Self-Assessment Is Key
As I began to think about my goals and priorities for the year ahead, I decided to re-read each of my columns since assuming the role of Board President. I wanted to remind myself what all transpired at CAMP over the past 12 months. It has certainly been a busy year, to say the least! (If you have not yet read CAMP Rehoboth’s 2022 Impact Report in the November issue of Letters, you can find a detailed summary there.)
In my first 2022 column, I spoke about lessons I had learned from being on other non-profit boards, which would help shape my focus while serving as part of CAMP Rehoboth’s Board leadership. One lesson I failed to mention was the importance of conducting an annual self-assessment of the Board as a whole. Did we accomplish what we said we would? What worked well and where can we make improvements?
In that column I outlined three areas that would function as guiding principles while I served as Board President, and which I’ve now used to help me evaluate my own performance so far.
CAMP Rehoboth’s interests are the priority, not mine: In this year of transition, my focus was stabilizing CAMP Rehoboth in a post-COVID world, strengthening the organization’s governance, increasing transparency, and rebuilding relationships.
Is CAMP Rehoboth a work in progress as it relates to our programming? Absolutely. My hope is that the community—as part of the strategic planning process—will tell us what CAMP does well and also, what gaps exist when it comes to providing services. We want to know how we can better serve our community.
You must believe in what the organization does: This is a deal breaker for me personally, and it continues to fuel the Board’s collective efforts to make CAMP Rehoboth the best LGBTQ community center possible. However, passion alone is never enough—being responsive and fixing any unintended missteps CAMP Rehoboth might make are critical.
I would be remiss if I did not express my deepest appreciation to four members of the Board whose terms expire in December. Their years of service are the best possible testament to their belief in CAMP Rehoboth’s mission.
I will be forever grateful to Chris Beagle for serving as a mentor during my inaugural year as President. He taught me that creating solid relationships matters most to tackling challenges small and large.
In her years on the Board, Natalie Moss provided invaluable financial counsel and pro bono accounting services and gave countless volunteer hours to make Women’s FEST and the Sundance and SUNFESTIVAL auctions huge successes.
We have Leslie Sinclair to thank for CAMP Rehoboth’s robust visual arts programming, and also for the CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP), which she leads in conjunction with her wife, Debbie. Leslie also spearheaded grant proposals that secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding over the past 10 years.
When I think about membership, Jane Blue will always come to mind. Before we had a full-time development staff person at CAMP, Jane made it her mission to steward our membership program—which accounts for 20 percent of our budget. Thank you, Jane.
Having a clear vision aligns all stakeholders towards the same goal: I tried to communicate consistently and transparently so everyone would have a clear vision of where we are going, how, and why. That’s why I decided to provide transition updates in each of my columns, starting in June.
However, despite what we include in Letters, send in our emails, or post on social media, I hear too often that people still are not getting these messages. This is a big frustration of mine and an opportunity to improve in 2023. We want to learn how people get their information, and how they would prefer to get updates from CAMP, so we can figure out how to close this gap.
On behalf of the staff and board at CAMP Rehoboth, I wish you all a very happy holiday season. ▼
TRANSITION
Executive Director Search: Five vendors submitted proposals in response to CAMP Rehoboth’s RFP for executive recruitment services. The Search Committee evaluated all proposals in strict accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the RFP.
The committee felt that each of the three finalists was extremely qualified to conduct this search. We ultimately chose Cooper Coleman because of its experience conducting searches for organizations that most closely resemble CAMP Rehoboth in mission, size, and geographic location.
Cooper Coleman has begun its discovery process, gathering information about CAMP’s history, programs, and leadership. In the coming weeks they will conduct one-on-one interviews with stakeholders that include Board, staff, volunteers, donors, and community leaders to understand what people think are the experience and skill priorities for our next executive director.
The goal is to commence the search by mid-January (if not before). Until the search is launched publicly, any individuals interested in being considered for the role as CAMP Rehoboth’s next Executive Director should direct their resumes to camprehoboth@coopercoleman.com.
Strategic Plan: Dr. Michela Perrone visited CAMP Rehoboth on November 29 to conduct the first three focus groups as part of the stakeholder feedback portion of the strategic plan: staff, volunteers, and Board. Like the Executive Director search process, the Strategic Planning Task Force is compiling a list of relevant stakeholders to be interviewed in the coming weeks.
In January, a survey will be emailed to everyone on CAMP Rehoboth’s list, soliciting feedback about current CAMP Rehoboth programs. The survey aims also to gather information from the community about its needs, to help identify opportunities for new services, as well potential partnerships to broaden CAMP’s impact in a cost-effective way.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I am excited to announce the election of four new Board members, whose terms will begin in January: Teri Seaton, Amanda Mahony, Lewis Dawley, and Jenn Harpel. We will provide a more formal introduction to each in Letters’ first 2023 issue (out February 10).