ONA Staffing update

: Kathy Church

Greetings from the Board of Directors,

This is an exciting time for us to be in community together. As most of you are aware, this past year we said sad goodbyes to Ann B. Day and Donna Enberg and Kara Hooper in their official capacities. We also redesignated the Council to a Board of Directors and the National Coordinator’s position to Executive Director.

Since the last National Gathering in June 2007, the Board has undertaken some leadership development training and we have looked at how we do business and what our mission and priorities are. We examined how similar organizations do the mission and what functions we each do best. Our goal was to utilize our time, money and people to the best advantage. Along with valuable input from our interim ONA Coordinator, Malcolm Himschoot, we reviewed the job descriptions of all volunteer and staff positions and compared them to what individuals stated that they actually were doing. We worked with Margaret Jacoby, a human resources consultant and long-time Coalition supporter to update our working structure.

: Ruth Garwood

The results of this intense examination produced a configuration that better matches our priorities and capabilities and reduces overlaps in staff work. The Executive Director will now be the primary spokesperson and advocate for the ONA Program, as she is for the Coalition as a whole. This reflects the priority of the ONA Program within The Coalition. Activities with local churches are further realized with our volunteer ONA consultants—59 of them already—who work within their conferences to increase the number of ONA settings and the activity and outreach of existing ONA settings. ONA training sessions will continue. Please contact the Coalition national office if you are interested.

: Tim Brown

Tim Brown will continue in the role of Youth and Young Adult Coordinator, in which he so effectively provides resources, leadership and education to young people and the adults who mentor them. Michelle Sims is in the new role as fulltime Project Director, a role that is both administrative- and program-oriented. We will also have a part time administrative assistant for reception, data base maintenance, and ongoing clerical tasks. Michelle will be the first point of contact for ONA-related questions and requests. You may reach her at The Coalition’s national office, 800-653-0799, or projects@uccCoalition.org

To the extent that The Coalition relies of volunteers, our capacity is limited. Volunteers who join us in our work make it possible to accomplish our mission. Coalition members are not only working as ONA consultants; they are also planning events, participating in local chapters, fundraising, maintaining our electronic communication, developing other communication media, serving on on-going and short-term project teams, and connecting churches to LGBT-related political activities.

We have places to go, people to meet, and a vision to realize. Come join us on an exciting journey!

Kathy Church, Vice-Moderator