I wanted to start this short welcome with a reminder that the Annual Membership Meeting will be held all day on May 3rd in Seattle. This meeting will include all the regular educational and involvement opportunities plus a free family-friendly Membership Appreciation reception on Saturday evening. This evening event is open to anyone who would like to attend. The reception will feature kid’s entertainment, appetizers and drinks, an update on Social Justice Fund’s work, live Latin music and dancing. Members and friends will also be invited to sit in with the band and play old Latin standards so come and find our membership’s hidden talents. Make sure you RSVP to Sean Lynch.
In a continued commitment to understand the contexts of our region I find my self writing this article from the airport on my way to Boise for another Listening Session in partnership with the Idaho Fund. In my first couple of months on the job I have visited with members and grantees in each of SJF’s five states (Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Montana) at least once. It has been an honor and a pleasure to meet with amazing folks who are leading transformational change in difficult contexts. The voices and recommendations of so many of you that I have met with will help to guide Social Justice Fund’s work into the future.
An example of how your voices have influenced our strategic direction is the development of a new full-time Membership Support Associate position that will help facilitate communication, networking, information sharing and involvement among the membership. This position was developed in response to feedback from friends, members and grantees that love Social Justice Fund’s work but sometimes find it hard to connect with what is happening in their state.
We are also requesting your input in identifying a keynote speaker for our annual dinner which will take place in October. If you would like to suggest a speaker to the Annual Dinner Committee please click on this link and let us know.
Next time someone tells you that the movement will not be funded, say, “Thank you, I am a Social Justice Fund Member and in partnership with others like me – I am funding the grassroots movement in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.”
“I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.”
Bishop Desmond Tutu