Board Acts to Increase Outreach, Raise Public Awareness, and Make Future Plans

For many years Robin Lloyd has opened her Rochester, VT, family farm yearly to a gathering of WILPF members where we relax, hear informed talks, and discuss issues of the year. In support of Hibakusha and the 75th anniversary (2020) of the nuclear bombings in Japan, we made a banner and took a picture we sent to Japan. Photo by Eileen Kurkoski.

By Eileen Kurkoski
WILPF US Secretary

April 2020

Hear the drum roll? WILPF’s exciting California speaking tour on military contamination of water partly took place, despite coronavirus concerns. And WILPF expects to connect with a different segment of women by collaborating with a new feminist economics organization.

The highlights from the WILPF US January Board Meeting give details on these plans and more, as well as providing updates and changes necessitated by the pandemic which have occurred since the January meeting

We look forward to doing more, if we can raise more money.

January Board Meeting Highlights

1. “The Pentagon: Exposing the Hidden Polluter of Water” Tour. Board member and organizer, Nancy Price, has updated the Earth Democracy page of our WILPF website, including information about the 20 planned stops of the Tour and more, on the special Military Poisons website. [Due to the health emergency, the March tour took place in the first three cities and with media interviews.]  

Pat Elder was the tour’s key speaker. He has researched the health effects on local communities of chemicals used on military basses. WILPF contracted a publicist to film the tour, and World Beyond War and Veterans for Peace posted announcements about the tour. Many thanks go to the Patagonia Foundation for their grant, funding most of the tour.

2. WILPF is collaborating with An Economy of Our Own. The impressive advisors for this new group are women dedicated to seeking generative change in the economic status of women, particularly women of color. AEOO is gathering educational tools and resources for Econo-Consciousness-Raising groups and preparing local public events on women’s economic concerns. WILPF hopes to participate with AEOO in two conferences; the first conference will be in June in Washington D.C. and the second in November in California.

3. Plans for the WILPF US Congress 2021 have started. A pre-Congress committee has been formed, consisting of board members Eileen Kurkoski, Nancy Price, Mary Hanson Harrison, and Darien DeLu; as well as Detroit (2014) Congress Coordinator, Laura Dewey, and Jane Doyle. They are discussing and researching options. Mini-virtual congress gatherings this year in July are being discussed. [Additional volunteers are needed for the virtual congress! Contact President@WILPFUS.org.]

4. Consistent with WILPF's goals of challenging oppression and building peace and justice, and mindful of Mexican revolutionary Benito Juarez’s statement that peace results from respect for other people’s rights – the Board took a strong stand in opposition to the unilateral and crippling US sanctions against Cuba. The Board voted to endorse the “Call to Action for International Days of Action Against sanctions and Economic War – March 13-14, 2020.” The Board also approved a second item from the Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee, endorsing the Second National Conference for the Normalization of US-Cuba relations, March 21-22 in NYC [which subsequently was postponed to November 2020].

Both items oppose unilateral sanctions against countries that have not violated international law, and these are especially in regard to US sanctions against Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.

5.  The annual UN Commission on the Status of Women had planned to address the Beijing Declaration (the goals set by the UN Women’s Conference there), now 25 years later. WILPF’s CSW Programs – with five Practicum students, two Local to Global WILPF members, and two faculty – and other WILPF US leadership were preparing for the busy and interesting March 8-14 week.  [Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus, the March 2020 CSW was cancelled, along with the two WILPF programs.]

6. 2020 Budget: Where do we want to spend our money?
After numerous meetings, the Finance Committee could not set up a balanced budget; the projection is a deficit of $25,969.

Our 2020 WILPF Budget includes these foundational components, and we want to build from them.

a. Programs, Initiatives & Branch & Member Support:
Coalition Dues & Memberships,
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Practicum & Local to Global, CSW Parallel Presentation(s),
Leadership Institute,
One WILPF & Solidarity Events,
WILPF for Poor Peoples’ Campaign (PPC),
Program Chair(s), Disarm, Middle East, Cuba/Bolivarian, Earth Democracy, Advancing Human Rights, Women Money & Democracy, Membership Development, WILPF Women In Network Growing  Stronger (WWINGS), 2021 WILPF US Congress.
Grants, Mini-grants
b. Communications – e-newsletter, Peace & Freedom magazine, website, functioning office
c. Basic structures – board, office, part-time contracted employees, branches, International Congress
(We pay yearly membership dues of about $20,000 to support International WILPF).
The Board discussed the substantial organizational benefits of having an executive director. However, we realize we would need much more money to hire one.

7. Program 2.0 progress: Branches got a survey, asking which topics they have covered in the last 2-3 years and their likely interests for the next 12-18 months. Their responses will inform the long-term plans the Issue Committees leaders make.                         

8. Should we evaluate the make-up of our board? To explore this proposal an ad hoc committee will form, including two board members and two to three non-board members. Board Members Volunteers: Jan Corderman, Shilpa Pandey

9. The Board formed an ad hoc committee on how to make our board service more enjoyable. Mary Hanson Harrison agreed to head it up and is looking for more help. Some ideas brought up included having an in-person board meeting at the 2021 Congress, singing briefly at meetings, bloopers and successes in activism, and light political jokes.

10. Should we change how we reach out to non-WILPF members? The board began a discussion regarding who should get the e-News and e-Alerts and if non-members should be allowed on One WILPF calls. Right now e-Alerts and One WILPF calls are only for members. Should the e-News offer a link to One WILPF calls, for non-members? Darien plans to talk with our technology specialist regarding the feasibility of making some changes. Also, we’re reprinting more copies of our WILPF US brochure.

You can find a list of board minutes on our National Board webpage. Do you want to listen in to a board meeting? On that same page you’ll find how to pre-register to receive call-in information and the agenda for the next board meeting.

For further information on volunteer opportunities regarding any of the committees mentioned, please contact secretary@wilpfus.org.