Sierra Club Florida

Group Discussions

The Group Advisory Council has started a series of conference calls on the admin issues that Groups around the state are facing. Our first call was on moving to e-newsletters. Our second call was on boosting outings. We are planning calls on fundraising, leadership skills, and other topics for 2010. Response to these calls has been good and we keep the participant list small to promote good communication. If you missed any of the calls, and would like to see the notes form them, you can email Ron Haines (ronaldhaines@bellsouth.net), and he will send you a copy. If you have ideas for topics of future calls, or you want information about joining the Group Council, please contact Debbie Matthews, treehuggerdeb@gmail.com

Group Advisory Council

The formation of a Group Advisory Council was required by the Sierra Club Board of Directors to help build coordination with SC Groups in Florida. This structure is intentionally different from Group representation on a traditional Chapter Executive Committee. The Council members are expected to function as a team, sharing information and experience, and communicating with SC Groups, in order for the Council to help build stronger Groups and a strong, statewide organization in Florida.

The current members of the Council are:

• Sachi Sachidanndan (Turtle Coast), email: gsachi@bellsouth.net
• Debbie Matthews (Miami), email: treehuggerdeb@gmail.com
• Linda Jones (Manatee-Sarasota), email: lindyleetheis@comcast.net
• Chuck Geanangel (Ancient Islands)
• Technical Assistants Ron Haines, Betsy Grass

The council chose to summarize their purpose as follows:

1. Involve local groups in developing a strong, statewide organizational structure by soliciting Group input.
2. Facilitate local group communication and interaction with other Sierra Club entities.
3. Advise the Steering Committee regarding group resource needs, aspirations and challenges.
4. Assist local groups in addressing specific issues (e.g. financial, political, conservation).

Winter 2009:

The Group Advisory Council is looking for volunteers who have skills in the areas of Fundraising, Outings, Recruitment of Volunteers, Leadership and Political Training, and Electronic Newsletters. The Council has been busy collecting and compiling data from the group surveys and we would like to have people with experience on our team for the next step, which is to provide assistance to our groups. Interested individuals who would like to join should send a brief summary of Sierra Club experience, familiarity with above-mentioned areas.

Please send this information and any inquiries to Debbie Matthews at treehuggerdeb@yahoo.com. We would like to have people from different Groups across the state join us.