Board Approves Diversity Committee Recommendations

The CWA Executive Board this week approved recommendations by its special Diversity Committee, which will be submitted to the 2007 CWA convention as called for by convention delegates last year in adopting the Ready for the Future program.

Among the proposals are adding four at-large diversity members to the Executive Board and establishing a permanent Diversity Committee of the Board.

In reviewing the recommendations at this week's Legislative-Political Conference in Washington, Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, who chairs the committee, said:  "The broader the perspectives we bring to the Executive Board room, the smarter the decisions that emerge from it will be. The more our leaders reflect our members, the more responsive to their needs we will be."

President Larry Cohen said:  "We made a commitment to increase diversity on our Board and that's what we've done.  I'm proud of the work of this committee."

The Diversity Committee held sessions with local leaders around the country to solicit input, posted meeting notes on the Ready for the Future website, and e-mailed a survey last year to all locals seeking ideas and suggestions, Easterling noted.  "We reviewed all – and I mean all – survey responses," she said.

The recommendations call for adding four new at-large diversity Board seats to be filled by women and persons of color.  The four at-large seats will come from four geographic regions, the Northeast, Southeast, Central and Western areas of the country.

The four at-large members will have the same policy-making and voting authority as other Board members.  They will not be full-time officers.  Their expenses and lost-time wages will be paid for attending Board meetings and performing other responsibilities as assigned by the president. Elections for at-large Board members will be held at the 2008 convention using the same procedure as that used for electing national officers.

Serving with Easterling on the Diversity Committee are Vice Presidents Annie Hill, Noah Savant and Brooks Sunkett, Women's Committee members Susan McCallister, Local 7704 secretary-treasurer, and Mary Lou Schaffer, Local 13550 president; and Committee on Equity members Keith Robinson, Local 6310 steward, and Jetty Wells, Local 4009 executive vice president.