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The following is a summary of the key decisions and commitments made at the 2010 SFA Steering Committee face-to-face meeting. We hope these notes will provide some transparency and accountability within SFA.
As a fluid network united by our work in the Campaign for Fair Food, the steering committee provides national and regional direction, coordination, support and resources for local work and organizing. Check out the 2010 Steering Committee (and more pictures from the face-to-face) here and get in touch with the SC member in your region!
objectives
The goals of the retreat were to plan for escalation in the Dine With Dignity campaign and national mobilization for the Farmworker Freedom March April 16-18, as well as advancing broader SFA development (with the Steering Committee (SC) as an integral force behind that process). We were to review SC roles and responsibilities, develop the plan for having SC'ers act as regional contacts & organizers, improve on our accountability mechanisms, revise campaign plans and strategy, and, of course, develop closer relationships with each other and with the CIW, and have a good time!
campaign
Following the launch of the campaign last March, the subsequent agreements with Bon Appetit and Compass, and the current entrenched positions of Aramark and Sodexo, SC'ers planned for an escalation in the rhetoric, demands, and tactics of the Dine with Dignity campaign, identifying key strategic campuses in Florida and the rest of the country to focus our efforts on and looking to the lessons learned from successful contract-cutting campaigns during SFA's "Boot the Bell" campaign.
steering committee accountability & communications
After reflecting on past challenges of communication and accountability, the SC, staff and transitioning SC members came up with a number of strategies and plans around effective SC-staff and SC-network communication, SC workload, time commitments, etc. The SC preserved the 'buddy system', an avenue for internal support. SC members also committed to being present at major CIW and SFA mobilizations and events (and to holding meetings at those events), making realistic commitments, and voicing personal goals to the rest of the SC. Members will also make themselves accountable to the broader network by serving as liaisons between the SFA network and the team in Immokalee in the capacity of regional contacts/organizers. The SC will continue to communicate through its listserv and bi-monthly conference calls.
sfa network development
The SC committed to holding network-wide SFA calls periodically. Regional Encuentros will be held in Texas, the midwest, and elsewhere to build organizing skills and capacity within SFA. A “Break for Justice” – bringing a small group of active, committed members of the network to Immokalee for a 4-5-day skill-share, training and strategy retreat – will be held before the end of 2010.
fundraising
SC members committed to raising $500/year each, partially to fund local SFA work, and to recruiting 5 people each to the Sustainer Program. Several SC'ers will also form a fundraising/sustainer "task force" to help push the Sustainer Program and other sustainable, grassroots sources of funding for SFA.
"task forces"
We opted to shift to a variation of traditional working groups to address time-sensitive and campaign-necessary tasks. The "task forces" populated by SC'ers and staff will work on, in the coming weeks and months, regional encuentros, developing curriculum and workshop guides, campaign materials, campaign research, and SFA development.
staff transition
SFA is currently accepting applications for Summer and Fall 2010 internships in Immokalee. After close consultation between staff, the SC, and the CIW, with attention to representation of our diverse network, provisional staff was hired in November 2009. SFA continues to seek applicants for the national co-coordinator/staff position as two current staff members will soon be transitioning out of Immokalee.
encuentro
We agreed to hold the 6th-annual SFA Encuentro in Immokalee in September 2010. Planning for the 2010 Encuentro will begin in May and the SC will be intimately involved along with staff in all aspects of planning and in making the Encuentro as effective as possible.
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