A New Way of Doing Business

By Andrea Lee

As an all-volunteer organization with limited resources working on a multi-issue agenda, Greater Boston NOW faces constant challenges. How do we ensure that NOW continues its important work of shaping the public debate about key issues facing women locally and nationally, electing feminist candidates, building coalitions, responding to individual women in need — while encouraging new activists to join our work, developing new leaders and fundraising to support our efforts along the way? In 2002, we are approaching our work in a new way.

First, a glance at our new officer list tells you that our board has grown. How come? Great energy and excitement is drawing more and more women and men to NOW each day. And we need every single activist, so we have created new Board positions — such as Volunteer, Intern, and Campus Coordinators — in order to do the important work of cultivating relationships with activists more effectively. We've also added a monthly VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION to our calendar. The second Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at the NOW office is your opportunity to find out what Greater Boston NOW has been up to and how you can contribute your skills, energy, and ideas to NOW. En-courage friends, family, and co-workers who you think should be more involved to stop by (and, better yet, come with them)! Whether you would like to write articles for our future on-line newsletter, design fliers for upcoming actions, help plan fundraising events, impassion new members or volunteers by tabling at community events or join Mass NOW’s legislative work...YOU NAME IT. WE NEED YOU.

As you look through our calendar on page five or check out our website, you will notice that Greater Boston NOW is no longer holding task force meetings. DON'T WORRY!!! We remain as active as ever on NOW’s priority issues: Promoting Economic and Racial Justice, Ending Violence Against Women, Working for Civil Rights, and Protecting Women's Reproductive Freedom. We've simply decided to change our approach. New Issue Coordinators on our board track what’s happening with their priority issues on the local, state, and national level; represent NOW at coalition meetings; and propose ideas for actions, events, and media responses. Together with other Board members, they make up a Programming Team that meets the third Monday of each month at 7 PM at the NOW office and is open to all members and new activists. We encourage you to come by, dig in and do some work. At any given time, the Programming Team is active on two to three projects and we need you to join the subcommittees that will make our actions happen! If there is a particular issue that you would like to focus on or action you would like NOW to take, contact the appropriate Issue Coordinator or our VPs Programming directly with your suggestions. We’ll get you hooked in! We hope that our new structure will create even more opportunities for new (and old) members to get involved in the critical work of improving the lives and opportunities of women and girls in the Greater Boston area. Together we will ensure that NOW is not only a vibrant and vocal feminist organization, but also a community of activists who support, challenge, and have fun with one another as we promote a more equal and just society.