Did you know that the USFWC board strategically represents regions across the country?
Each year, the USFWC hosts an annual election for the Board of Directors. On odd years, we hold an election for our at-large positions, and on even years like 2020, we elect our Regional Representatives, who advocate for the co-ops in their area: North, South, East, and West.
There is 1 open seat for each of our regions. Voting members may nominate one or more of your members to run for the Regional Representative seat of your Region!*
WHY RUN FOR THE BOARD?
- Be a key part of building the worker co-op movement in this country
- Network with other co-op and economic justice organizations
- Travel to local, regional, national worker cooperative conferences
- Represent the US at the CICOPA (international worker co-op federation)
- General Assembly and as part of delegations to other countries
Timeline
- August 1st – Candidate Nomination Opens
- Through August 31st – You may nominate yourself or someone else from a Worker Cooperative, Democratic Workplace, Cooperative Developer, or Federation Partner member.
- Aug 14th – Webinar to Lear more about the Role and Leadership of the Regional Board Representatives
- 14th September -16th October. – Online Voting
- October 14th – Virtual Member meeting
* Voting member classes include: Worker Cooperative, Democratic Workplace, Cooperative Developer, and Federation Partners. More about all member classes available here: usworker.coop/join/membership-application
Questions? More Info contact Ana Martina at ana@usworker.coop, 415.392.7277 x 5
- USFWC is led by a member-elected Board of between 5 and 9 directors.
- There are 4 regional representatives (elected in years ending in even numbers) and up to 5 At-Large representatives (elected in years ending in odd numbers)
- Voting member classes include: Worker Cooperative, Democratic Workplace, Cooperative Developer, and Federation Partners. More about all member classes available here: usworker.coop/join/membership-application
- Any worker-owner of a voting member workplace may run for the Board, with support from their workplace (or employee in the case of Democratic Workplace, Coop Developer and Federation Partner members). Federation partners may nominate a member of one of their member organizations to run for the organization.
- A candidate’s workplace must be a USFWC member for at least one year prior to the current year’s annual member meeting.
- At-large candidates can run from any voting member workplace and are voted on by the entire membership.
- Regional Representative candidates must run for the regional seat (North, South, East, West) where their workplace operates. In the case of virtual offices, candidates have the option to run in the region where they reside.
- Board members are not compensated for their time, but USFWC does cover expenses incurred in the course of regular board service, such as travel and telephone use.
South: Alabama; Arkansas; Florida, Georgia; Louisiana; Kentucky; Mississippi; North Carolina; Oklahoma; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; Puerto Rico; U.S. Virgin Islands.
West: Alaska; Arizona; California; Colorado; Hawaii; Idaho; Montana; Nevada; New Mexico; Oregon; Utah; Washington; Wyoming; American Samoa; Guam; Northern Mariana Islands.
North: Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Nebraska; North Dakota; South Dakota;Ohio; Wisconsin.
East: Connecticut; Delaware; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; Vermont; Washington D.C.; West Virginia.
- Board terms are two (2) years from date of election
- Attend our annual 2-day, in-person Board retreat (tentatively scheduled for Nov or early Dec 2017)
- Participate in monthly 2-hour Board meeting via conference call, plus preparation time
- Participate in at least one Board committee (2 – 6 hours work per month)
- Attend and participate in annual membership meetings and national conferences
- Regional Board representatives are specifically responsible for communications with members and organizations in their region