Incite/Insight Spring-Summer 2019 Incite_Insight—Spring_Summer 2019 Final | Page 24

A New Vision for Elections In 2017, a team of American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) board members began the challenging journey to update AATE’s bylaws to bring the organization into compliance with new laws, as well as established best practices. Those new bylaws were amended and approved by the AATE membership at AATE’s national conference in Minneapolis in August 2018. So, what does that bylaws update mean for the AATE elections? Well, the process to elect folks to the board hasn’t really changed. When the call for nominees is made during the election season (usually February or March), AATE members can still self-nominate, or nominate other members. The Nominating Committee then vets that slate of candidates. Once there has been a vetting process, the slate of candidates is presented to the AATE membership for a vote, and those results reported out within a certain amount of time. However, there are two differences I would like to point out here. First, is how the organization views the slate of candidates. In past elections, AATE members were asked to vote for a person attached to a specific role on the board. For example, a few elections ago, I was on the ballot running for the role of “Strategic Planning Director” on the board. Members were asked to vote for me (and anyone else on that ballot) into a specific role on the board. That has changed. Now, AATE members are voting for a group of the best candidates they feel will serve the organization the best instead of considering any specific role. Those specific roles like National Programming Director or Research and Scholarship Director on the INCITE/INSIGHT 24 board still exist though, so once a newly-elected group of directors joins the AATE board, specific roles will be addressed at the in-person board meetings at the national conference. What this new model gives AATE is the opportunity to elect members who have a deep passion for serving the organization, and then use their specific skills in areas of need more effectively. By levering each member’s areas of expertise, AATE can better achieve its strategic goals in all areas. The other difference I would like to point out is the length of service—it has been increased from two years to three years for board positions. As you can imagine, two years is a short length of time when you consider how much a new board member may need to learn to serve effectively. In increasing this by one year, the hope is that board members can accomplish even more goals. I bet you’re now wondering how do AATE’s executive committee members get voted into their positions? Well, the perspective in the new bylaws is that once the AATE membership at-large votes one of its members onto the board of directors, the membership also has the belief that each one of those people can serve as an executive in the organization whether that’s chair, vice chair, secretary, or treasurer. That means there are two separate elections within the AATE Board. Every two years, the AATE Board will elect a new Vice Chair from the current AATE Board. WRITTEN BY GARY MINYARD The chair of the nominating committee, the immediate past chair, works with the current board to determine who is qualified and willing to serve based on the needs of the organization and its strategic goals. That slate of candidates is then sent to the current board for a vote, and a new Vice Chair is announced after the results are in. One’s board service begins at the annual conference in the summer. In addition, an election is also held within the board of directors to determine the treasurer and secretary at the in-person board meetings at the annual conference. Those positions on the executive committee are determined annually and may also be appointed by the chair if necessary. Finally, as we move closer to the end of this first election season with our new bylaws, the AATE Board will be unpacking the process, results, and effectiveness of this new model. Your involvement in that conversation is vital in making sure that we are fulfilling our commitments to our mission and our members. How can you get involved? Well, one important way is by serving as a “member- at-large” on the Governance or Nominating Committees in the coming year. If that doesn’t seem like a good fit for you, just send me an email at [email protected] and together we can find a way for you to get involved. Gary Minyard is the Immediate Past Chair of AATE’s Board of Directors. Want to see more? You can always reference AATE’s bylaws at www.aate.com/aate-bylaws