OTW Board of Directors

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Name: Board of Directors
Date(s): 2007-
Profit/Nonprofit: Nonprofit
Country based in: USA; international volunteers
Focus: Organizes committees, makes final decisions, keeps financial records, handles compliance.
External Links: Board of Directors (OTW website), Board Meeting Minutes, Reports and Governing Documents
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The Board of Directors for the Organization for Transformative Works is responsible for running the organization which totaled 18 committees, 1,010 volunteers, net assets of $2.5 millions and at least 15,810 paying members as of 2021[1]. The OTW website describes the Board's role and how it is chosen:

It is the Board's responsibility to organize committees, make final decisions, keep financial records, handle compliance, and so on. Board members are asked to serve three-year terms. One-third of the Board is elected every year. The Board is elected from among members in good standing who have served at least one term on a committee. Every member of the OTW gets one vote in the election, regardless of how much they contribute.[2]

Current Board Members

The Board of Directors is currently made up of seven members.

The Directors for 2025 are:

For details, see 2024 OTW Board Election.

Former Board Members

According to the OTW website, the first Board of Directors was chosen as follows:

The initial Board was formed from the respondents to a call for those willing to serve in the organization made in June of 2007. Board members were chosen by organization founder Naomi Novik on the basis of putting together a team with the particular set of skills and experience needed to set up the infrastructure of a nonprofit organization, including its bylaws.

 [3][4]

2007-2008 Board Members

The founding OTW Board was announced on September 28, 2007.[5]

Jo Graham (Jo Wyrick)'s resignation from the Board was announced in January 2008, and Bessa was selected as her replacement.[6]

2009 Board Members

Two candidates stepped forward for two open seats for the 2008 Election, so no contested election was held.

2010 Board Members

Two candidates stepped forward for two open seats for the 2009 Election, so no contested election was held.

2011 Board Members

Coppa, Gladkova, and Murphy were elected in the OTW 2010 Board Election. In December 2010, Elizabeth Yalkut resigned her position and Braunstein was appointed to fill her seat. The finalized 2011 Board was announced on December 31, 2010.[7]

Morris and Braunstein both resigned after the 2011 term.[8] Barenblat and Lane finished their three-year terms at the end of 2011, leaving four open seats for the OTW 2011 Board Election.

2012 Board Members

The Board of Directors for 2012 were announced on November 19, 2011,[9] following the OTW 2011 Board Election (see also List of OTW 2011 Board Election links).

2013 Board Members

The 2012 election was uncontested.[10] The 2013 Board was announced on December 27, 2012.[11] It was the first nine-member Board, following the July 2012 announcement that the Board would be expanded from seven to nine members starting in 2013.[12]

After the resignations of Beck and Bobrowicz, the Board was left with seven members. Gladkova and Murphy's terms both ended in December, leaving four vacant seats for the 2013 election.[13]

2014 Board Members

No candidates came forward during the 2013 election season.[14] The Board announced in December 2013 that they intended to make appointments to fill three of the four vacant seats.[13] Genoese was nominated to fill one of the seats; the others remained unfilled.

Franzeska's resignation was announced on June 2, 2014, leaving the Board with only five members.[15] Anna resigned in October, and her seat was not filled at that time.[16]

2015 Board Members

The 2014 election was uncontested.[17] Sanders' term ended but she remained as Treasurer until September. Board announced in July to change the size of the board again, from 9 to 7 members.[18] Cat was originally there for a two-year term to fill a resigned seat, but stayed on for a third year as there had been other resignations in the meantime.

All of the above resigned in November, effective December 15th.[19] Cat, Eylul and Andrea's terms would have ended at the end of December.

2016 Board Members

The 2015 election was the first contested election since 2011, with eight candidates - which later became six - standing for two positions. Atiya Hakeem and Matty Bowers were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on December 1, 2015.[20] Following the resignation of the entirety of the 2015 Board, three more candidates were appointed to fill vacancies, making up the 2016 Board of Directors.[21]

2017 Board Members

The 2016 election was contested with three candidates standing for two available seats. Priscilla Del Cima and Kristina Busse were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on November 1, 2016.[22]

2018 Board Members

The 2017 election was contested with six candidates standing for three available seats. Jessie Camboulives, Claire P. Baker and Danielle Strong were elected by popular vote to fill the three seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2017.[23]

2019 Board Members

The 2018 election was contested with four candidates standing for two available seats. Natalia Gruber and Lex de Leon were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2018.[24]

2020 Board Members

The 2019 election was contested with four candidates (one of whom withdrew from the ballot) standing for two available seats. Rebecca Sentance and Kirsten Wright were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2019.[25]

2021 Board Members

The 2020 election was contested with six candidates (one of whom withdrew from the ballot) standing for three available seats. Alex Tischer, Kati Eggert, and Jess White were elected by popular vote to fill the three seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2020.[26]

2022 Board Members

The 2021 election was contested with four candidates standing for two available seats. E. Anna Szegedi and Kari Dayton were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2021. Antonius Melisse, the third place candidate, was also appointed to fill the seat vacated by Kati Eggert for the remainder of her term (two years) when she stepped down on August 17, 2021.[27]

2023 Board Members

The 2022 election was contested with five candidates standing for three available seats. Natalia Gruber and Heather McGuire were elected by popular vote to fill the two seats, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2022. Michelle Schroeder the third place candidate, was also appointed to fill the seat vacated by E. Anna Szegedi for the remainder of her term (two years) as she had stepped down.[28]

Jess White resigned effective November 5, 2022, and Heather McGuire resigned May 21, 2023. Both seats are left open for the 2023 Election.

Natalia Gruber, Antonius Melisse, and Alex Tischer resigned effective July 27, 2023.

2024 Board Members

The 2023 election was intially contested with seven candidates standing for four available seats. However, two candidates subsequently withdrew from the elections and the resignation of Natalia Gruber resulted in one additional seat. As a result, the 2023 election was uncontested, with OTW members voting to determine the allocation of terms.

Anh Pham, Kathryn Soderholm and Qiao Chu were elected to serve full terms (3 years). Jennifer Haynes and Zixin Zhang were elected to serve partial terms (2 years).[29]

2025 Board Members

The 2024 election was contested with four candidates standing for two available seats. Erica Frank and Rachel Linton were elected, beginning their Board terms on October 1, 2024.[30]

Meetings

In the early years of the OTW, Board meetings took place on a internal platform, with many meetings including an Open Session that was open to all OTW volunteers. The Board would meet every week or two, with the meeting split between a Closed Session, where only Board were present, and an Open Session, where volunteers could attend as Guests. The Board meetings later expanded to allow non-volunteers to attend the open sessions. It's not clear when this change occurred but members of the public were in attendance at the November 22, 2015 Board Meeting, which precipitated the resignation of the 2015 Board.[31] See 2015 OTW Board Election for further information.

In recent years, quarterly Public Board meetings take place on Discord.[32] These meetings are open to all members of the public.

There were several criticisms of OTW Board meetings in the past. In 2012, concerns were raised about the board being unable to reach a quorum due to attendance issues. In 2015, the Board was criticized for holding many meetings without including an Open Session.[33] In 2023, the Board were criticized for inadequate moderation during the July Public Board meeting. Concerns were also raised around attendance at this meeting, as only two Directors appeared to be present and answering questions.

Following the controversy of the July 2023 meeting and the creation of the Board Assistants Team, the Board Discord was revamped with new channel creation, new onboarding settings, and moderators for the live meeting[34]. Beginning with the October 2023 meeting, conversation was split into multiple channels with board members holding their formal meeting in the #public-board-meetings channel while moderators watch over the #open-chat channel were participants can talk and also ask questions of the Board for moderators to pass along.

The OTW Board posts their meeting dates on Board Calendar and meeting minutes on OTW website.

Public Board Meetings
Year Count
2017 4
2018 2
2019 2
2020 2
2021 4
2022 3
2023 4
2024 4

External Links

References

  1. ^ Organization for Transformative Works. "Annual Report 2021". Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. ^ OTW Frequently Asked Questions. (Accessed 11 July 2012.)
  3. ^ OTW Election History (Accessed 19 Dec 2022)
  4. ^ An older FAQ entry phrased it slightly differently:
    Naomi Novik put out a call for those willing to serve in the organization in June of 2007, and chose the first board from among those who responded, on the basis of putting together a team with the particular set of skills and experience needed to set up the infrastructure of a nonprofit organization, including its bylaws. These bylaws include the rules and terms under which a membership could be gathered and a future board legally elected.

     "How was the first board chosen?" (Archived on 13 Feb 2009])
  5. ^ An Introduction to the Organization for Transformative Works[1] at otw_news on LiveJournal, posted 28 September 2007. (Accessed 05 March 2014.)
  6. ^ OTW Newsletter January 2008, vol. 2 at otw_news, posted 17 January 2008. (Accessed 05 March 2014.)
  7. ^ News from Term Break - 2011 OTW Board and Committee Chairs at the OTW blog. 31 December 2010. (Accessed 05 March 2014.)
  8. ^ OTW 2011 Board Candidates and Election News, posted on 22 September 2011. (Accessed 05 July 2012.)
  9. ^ OTW Elections website. (Accessed 11 July 2012.)
  10. ^ 2012 OTW Board Candidates, Organization for Transformative Works, (Accessed 16 August 2022.)
  11. ^ Board Resignations and Appointments for 2013 at the OTW blog. 27 December 2012. (Accessed 18 June 2014.)
  12. ^ 2012 Election: Expanding the Board and Amending the Bylaws at the OTW blog. 18 July 2012. (Accessed 11 October 2014.)
  13. ^ a b OTW 2013 Election update at the OTW blog. 01 December 2013. (Accessed 11 October 2014.)
  14. ^ Re: Elections(dead link), comment by Eylul Dogruel at the OTW blog. 28 October 2013. (Accessed 11 October 2014.)
  15. ^ Franzeska Dickson resigns from OTW Board at the OTW blog. 02 June 2014. (Accessed 18 June 2014.)
  16. ^ Board meeting minutes of 18th October(dead link)(Accessed 24 November 2015.) Available at OTW Board Minutes(Access 12 June 2020)
  17. ^ OTW Election History (Accessed 24 November 2015.)
  18. ^ Board Meeting Minutes: 11 July 2015, Archived version
  19. ^ Board of Directors Update (Accessed 24 November 2015)
  20. ^ 2015 Election Results (Accessed 20 November 2016)
  21. ^ OTW Board of Directors Update (Accessed 20 November 2016)
  22. ^ 2016 Election Results (Accessed 08 December 2017)
  23. ^ 2017 Election Results (Accessed 04 October 2019)
  24. ^ 2018 Election Results (Accessed 04 October 2019)
  25. ^ 2019 Election Results (Accessed 10 October 2020)
  26. ^ 2020 OTW Election Results (Accessed 18 November 2021)
  27. ^ 2021 OTW Election Results (Accessed 1 January 2022)
  28. ^ 2022 OTW Election Results (Accessed 12 June 2023)
  29. ^ 2023 OTW Election Results (Accessed 27 November 2023)
  30. ^ 2024 OTW Election Results (Accessed 18 November 2024)
  31. ^ File:Campfire, November 22.pdf
  32. ^ Organization for Transformative Works. Board of Directors. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  33. ^ This is referenced in a citation for the 2015 OTW Board Election Fanlore article: "Though one of the criticisms of the 2015 Board was that they had many meetings with no open session at all. This [Board Meeting on November 22, 2015] was the first meeting since October 18 with an open session".
  34. ^ Announcement on Discord
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