Board of Directors ELECTION

Elections for the BAWIFT Board of Directors ("BOD") will be held in March 2009, with new Directors taking office at the April 2009 Board Meeting.

Term of office is two (2) years from April through March, with a maximum term of four (4) years. The BOD currently meets on the first Monday of the month from 7-9 pm, in downtown San Francisco.

The current BOD voted to raise the number of Directors from 11 to up to 20, so members will be voting for 13 Directors to sit on the BOD from April 2009 to March 2011.

You must be a paid BAWIFT member by September 30, 2008 to be able to run for the BOD.
And a paid BAWIFT member by February 28, 2009 to be able to vote for the BOD.

Please visit BAWIFT's member page if you are not yet a member and want to join.

Election Timeline

-Elections will be held via online voting from March 1 through March 10.
-Official notice with a URL to the online ballot and password information will be emailed by March 1, 2009 to all members of record.
-If you are unable to vote online from March 1 through March 10, you can request a paper ballot by emailing BAWIFT's Secretary, Mary Fallon or you can vote in person at the March 8 BAWIFT monthly meeting.
-All ballots must be completed and returned to BAWIFT by Friday, March 10.
-Votes will be tallied by two BAWIFT members selected by the current BOD who are neither on the BOD nor running for the BOD, and results of the election will be posted on chicks-chat as soon as all votes are tallied.

What do Directors of nonprofit organizations do?

Directors are given the authority and responsibility for managing the nonprofit. The Directors meet and make decisions collectively as the BOD.

The following articles discuss responsibilities and duties of directors of nonprofits. Please read through them if you are interested in running for a seat on the BOD:

http://www.runquist.com/article_director.htm
http://www.runquist.com/article_cabar1099.htm
http://www.runquist.com/article_jobdescrip.htm

Current BAWIFT Directors are:

Simone Nelson, Board President, Co-Chair of Board Marketing & Publicity Committee
Ondine Kilker, Board Chair, Co-Chair of Membership Committee
Rachel Caplan, Board Treasurer, Co-Chair of Board Fundraising Committee
Sonia El-Feki, Board Secretary, Co-Chair of Membership Committee
Ahlam Hassan, Co-Chair of Media Committee
Caroline Ocampo, Co-Chair of Media Committee
Kristin Tegtmeier Higgins, Co-Chair of Board Fundraising Committee
Skye Christensen , Board Member
Ambika Jain, Board Member
Windy Borman, Board Member
Marlene Velasco-Begue, Board Marketing & PR Committee Co-Chair

Directors also are responsible for electing the officers. Officers are in charge of carrying out the day-to-day business of the nonprofit. Their powers, duties and responsibilities are set by the Articles or Bylaws, or by resolution of the BOD. Because BAWIFT is still a small organization, many of our Directors have filled the officer positions; however a person does not have to be on the BOD to be an officer. As BAWIFT continues to grow, we hope to separate the responsibilities of Directors and Officers and involve more people in the day-to-day business of BAWIFT as officers, committee chairs and committee members.

Current BAWIFT Officers are:

President - Simone Nelson
Chair - Ondine Kilker
Treasurer - Rachel Caplan
Secretary - Sonia El-Feki

Additional Positions held by Current Directors:

Membership Committee Co-Chairs - Ondine Kilker and Sonia El-Feki
Programming Committee Co-Chair - Michele Tunure-Salleo
P.R. Committee Chair - Simone Nelson and Marlene Velasco-Begue

Time Commitment

As a member of the BOD you must commit to attending 10 BOD Meetings per year.
If you miss 4 meetings total you are unable to run for the BOD again for a year.
If you miss 3 meetings in a row you must step off the BOD and are unable to run again for a year (the BOD can approve a leave of absence in extenuating circumstances.)

Want to Run for the BOD?

To run for a seat on the BAWIFT Board of Directors, email your name and intention to run to Simone Nelson by January 31, 2009.

**Bay Area Women In Film and Television ("BAWIFT") became a California nonprofit public benefit corporation with members on May 8, 2003. On May 8, 2004, the parent organization, Women in Film International ("WIFTI") (www.wifti.org) officially recognized BAWIFT as a WIFTI member organization.**

Please email BAWIFT's Legal Advisor, Jann Moorhead, if you have any questions about the information above.