Project Renewal Draft Proposal for Comment
Date:12 February 2008
To:Board of Directors
From:Organizational Change Steering Committee
Re:Project Renewal Proposal
The Organizational Change Steering Committee is pleased to submit recommendations for Project Renewal. There are several important changes from the draft model we presented at the November 2007 Board meeting, most of which were previewed in our January 2008 Update memo:
Project Renewal Recommendations – Key Changes
- Issue Teams (similar to our current national issue committees) are retained as ongoing bodies within Activist Network Teams; they are not being made temporary, nor is their ability to represent the Club being taken away (page13).
- The Activist Network (a simplified name for the Issues & Skills Activist Network) will have a volunteer and staff support team to assure that those working within it can effectively use existing and new Network venue and tools (page 13).
- The Club should invest in the Network by making national funding available to Issue Teams, Regional Teams, and Project Teams. This funding will be reviewed and approved by the Activist Network Support Team (page 13).
- Expansion of the Council of Club Leaders, which many felt would be unworkable, is being withdrawn from the proposal and replaced with an alternative approach that would bring chapter and national leaders together through an annual event rather than through one body such as the CCL (page 16).
- Conservation Priority Task Forces are established to maintain strong volunteer leadership for the Club's three conservation priorities – America's Wild Legacy, Safe and Healthy Communities, and Smart Energy Solutions (page 11).
- Club processes, including budgets and position-taking, are described within the Project Renewal proposal (page 14).
And finally, at the Board Working Session, we will be providing a framework for transition to Project Renewal should the Board choose to adopt it. Transition should involve a larger set of activists and staff working together in the months ahead.
Acknowledgment of Additional Influences on Project Renewal
The OCSC would like to recognize the input that has helped shape Project Renewal:
We learned a great deal from the six Club-wide Project Renewal conference calls. We also appreciate those who participated in the online Project Renewal discussion forum, which attracted ~5,800 "web views" from interested activists. We also appreciate the time that many gave to the OCSC team in the form of email exchanges, individual conversations and discussions during your meetings. Many of the changes outlined above and described in more detail in Project Renewal, were directly influenced by this consultation process.
We would like to thank the group of national conservation leaders who put forward specific alternatives. It was refreshing to have alternative ideas to consider in addition to comments and critiques. Our recommendation for an annual event that brings together the CCL, chapter conservation chairs and national team leaders was specifically sparked by this input. The place within Project Renewal for strong volunteer leadership for the Club's three conservation priorities was also strongly influenced by what you wrote.
And finally we'd like to thank the Cumberland Chapter for the thoughtful way that you gave form to chapter concerns. By outlining key conditions and principles for a national structure that will meet the needs of chapters and local activist, you gave us clear guidance, which was reinforced by the Board's February 5th resolution, “Project Renewal concerns with respect to Chapters.”
The OCSC team completely agrees with the values defined in the Board's resolution: clarity of mission, grassroots structures, volunteer-driven, support for locally-based initiatives, respect for experienced leaders, need for better communication and clarity. We firmly believe that Project Renewal reflects these values. And we emphatically agree with the Board's recognition that beyond Project Renewal, the Club needs to do more to improve communication and connections, provide additional resources, clearly define integrated campaigns, and provide chapters with greater input on actions that directly affect chapters.
Final Thoughts
The Project Renewal team is grateful to have had the opportunity to devote our activism over the past nine months to providing Sierra Club with a structure that we believe will be a platform for greater, more powerful, more satisfying work to save the environment and broaden commitment to a culture in harmony with the natural world. We also humbly recognize that how people work within any given structure is ultimately what matters. We urge everyone to enter into this new structure, should the Board adopt it, with a spirit of adventure, exploration and collegial participation. In the end, that is what will matter most.
Project Renewal
A Proposal to the Sierra Club Board of Directors
February 12, 2008
Organizational Change Steering Committee
Allison Chin, Chair, and Julia Reitan, Co-Chair
Bob Bingaman, Susan Heitman, Laura Hoehn, Bob Morris,
Annette Souder, Marilyn, Wall, Nathan Wyeth
Supported by Gene Coan, Joshua Ruschhaupt, La Piana Associates, Inc.
Table of Contents for Project Renewal Proposal
I. Introduction: Why Project Renewal Matters
II. Project Renewal Model
III. Components of the Model
A.Board of Directors
B.Upstream from the Board: Board Advisory Committees and Task Forces
1.Volunteer Leadership Advisory Committee
2.Mission Strategy Advisory Committee
3.Public Visibility Advisory Committee
4.Finance and Risk Management Advisory Committee
5.Task Forces
6.Conservation Priority Task Forces
C.Downstream from the Board: Implementation Teams and Activist Network
1.Implementation Teams
2.Coordinating Pairs
3.Chapter and Leader Support Teams
4.Program and Campaign Teams
5.Activist Network
IV.Operational Processes
A.Funding for National Work
B.Position-Taking
C.Policy-Making
D.Organizational Direction-Setting
E.Liaisons
F.Bringing Local and National Leaders Together
V.ConcludingRemarks
Appendix 1: Organizational Change Steering Committee (OCSC) Charge
Appendix 2: Principles/Criteria for Testing Models
Appendix 3: Building Blocks of the Model (Revised per November 2007 Board meeting)
Appendix 4: OCSC January Update
Appendix 5: OCSC Timeline
Speaking as an individual Sierra Club member, though I am a group chair and chapter ExCom member, I support the proposed change. It seems as though the accumulated emotional and physical hurts that human beings gather over the years cause us to slow down and prevent movement, not just physically but with our ability to try new things. It seems like even one thing that is perceived as being not right or accurate with something can be seen as a reason to not take action. I hope we get to try the proposed change and see if it helps the Sierra Club to move more quickly to reach our stated conservation initiative goals.
Roberta Paro, Norwich, CT, USA
I. Introduction: Why Project Renewal Matters
The Organizational Change Steering Committee (OCSC) and certainly the members of the Board are aware that not everyone shares Roberta Paro’s embrace of the need for substantive, urgent change in the way Sierra Club works. At the same time, we also know that the issues of this century demand that we do things differently if we are going to make a difference in the course of environmental and cultural events.
The proposal that we bring to you, after nine months of hard labor, is a prescription for new ways of making decisions, new ways of organizing, new ways of forming relationships, and new ways of leading, both internally and in the context of the American environmental movement. We have taken great careto respect, preserve and reinforce the good work that is being done by dedicated volunteers in our national committees, chapters, programs, and campaigns. But wealso recognize that we need to do more, faster, and with greater power, and that to do so will require a broader embrace of Roberta’s plea for change right now.
Project Renewal matters because it addresses barriers, brings focus to our strengths, and boldly embraces new possibilities for organizing in the 21stcentury. The specific details of the Project Renewal proposal are outlined in the description of components. Here are several bigger-picture reasons why we believe Project Renewal matters at this time.
The Sierra Club must cast a wider net in order to engage more people in its work.
The integration of up-to-date social networking capabilities with the Sierra Club’s traditional strength in on-the-ground activism is a unique opportunity for us. No other environmental organization has both of these capabilities, and grassroots activists everywhere are begging for more tools to help them expand their work. Robust support and rapid implementation of the Activist Network will mark a turning point not only in the Club’s grassroots reach and relevance, but in the overall capacities for activism in America.
The Board has committed the Club to building its online organizing capacity to complement its current strength in on-the-ground activism. While many throughout the Club are excited about the potential of online networks, others have concerns about howonline activists and on-the-ground Club chapter and group leaders will integrate.
The Activist Network proposed by Project Renewal will be a big step toward an answer. It will create a process and venue for national activists to connect with chapter, group and regional ones in ways that are very difficult today. It will also create a means for Club leaders with specific roles (national issue team members, chapter/group conservation chairs, etc.) to connect with interested activists from the public who are attracted to our online work.
The Sierra Club must stay true to its tradition of volunteer-driven, grassroots leadership.
The Sierra Club has never wavered in its commitment to leadership by grassroots volunteers, and won't do so now. Nothing about Project Renewal changes this fundamental nature of the Club.
Local Group and Chapter Executive Committees (greater than 350) are empowered to direct the work of the Sierra Club locally through chapter and group structures. Member-elected, grassroots volunteers (not hand-picked professionals or major fundraisers like in many organizations) also sit on our national Board of Directors, and these volunteers have ultimate governance authorityfor everything in the Club, as it has always been.
The Project Renewal model provides the structures the Board needs to be sure that it has strategic input for broad organizational decision-making, and the structures that on-the-ground activists and staff working from a national perspective need to work together effectively.
Staff and volunteers are both significant resources for the Club.
Our current national leadership structure carries no clear mandate for staff and volunteers to view themselves in partnership. The partnership approach happens in many cases, and that is where the Club's work runs most smoothly and effectively. But in other cases, staff and volunteers end up practically as rivals, with parallel mandates to act on behalf of the Club and with mistrust and jealousy regarding funding, credit for victories, hegemony as official Club spokespersons and arbiters of positions. Instead of volunteers and staff viewing themselves as partners exercising the power of the Club to achieve common objectives, there is strong cultural acceptance of the idea that one side or the other has too much or too little power; indeed we have often been told that staff and volunteers cannot work together with different but equally important attributes.
The Project Renewal model creates a team structure for bringing staff and volunteers onto the same team. It recognizes that staff and volunteers both provide leadership, sometimes in similar roles, sometimes in different roles.
Organizational strategizing needs a home in the Club.
Sierra Club makes broad strategic decisions all the time and national-level volunteers are part of these discussions, but it is often ad hoc. The Project Renewal proposal creates a space for this strategic thinkingto happen intentionally and in an ongoing manner through four specific bodies, Advisory Committees to the Board. This is where volunteer direction is criticalbecause grassroots identity and values shape our mission and how we pursue it within the broader American culture. These bodies are not charged with operational responsibility because their focus needs to encompass a higher, longer-term perspective.
II. Project Renewal Model
* Committees composed just of Board members, such as the Executive Committee and Investment Committee
** Other Board Standing Committees such as Nominating Committee, Inspectors of Election, Audit Committee, US Canada Oversight (joint with Sierra Club Canada), Advancement (joint with TSCF)
III. Components of the Model
A.Board of Directors
The member-elected Board of Directors has ultimate responsibility for governance of the Sierra Club (specified in California corporations law and Club Bylaws), including large-scale decisions on how best to deploy and build the resources available to the Club, and setting clear organizational direction for the Club by defining our broad mission in terms of specific policies and goals by which we can assess and measure progress throughout the Club. This responsibility is very different from the many complex and varied decisions that must be made day-to-day tocarry out the Club’s work.
In order for the Board to carry out its governance responsibilities, we recommend the establishment of advisory committees and task forces on its “upstream” side as well as a number of implementation teams on its “downstream” side to carry out the work of the Club.
B.Upstream from the Board: Board Advisory Committees and Task Forces
In order for the Board to carry out its work, Project Renewal proposes the establishment of four advisory committees to provide expertise and advice about the Board’s core governance decisions, as well as the option for establishing specific task forces to provide expertise and advice on specific issues that may arise. Both the advisory committees and the task forces will be volunteer-led and must engage Club leaders broadly, democratically, and inclusively.
Board Advisory Committees are the national volunteer structures designed to seek and get advice for the Board’s governance decisions. Each Board Advisory Committee will take a long-range, high level viewthat considers how Club identity and values are reflected in our work. The committees will consult widely, and will provide a venue to raise concerns and ideas that come from volunteers or staff, that have large organizational scope.
These Advisory Committees will be chaired by a Director and composed of Directors and other volunteers, with staff support. Unlike the present Governance Committees, their work will not be complicated by also including operational functions. There are four Board Advisory Committees:
1.Volunteer Leadership Advisory Committee
Advise and make recommendations to the Board regarding broad organizational opportunities and priorities for enhancing grassroots leadership capacity as well as the Club's national volunteer leadership, including the Board itself.
- Assess the Club's grassroots capacity, its volunteer leadership strengths and gaps.
- Develop leadership development metrics for all programs, campaigns, and support teams, as well as the nationwide activist network.
- Develop organizational training strategies and approaches to enhance leader development and effectiveness.
- Identify key opportunities to enhance volunteer leadership capacity. Develop norms and structures for building collegiality, respect, trust,and member satisfaction.
- Serve as the Board development committee, attending to the Board’s own learning needs, and as a resource for other Board committees and task forces on leadership issues.
- Develop processes to provide for member input.
- Act with the Board's authority when Club leaders and entities are violating existing policies and corrective action is needed.
2.Mission Strategy Advisory Committee
Advise and make recommendations to the Board on broad organizational opportunities and priorities to further advance the Club’s mission.
- Assess the environmental, political, and cultural landscape, and identify key opportunities and threats to achieving the Club’s mission in the long term.
- Develop metrics to assess the impact of programs, campaigns, and support teams, as well as the Activist Network, toward advancing the Club's mission priorities.
- Advise the Board regarding priorities for the overall mix of programs, campaigns, support teams, and the activist network, to most effectively advance the Club’s mission.
- Coordinate and work with Conservation Priority Task Forces.
- Develop processes to provide formember input.
3.Public Visibility Advisory Committee
Adviseand make recommendations to the Board on broad organizational opportunities and priorities to expand, enhance, and leverage the strength of the Club's reach and reputation.
- Assess and recommend strategies for improving the Club's "market position" – including its public visibility and reputation, constituencies engaged, impact and position relative to other organizations and social trends, and audiences to be reached to achieve the Club's goals.
- Develop metrics to assess the impact of the Club's communication channels, including video, print and online, and recommend strategies to define and engage constituencies in order to achieve the Club's goals.
- Develop metrics to assess the impact on the Club's visibility and reputation of the mix of programs, campaigns, support teams and the Activist Network.
- Develop metrics to assess the impact of the Club's mass media activities on its public visibility and reputation.
- Assess the public impact of decisions that could affect the Club's public visibility, reputation, and ability to reach constituencies.
- Develop processes to provide for member input.
4.Finance andRisk Management Advisory Committee
Advise and make recommendations to the Board on financial decisions, including the annual budget and risk versus benefits.