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Report from the Board:
Board Actions
LLLI Board
of Directors
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 40 No. 6, December 2004 - January 2005, pp. 139-40.
LLLI Board members have been
working hard to educate ourselves and enrich our awareness of our roles
and responsibilities as Board members of an international nonprofit
organization (nongovernment organization). As part of this effort, our
meeting theme for August was "Acting in the Best Interests of Our
Organization." We made every effort to remind ourselves of these
important responsibilities:
- To be aware that the
overarching goal of a nonprofit organization is to change lives by
fulfilling its mission of service to its constituency. La Leche League
exists to be of service to others: helping mothers breastfeed their
babies and encouraging good mothering through breastfeeding.
- To make decisions with
the entire global LLLI organization in mind, not just LLL in each
Director/member’s Group, Area, or country. La Leche League needs
all of us: volunteers, staff, Executive Director, Board of Directors,
members, and friends.
With these responsibilities
in mind, the LLLI Board took the following actions on August 22, 2004,
in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA. (The Board actions are in bold print.)
Audit Committee
The audit of La Leche League
International finances prepared by Mann . Weitz & Associates, L.L.C.,
for fiscal year April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004 was accepted.
Lenn Weitz and Janet Ferstein
of the firm met with the Board and explained the audit results. They
commented positively about the progress made in the business practices
and financial condition of LLLI. The summary of the audited financials
and accompanying narrative appear in this issue of Leaven on page 142.
Awards Committee
The LLLI Board confirmed
the selection of recipients of the LLLI Awards for Achievement, Appreciation,
Excellence, and Recognition.
The LLLI Awards will be presented
at the 2005 LLLI Conference. Nominees for the Award for Leaders are
being accepted until December 1, 2004. This Award is designed to recognize
a group of Leaders for a collaborative effort that has made a significant
contribution toward helping breastfeeding mothers.
Budget Subcommittee
The LLLI Board accepted
the "LLLI Budget Guidelines 2005-06."
The Budget Subcommittee,
in collaboration with the LLLI staff, developed these budget guidelines,
which will be used as a roadmap to financial security that will help
LLLI more effectively fulfill its mission.
Bylaws Committee
After careful consideration
of input from our community, the Board decided not to proceed with the
Second Reading of the Amendment to the Bylaws, which was proposed at
the Board meeting in February 2004. (See Leaven, June-July 2004.)
The Board is mindful of our
responsibility to review the organization’s bylaws and purpose
on a regular basis. This is a "best practice" among nonprofit
organizations.
For the past year or more
we have done considerable research and held many discussions about Article
II of the LLLI Bylaws: Purpose. We sought the opinions of various legal
and governmental experts, both inside and outside the USA, and listened
to input from Leaders and others within the LLL community. We gathered
information about organizational purpose from nonprofit management publications
and a number of other international nonprofit organizations.
Based on the recommendations
of these experts and the information and discussions among the Board
and within the LLL community, the following three Bylaws amendments
were presented for first readings at the August meeting. A second reading
of, and vote on, each of these Bylaws amendments is scheduled to take
place at the November 2004 Board meeting. Information about the results
of that vote will be available on the Board pages of the LLLI Web site
at www.lalecheleague.org/ BOD/BOD.html or from any LLLI Board member.
1. That the statement,
"LLLI believes that the breastfeeding relationship can stimulate
the optimal physical and emotional growth of the child and the development
of close family relationships" be moved in the LLLI Bylaws from
the General Purpose to the Declaration of Principles.
This powerful statement
belongs more appropriately in the Bylaws Declaration of Principles than
in its current placement in the Bylaws General Purpose.
2. That Article II. Purpose,
Section 1. General Purpose of the LLLI Bylaws be amended to read:
The purpose of LLLI is charitable, educational, and for the promotion
of health:
To help the mother learn
to breastfeed her baby;
To encourage good mothering
through breastfeeding;
To promote a better
understanding of breastfeeding and related subjects.
This is a simpler, more
concise, and broader general purpose statement. It will be easier to
remember and use. It also meets legal requirements for Bylaws of nonprofit
organizations, such as LLLI, incorporated in the USA.
3. That the following
statement be added to the LLLI Bylaws, Article II. Purpose:
Section 3: Vision Purpose
The Vision Purpose of
LLLI is: To realize, deepen, and share the love and wisdom found in
the breastfeeding relationship.
The vision purpose describes
what we hope each mother will find in the breastfeeding relationship.
It is a positive statement that builds upon our philosophy of mothering
through breastfeeding. The LLLI Board recognizes the autonomous and
democratic nature of our organization. LLL entities may translate these
purpose statements (number 2 and number 3 above) in ways that are aligned
with the LLLI purpose. These do not have to be literal translations.
We are studying the Bylaws to ensure they will enable each LLL entity
to interpret/translate this purpose appropriately to their laws and
culture.
The Board deleted the
following policies from the Policies and Standing Rules: Authors, Negotiations;
Bids; Medical Associate Program Depository; Termination Policy, LLLI
Staff; and Appendix 12—Termination Policy for Employed Staff.
These sections described
matters of implementation, policies that are covered by the Personnel
Handbook, or are in other office procedural manuals.
The Board deleted the
following policies from the Policies and Standing Rules: Membership,
Associate; Membership, Corporate; Membership, Friends of Breastfeeding;
Membership, Professional; and Membership, Sustaining.
Entries in the Policies
and Standing Rules need to be relevant to the global organization. While
the deleted membership categories were created both to increase income
and to promote LLLI to a wider audience, they were not meeting these
goals.
The Board added the following
policy to the Policies and Standing Rules: Vision Purpose: The Vision
Purpose of LLLI is, "To realize, deepen, and share the love and
wisdom found in the breastfeeding relationship."
As stated above, the Board
considered input from Leaders and consulted various legal and governmental
experts as we looked at mission statements, purpose statements, and
vision statements. The LLLI Mission Statement is in the Policies and
Standing Rules (PSR). We added the Vision Purpose to the PSR because
we would like Leaders who choose to do so to be able to use this Vision
Purpose statement in addition to the Mission Statement.
Personnel Committee
The LLLI Board revised
paragraph number 11 of the Guidelines for Leaders section of Appendix
18 in the Policies and Standing Rules to read:
A mother who makes every
effort to meet her baby’s needs for nurturing and nourishment
at her breast and who has demonstrated awareness of and responsiveness
to her baby’s needs for her presence can fulfill the Mothering
Experience Prerequisites. A mother can sometimes combine commitments
that take her away from her baby with an experience of mothering through
breastfeeding that is consistent with LLLI philosophy.
The intent of the Guidelines
is to encourage Leaders to look at a broad range of possibilities when
considering the qualifications of mothers who might apply for leadership.
The previous wording limited Leaders and interested mothers because
it stopped the exploration of how the mother’s experience fits
or does not fit with LLLI philosophy of good mothering through breastfeeding.
The change in wording is an invitation to LLL Leaders worldwide to use
their judgment whenever they consider sponsoring a mother for leadership.
We have confidence in the Leaders in the Leader Accreditation Department
to work with Leaders and mothers to identify and accredit mothers who
would make great Leaders.
As the organization becomes
more global and decisions are made more locally, LLL will look somewhat
different in different locations. At the same time, LLL will continue
to hold to its core beliefs and it will continue to grow and be enriched
as mothers and Leaders worldwide live our philosophy in unique and individual
ways in their own lives.
This change does not affect
LLLI philosophy as found in THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING and expressed
in the concept statements. No change has been made to the concept statement:
"In the early years, the baby has an intense need to be with his
mother which is as basic as his need for food." This new wording
in the "Guidelines for Leaders" is intended to recognize in
a positive manner—that is acknowledge and appreciate—that
this concept, like all of LLLI philosophy, can be lived in varied ways
in mothers’ lives.
This change in wording does
not affect the mothering experience prerequisite itself: all the prerequisites
remain unchanged. The LLLI Prerequisites to Applying for Leadership
are, "written in broad terms recognizing that mothers in a variety
of circumstances can and do embrace LLLI philosophy and put it into
practice." As indicated in Appendix 18, the Guidelines for Leaders,
"are designed to help a Leader and interested mother discuss the
prerequisites and together evaluate whether or not the mother is ready
to apply for leadership. A Leader’s close contact with mothers
and potential Applicants, along with her knowledge, observations, and
use of LLL resources, place her in a unique position to help a mother
decide whether or not to apply."
The Guidelines further state
that, "LLL wants to attract prospective Leaders who have or are
willing to develop the knowledge, experience, and skills needed to help
mothers breastfeed and gain a better understanding of mothering through
breastfeeding." We are an organization that values learning. The
phrase, "willing to develop," recognizes that a mother can
learn from her past experiences and make different decisions if she
feels they are best for her baby.
The LLLI Board believes that
LLL Leaders throughout the global LLL community strive to act responsibly
in doing their LLL work of helping mothers breastfeed their babies.
We in LLL are mutually accountable—to each other, the organization,
and the families we serve. We believe all of you wish to maintain the
integrity of La Leche League and, in ways that work best for you and
your community, to further its mission in the world: to help mothers
worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement,
information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of
breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of
the baby and mother.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:17 UTC 2007.
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