Judy Weyands address to the 2009 National Volunteer Assembly

From AFSWiki

The State of the Organization - Volunteer perspective

It is truly an honor, and truly humbling, to stand before you this afternoon to present to you the state of the organization from the volunteer perspective. I believe, despite the recent turmoil, and the need for some temporary financial backing from the International Partners, AFS-USA is in a much stronger position to fulfill its mission than at any time in the recent past. Following the last leadership meeting in Chicago, nearly two years ago, the National Council has completed the organizational study, established the new volunteer structure, included a new a decision making document in the National Council guidelines, set up standing committees to expand the productivity of the Council, took responsibility for setting the hosting & sending numbers with a process that was more collegial, supported the establishment of the Volunteer Development department and expressed concerns on the behalf of all volunteers regarding the implications of the impending merger with CIEE. Our goals also included evaluating ourselves along the way, and keeping the volunteers as informed as possible in every one of these steps, and at the conclusion of every meeting. So today, as we meet in the first National Assembly, the “state of the volunteer organization” could be described as moving forward with a committed volunteer/staff partnership that is currently made up of:

• 5418 registered volunteers (as of 4/24/09)
• 63 area teams
• 113 active chapters
• 74 more chapters that are in some part of the chartering process, for a total of 187.
• 140 staff

A healthy organization, however, is not just about numbers. I would also like to share with you the details of the accomplishments of the National Council.

The Volunteer Organizational study began at Chicago I with two study groups: the first group was to look at completely new structures, and the 2nd group was to suggest changes to the established structure. Those reports were given to the Planning and Oversight Committee, a group made up of staff and volunteers, to begin the study. Our volunteers were surveyed, other volunteer organizations were studied, our Partner’s organizations were considered, and we looked again at the reasons and the results for the standards set at Phoenix. With the extraordinary help of Joanne Yokoyama, before the close of 2007, the POC released their recommendations.

The National Council Volunteer Organization & Development committee was charged with completing the details of those recommendations, and meticulously worked out the plan. I want to thank once more the efforts of the chair, Sharon Held, and her committee: Lynn Whetstone, Sarah Yancy, and Mary Ann Offer, and many of the senior staff. The National Council, at its September, 2008 meeting ratified the new volunteer structure. The highlights of this plan include:

1. unlocking the geographical boundaries,
2. local volunteers delivering our programs,
3. encouraging volunteers to form chapters to deliver and promote these programs,
4. allowing area teams to be formed, or continue, to provide planning and decision making,
5. putting quality standards in place for yearly evaluations of unaffiliated chapters and area teams to encourage consistency and program quality,
6. making the National Council responsible for organizing a National Assembly, setting the agenda, and making other organizational decisions as needed throughout the year.

The overall goal we envisioned was to empower the volunteers of AFS-USA, and through that empowerment, increase their sense of ownership and accountability.

We implemented standing committees in 2007 to allow us to be more productive, and we invited other non National Council volunteers to be a part of these committees, ensuring a larger range of experience and geographical input.

After working for more than a year with the 5 National Council standing committees that we established, the National Council revamped the list in late 2008 to include the NVA Committee, the Nominating Committee and the Communications Committee, keeping the Volunteer Recognition Committee, the Volunteer Structure Committee, and the National Council Development & Education Committee.

We replaced the Program Committee and the Process Committee with Advisory Groups that cover Hosting, Sending, Volunteer Development, Support, Compliance, Sponsored Programs, Orientations, Training, Travel, and Fund Raising. These groups will be led by a senior staff person in each category, and will be filled by one National Council member, as well as other volunteers and staff who are interested. It is hoped that these groups will not only be advisory in nature, but will be encouraged to be innovative, as well. There will be signup sheets available this weekend for anyone who is interested in serving on any of these advisory groups or committees.

Other business the National Council was involved with this past year included approving the Volunteer Development Department, the re-writing of the National Council guidelines to include the Decision Making Document from Chicago II, establishing volunteer recognition policies that include flight chaperones and international visits, sending a delegate to the World Congress, and determining that going forward, only the volunteers would vote on the National Council.

The role of the National Council has never been an easy one, and each National Council and each National Council chair have brought his/her own strengths and experiences to shape the Council and its direction. It is a tribute to their commitment to AFS that two past National Council chairs are delegates today: Helen Armstrong and Hanna Lee Betz. My personal gratitude for their service, and their leadership, and to the service of Kristen DiRisner, Connell Saltzman, and Deb Stemme, who also served as chairs of the National Council.

The division of responsibility between the Board and the National Council has also not been easy, as we have seen in this last, and worst, crisis AFS has experienced. Everyone in the organization has a responsibility to share knowledge, because good decisions will only be made with good information. Going forward we need to do a much better job of coordinating the two boards, their areas of responsibility and their responsibilities in common. The National Council is looking forward to working with the new AFS-USA Board.

I would like to share with you the role that the National Council had in the question of the International Task Force’s two options that dealt with the future of AFS-USA. The first option was to merge with CIEE, and the second option was to accept some financial aid from AFS Partners until the new payment schedule was in place that awarded more equitable monies to countries that host more students than they send (we are considered a ‘net hoster’, hosting more than we send, and, therefore, receiving less in payment until 2010).

Initially the National Council’s sense was that the discussion with CIEE could be helpful, but the major question was what would AFS-USA need to give up in order to gain the financial security that was promised. With that in mind, we asked volunteers to write to Margaret Crotty with their thoughts about AFS. Well over 100 letters were received; unfortunately, they were not shared with the National Council on the recommendation of the Board’s lawyer. To those volunteers who responded, however, we are grateful.

As the Board of Director’s vote became imminent, and no information was shared as to how this merger would affect the AFS name, our volunteers, the new volunteer structure, and the senior staff, we wrote to the Board in mid-January expressing our concern regarding those issues, our support for the senior staff, and we asked that the National Council be engaged in this decision, and in its implementation. We did not receive an answer. We were asked to take part in an e-mail exercise, along with the Board and the volunteer task force group (a group who had been updated, by phone, several times regarding the progress of the negotiations), to see if there was a consensus. The Board did not hold the expected vote. At the end of January, we wrote a second letter, this time to the AFS International Board, the USA Board and Margaret Crotty with our concern over the hardening of positions in regards to the two options. We stated: “Our mission is about seeking peace through understanding, why isn’t that at the table? “ And: “volunteers are said to be the heart of AFS, but we have not been included in the discussion that involves the future of AFS. Will another organization allow a self governed international organization of volunteers to face the next generation of students and instill in them a commitment to the AFS mission, and encourage them to become peacemakers?”

Once the discussion with CIEE was ended, the National Council wrote a third letter at our February meeting in Las Vegas, recommending the steps we felt were needed to move us forward to complete our responsibilities to our outgoing and incoming students, our partners and our mission. We also acknowledged our deepest gratitude to our International Partners for their incredible generosity, good will, and the strong reminder that our working partnership is also a partnership of friendship. We do not know what transpired between the International Board of Trustees and our own Board. Margaret Crotty, Kim Ritrievi and our Board believed that the merger with CIEE was the better option. Most of our Partners, and the majority of the National Council, believed that the merger would do irreparable harm to the International partnership, and to the program. These two positions were taken in good faith by people who have many years of service to AFS, and care deeply about this organization.

Once Option two was decided upon, Margaret and the Board voted to change the number of people that could comprise the Board (previously 15-21, now 3-15); next they elected the previous three Chairs of the AFS-USA Board to the new Board, and then they resigned. The new Board expanded itself to include 4 field volunteers, several former Board members, and two International members representing Italy and Japan. They will be charged to work on a new financial plan that will include monies offered by the Partners to improve our IT systems, power the Volunteer Development plan, and stabilize our budget.

Margaret Crotty brought new energy to AFS, and she made two excellent staff changes: Jorge Castro to be the CFO and the link to our International partners, both tasks for which he is superbly qualified, and Kerry McCollum, along with her HR work and directing the Trainers, became the senior staff link to the National Council.

I would especially like to honor Kerry McCollum for the amazing job she has done as the “bridge” to the National Council. Every change, every concept, and every document has benefitted from her insight, and each of us has gained strength from her calm support and her belief that we could get the whole organization to this day.

And to all the volunteer and staff members of this National Council, I would like to add my deep, personal thanks. As you can imagine, the last six months have been difficult, and in the face of losing their jobs, the senior staff has acted with amazing grace under pressure, and with continued commitment and wisdom. The volunteer members have struggled to come together in this crisis not of our making. But out of that dark period came the best work of this council: putting this Assembly in place: from Damian Pisanelli, the Chair of the NVA committee, Mary Porterfield and Anne Herendeen, who worked on the content, and to Deb Dahlberg and Barb Kelly who took care of designing the pieces of recognition. To Jim Laden, a member of the committee, although not a member of the National Council, thanks for making this all possible. The nominating committee chaired by Gerry Bair, with the help of Susan Rowley and Elizabeth Leatham, created a new process so that National Council members will be presented and elected at this Assembly.

This National Council has been severely tested, but it has served you well. I need to publicly thank them for two years of difficult work, and more importantly, for many jobs well done.

So, we will move forward. In the good hands of the new Board of Directors, the new Interim President/Partner Director, Jorge Castro, the new National Council, with Mary Porterfield as its new Chair, the staff at all levels, and you, the NVA delegates. We are poised to become a better, stronger, more empowered organization, and I am confident that we will do what we need to do to grow our ranks, honor our tradition, and celebrate our mission. Thank you all.

Judy Weyand Outgoing Chair, National Council