homepage - board of directors - 2009 election - candidate forum - question 6

2009 Election Candidate Forum:
The Questions

In the spirit of One Club, what do you see as the proper relationship of staff and volunteers to each other and to the mission of the Club in 2009 and beyond, and how would you improve the connection between National Sierra Club operations and grassroots leadership?

Boldman, Lane

Our unique strength is that we are fundamentally a grassroots-driven organization. Volunteers oversee policies, priorities and budgets while staff oversees support and organizing functions. This is a complex structure, and I have worked deliberately to strengthen connections at all levels of the Club including local group, Chapter, and National entities, and between volunteers and staff. Unfortunately our size demands that one has to make an exceptional effort to stay connected. As I have done as Chair of the Council, I would improve these connections by increasing the opportunities for National entities to listen to local entities and hear their needs. We have to pay particular attention to the smaller, more venerable entities in the Club, including those not directly involved in priority campaigns such as Inner City Outings. Our mission for 2009 is to strive for our existing programs to be supported well and work effectively.

Gibson, Laurence

This relationship is a delicate symbiotic balance. I am definitely a grassroots guy who believes that we should have a pyramid-shaped structure in order to remain stable and vital. As a group and chapter volunteer I rely heavily on the resources in San Francisco. These resources must be adequately staffed in order to respond to folks “upstream” as well as us “downstream” volunteers.

On the other hand, I’m well aware of how inept we volunteers can sometimes be. We may have the passion and inspiration but we definitely need staff help to execute. At the highest levels my ideal is leadership with a vision tuned to the passion of the grassroots…a bit like the symphony conductor listening to his players and shaping their creations into something larger than the sum of its parts.

Our region folks are very responsive but we need more face-to-face between grassroots and national.

Mann, Robin

I support the allocation of responsibilities that have been clarified through the Project Renewal process.  The volunteer leadership decides what our conservation policies are and defines what our conservation priorities will be, informed by input from staff and volunteers, alike. The relationship of staff and volunteers involved with leading our campaigns and programs should be collaborative, drawing equally on the expertise of all team members.  

A fundamental principle underlying the establishment of the Activist Network is the importance of strengthening the support for local activism.  We must enable the Network to reach its potential as best we can, given the immediate tight budget conditions we face.  As we build our online capabilities, we must determine how to synergize our online activism and our on-the-ground work at the local level, and I strongly support identifying this challenge as an important priority for attention in the coming months.

Morris, Frank

In the spirit of One Club, and in the spirit of staff and volunteer interaction, I think the staff should assist the volunteers in our conservation efforts.  I think Sierra Club’s unique, membership driven structure should be championed to our members in every state.  Leadership by motivated volunteer members is what makes Sierra Club the most powerful environmental organization in America.  Members should be setting policy, identifying priorities, and engaging issues on the local level.  Staff should be supporting these efforts.  Staff should help local volunteers get the resources we need to get things done.  Regarding improving the connection between National Sierra Club operations and grassroots leadership, elect me to the Board of Directors, and I’ll advocate that staff be shifted to directly support chapter conservation efforts.  The Sierra Club bureaucracy in San Francisco and DC could be leaner and sharper, and if I’m elected, it will be.

Reyes, Rafael

The Sierra Club is among the country’s few volunteer-driven organizations.  Volunteers and staff are members of one team with differing roles depending on context.  All top-level policies at national and local levels are made, appropriately, by volunteers with staff input.  But action plans and direction for implementation may come from staff once a policy is in place.  We also have activities that are wholly volunteer driven.  In our most effective initiatives staff and volunteers work as co-equal partners.  

Essential to our impact is our grassroots presence and leadership.  We’ve made strides in communication at all levels with Clubhouse, policy input forums, improved dialogue at the annual meeting, etc. However, there’s more to do.  We need better advance notice and input on new initiatives, more relationship building between board and local leaders and use of video conferencing to bring people together, just to name a few needed steps

Scott, David

Some role divisions are clear and must be.  For example, volunteers set broad club policy and volunteer entities establish priorities for volunteer activists and staff to implement.  When it comes to implementation, I believe that staff and volunteers can and should work together as respectful colleagues engaged in a common purpose.   As Club employees, staff obviously report to whoever has  supervisory responsibility in the national or chapter management systems.   But I believe in the team concept: we're colleagues in a noble cause.

I am glad the national club now has a staff person whose designated role is outreach to grassroots leaders regarding our coal campaign and climate work.  We can't possibly succeed in what we must get done in Congress without the enthusiastic engagement of grassroots leaders, and I will work to make sure every national campaign team includes outreach as part of its core workplan and really does it.

Warshaw, Chris

Staff and volunteers are both key components of the Sierra Club.  But we should take several steps to enhance the communications between senior staff, active volunteers, and other hardworking Sierra Club members and supporters.  First, we should provide new software tools and training to chapter and volunteer leaders to help them organize more effectively. Second, the Club should use the Internet to collect more information about the interests and opinions of local members and grassroots leadership.  For instance, we should conduct a monthly online survey of our online members each month and a more detailed annual online survey of our chapter leadership volunteers.  Finally, Carl Pope, board members, and other national leaders should conduct a listening tour with Sierra Club members each year to give local members an opportunity to register their opinions in person and hear more about national Sierra Club’s strategies and tactics.

Wheeler, Phil

Project Renewal resulted in an organization with joint staff-volunteer leadership. While never experiencing any difficulty in working with staff in the old GovCom structure, the new shared leadership approach is one I welcome. The Board should and will fine-tune the details of the new organization as experience dictates in 2009 and beyond.

The best way to improve the connection between the national Club and the grassroots (chapters and groups) is increased involvement of the grassroots activists and entities in the principal national conservation initiatives – a connection which has been tenuous in recent times. As we move into an era where we depend more on restricted c(3) funds the national Board, Advisory Committees, Coordinating Pairs and Teams must find ways to enable chapters to use these restricted resources to support our national initiatives: Our financial resources must support our most important resource, our activists, in the pursuit of the Club’s goals.