[Chapter-delegates] Revised Chapter Agreement

[Susannah Gray]

Hi Raul, all


On 01/09/2017 10:41, Raul Echeberria wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> The number of Internet users have increased very much and the number 
> of people involved in Internet development and policy matters have 
> grown very much too. There are several (ISOC runs some of them) 
> programs for developing new leaders. New people is coming on board 
> every year. Youth at IGF, NextGen leaders, Youth SIG, the numerous IG 
> schools are just some examples of those initiatives. We have to learn 
> how to take advantage of all these new leaders that ara being formed 
> by different organizations.
- Just a quick comment on this. I am fully in agreement that chapters 
need to rotate leadership, encourage young leaders and actively engage 
in succession planning.

However, I believe it's not always possible or in the best interests of 
a chapter to rotate leadership frequently, as several others have 
pointed out.

The SF-Bay Area Chapter has often had trouble recruiting Board Members. 
In the past, before I joined, I know the Board even talked about closing 
the chapter (one of the largest with over 2,000 members) because no one 
wanted to take over the Chair role.

Running a successful chapter is similar to having a full time job or 
running a small business when you consider the amount of administration 
that needs to be done (website maintenance, finances, reporting taxes, 
member admin and engagement, social media, project management, event 
planning, Board meetings, keeping track of mailing lists etc. ).

Admin and Board commitments take up a lot of time. Young leaders/those 
in the Next Gen programs are often at the beginnings of their careers 
and are working hard to climb the career ladder or are still studying, 
leaving little time for anything else. They may also not be able to ask 
for flexibility from an employer to carry out or contribute fully to 
Board/Chapter duties, which may be easier for people at a more advanced 
stage of their career.

While I would love to have a graduate of any of the programs mentioned 
above on the SF-Bay Area Chapter Board, my personal opinion is that 
overstretched Boards generally need people on their Boards who already 
have Board experience, need little coaching, know the industry and who 
can jump in and offer much needed advice and support from the outset as 
this greatly reduces the workload on existing Board members.


Kind regards,

Susannah

---
Susannah Gray
President & Chair
San Francisco-Bay Area Internet Society Chapter
www.sfbayisoc.org