Executive Committee to launch for 2027
People brainstorming around a table.
You need to rely on the strengths and power of those around you to see your stakeholders as a village, each with an important role to play. — Joan Garry, author and founder of The Nonprofit Leadership Lab
At its August meeting, members of the LGBTQ+ Faith Alliance agreed to convene an executive committee to aid in interfaith coalition’s future direction. Deb Reinhardt, Faith Alliance organizer, at the meeting listed some of the group’s accomplishment in just two years’ time. The Faith Alliance, which has grown to more than 90 members, has held special events in addition to 20 meetings; engaged in advocacy, including writing two public statements in support of trans Missourians; supported community through its presence at Pride festivals, organizing food, clothing and toiletries drives; supported PROMO Missouri deep canvassing efforts; applied for and received a grant from the United Church of Christ and successfully held two fundraisers; and launched a new website.
While she encouraged the Faith Alliance to celebrate these achievements, Reinhardt added there’s more to be done.“It’s my opinion that there needs to be a stronger structure if the Faith Alliance is to continue growing,” she said. “The current method of operation cannot be sustained long-term.”Her executive committee proposal would be organized as teams under the Faith Alliance’s four founding pillars: education, advocacy, community outreach and sharing of resources.
Education Team members plan and schedule speakers and locations for our five in-person meetings. The advocacy team works with existing LGBTQ+ organizations in the St. Louis area to alert Faith Alliance members of needed actions. Members of the community outreach team help with recruitment to the Faith Alliance, plan any special events outside speakers at monthly meetings and help with the Pride festivals.
Although Reinhardt said the team that focused on sharing our resources needed refining, she suggested it could include fundraising, inventory of Pride assets, and updating the community resource page on our website. Kevin Cameron suggested adding the necessary reporting required for the grant to the list. Sherman Lee said in addition to finances, it seemed that managing physical assets for Pride and special events and overseeing informational documents would be involved.Claire Wyneken added she liked this model and that regular meetings of teams might be good to avoid any duplication in effort and to identify areas of synchronicity. Lee suggested Reinhardt be named executive director and be a part of the executive committee.
Members discussed next steps and it was decided a small group come together to refine the executive committee structure and teams’ roles. Cameron, Jeanette Mott-Oxford and Deborah Bohlmann volunteered to be part of the small group. Lee also suggested some recruitment language for the teams also be crafted and shared.If you would like to learn more about the executive committee and the role of its teams, contact the Faith Alliance at lgftfaithalliance@aol.com.
