NATIONAL CONVENTION

Bridging Languages Bridging Cultures

Mano a Mano Board positions and voting:

A call for members to serve on the nominating committee

Document accepted by the Mano a Mano Board: May 31, 2007

Background:
Mano a Mano was incorporated as a non-profit agency in 2004. Prior to its incorporation, a number of individuals had served the organization in various capacities—one of the main activities of the organization being the execution of biennial conferences that coinciding with the RID national conferences. Upon the incorporation of Mano a Mano, and without a membership from which to elect an initial Board of Directors, those who had served at various levels in the past voted for individuals who would become the initial Board of the Organization. Since that time, vacancies on the Board have been filled by a vote of the current Board of Directors. Now, the responsibility for electing the Board of Directors will be placed in the hands of the membership, which has grown considerably within the past three years. The following steps are being proposed by the current Board in order to carry out the process of having a transitional Board that is elected by its membership.

1. A Nominating Committee (hereafter NC), consisting of three (3) Mano a Mano members, will be established, and this committee will guide the elections process. The Mano a Mano Board will send out a call to the membership to serve on the NC.

2. Any board member who does not plan to run for office may be on the NC.

3. Once established, the NC will announce which board positions are open or vacant and solicit nominations for office.

4. Every person wishing to run for an office must submit to the NC a letter of intent and a short bio that will be made available to the membership via the Mano a Mano website.

5. The letter of intent must be submitted at least 45 days prior to the voting date (or the commencement of the voting period, if it the vote it to be conducted via regular mail, email, or by secure voting on the Organization’s website).

6. An uncontested position will be voted on by acclamation (i.e., a current Board member whose position is not being challenged will remain on the Board). Board members can serve up to two terms in office.

7. If the vote is to take place at the Business Meeting during the Organization’s biennial conference, the slate of nominations will be announced.

8. Additional nominations can be accepted on the floor of the conference Business Meeting, although such nominations will require signatures from at least one-fifth of the current membership at the start of the conference. If such a nomination occurs, that position will not be voted on at the conference since the members will be given 45 days to view the nominated individual’s bio and letter of intent on-line. In such a case, a vote will occur via regular mail, email, or by secure voting on the Organization’s website.

9. In the event of a vacant position with no nominations, it will be the responsibility of the current Board of Directors to solicit individuals to accept the open positions.

10. Information about the rotation of positions:

In order to avoid an entirely new slate of individuals that have no experience with Mano a Mano Board work, and to maintain continuity and growth, it is recommended that vacant positions appear following a 2-year cycle.

Each officer will serve for a term of four years.

Each officer will serve for a term of four years. The next rotation cycle will be in 2011. 2009 – 2013

As noted earlier, an elected official can serve up to two consecutive terms in a single position. However, any Mano a Mano member can run again for a previously held position after at least one term has intervened.

11. Information about who can vote:

For all voting (board positions, motions, etc) only Mano a Mano members are permitted to vote.

If voting is to take place at a biennial conference, at conference check in/registration, Co chair of conference or chair of NC will provide voting cards with member ID number to ensure only members will vote.

Members can carry up to two proxies (note: a proxy form will be available at the Organization’s website).

If you are not able to attend the conference you can send a proxy to vote on your behalf