directly with their committees

• Pablo: e-mail ready by next Wednesday to be sent out? Yes; April will draft.

• DK: give language/depth to BOD responsibilities for liaison; clarify nature of communication

• Lawrence: keep dialogue w/committees open so all board members can see it; Pablo agree; board will share informative responses.

(3) – Committee Support

a) -- Membership committee: impacting *recruitment* as well as *staffing.* Complete committee overhaul required.

• Membership is scheduling a “reboot” meeting for October 10

b) -- The website committee has also requested that we think about the (current) goal of the website.  (see recommendation); committee to present (with our feedback) at the September GM - also need to recruit two new co-chairs

• Look at Website Committee: very open to feedback; looking for a new committee chair

• Nick: WS committee is going through a massive transition; recruit new members at the GM; need more strategy for the site as the coop grows; committee has lost ownership of the site b/c it’s become a dumping ground for information; want to simplify site for sharing of information.

• Deadline for members transitioning away by end of September; notice in newsletter (?)

• April: next chair needs to take ownership/define the role of the site (unclear how GHFC will separate web responsibility from other social media, etc.); give the new chairs to figure out leadership plan.

• DK: offers to be website and newsletter liaison; social media all tied together; get website connected to other community organizations/raise profile of GHFC website

• Pablo: recruiting tool; opens the door for interest and can close interest if not site is not effective; FB page far more popular/useful

• Sean: newsletter should have links to websites; need integration between media

• Christine: focus of website should be to convert members

• Pablo: blog as the destination for user requests/upload member info

• Sean: someone needs to moderate this.

• Aaron: don’t have the capability to make web a useful tool for membership; can’t even keep calendar updated.

(4) – Update on Fall Elections

• Process of the election; when will the link for online voting be live? Use GHFC key fob (confirm)

• Results to be presented at the Sept GM

• Vote in the store? Security standpoint; who will coordinate – governance need to step up and be responsible.

• April: paper ballots at the store is good; sometimes low-fi is more effective than high-fi;

• Nick: online is ideal; Mindy Carner (governance) needs to be consulted for paper ballots; what’s the procedure (present, debate + voting protocol)

• For election clarify what the board does (up above)

• Lawrence: bios in the newsletter; Mindy is also on top of this; where does this be announced; onsite voting at Fall Festival; lock box set up (governance to facilitate); look to make voting as inclusive as possible.

(5) -- Fall Event

• Consensus: Renee has things all under control.

• Lawrence; fine for money; if needed ask for specific things at committees@ greenehillfood.coop

• Christine: indemnity question; Lawrence will check on this.

• DK: Mural painting day will be during the event.

• Pablo: concern about paint

(7) -- Update/recommendation from Finance

• Finance has set up a binder in the Store for any member-owner to look at.  The binder will contain the latest financial information, such as: this report; weekly, monthly, annual and year-to-date sales (soon); and, eventually, the Co-op quarterly financial reports: income statements and balance sheets.  GHFC could also place the Board Minutes in this binder (from the General Meetings and the Board Work Meetings).  The general consensus is that the Minutes posted to the Web Site should not have Co-op financial data (as a safety precaution), but that the full Minutes with financial data will be available in the Store. The binder is labeled "Greene Hill Food Co-op: Meeting Minutes and Financial Reports."

(8) -- September General Meeting Preparation

• Also, the discussion on "who" prepares the GM was clarification among us, and should be revisited among us in October whether or not we can delegate GM to another committee (Events and/or.....) <Nick clarification>

• Won’t talk about Apple plan adjustment.

• Agenda for GM; events do this in October (Board must impose)

  • Elections

  • How Good – speaker on GM (in October)

  • Ratify Board Mission

  • Committee relationship

  • Finance

  • Membership

  • Finance – POS info