Invitation to join the leadership of BIEN

by | Jun 24, 2016 | Opinion

Karl Widerquist, Co-Chair BIEN <Karl@Widerquist.com>
Louise Haagh, Co-Chair, BIEN <louise.haagh@york.ac.uk>

As co-chairs of BIEN, we would like to invite members and prospective members of BIEN, to join the leadership of BIEN. Getting involved is easy. There are two ways to go it:

  • Run for an elected position at BIEN’s next General Assembly at the 2016 BIEN Congress in Seoul (July 9, 2016)
  • Volunteer to work on one of BIEN’s volunteer taskforces.

BIEN currently has 9 elected positions, 8 members of Executive Committee (EC) and the chair of the International Board. There is a proposal to expand that number to 11. The duties of the potential 11 elected members are described at the links below:

The BIEN EC

The International Board:

Basic Income Earth Network's Profile Photo

BIEN

In the past, BIEN’s elections have usually not been very competitive. There have been few nominations. Most candidates have run unopposed. We think that BIEN has outgrown that phase of its existence, but we will explain a little about how that happened. When BIEN began there was no Basic Income movement. The group was small. It didn’t have to make many controversial decisions. It needed people to volunteer to do things. The difficult was not in deciding who got the positions, but finding someone willing to do the things BIEN needed to do. So, the outgoing EC has always recruited people to run to sure that there is at least one candidate who is willing and able to do each job. Again this year, the outgoing EC has recruited people to run next time, but we also want to open it but and make sure that every BIEN member (and everybody willing to become a BIEN member knows that they are invited to run for a leadership position.

As BIEN and the Basic Income movement have grown, we need more people to take an active part in running the organization. So, we are doing two things: First, we invite everyone to make nominations. We hope for a lot of them and for good, healthy, competitive elections. Second, we have proposed some changes in BIEN’s statutes to create a more open, inviting election process in future years.

We stress that the EC is an executive committee, not a legislative committee. By this, we mean that the role of the EC is to do the day-to-day work need to maintain and expand BIEN and further its goals. Although the EC does make policy for BIEN in between General Assembly (GA) meetings, its primary role is work.

If you are elected to the EC you commit to attending monthly EC meetings over the internet and to put in approximately 10 hours per month of work for your assigned specialized task. If BIEN has funds available, it might as you to travel to represent BIEN at an event or to attend a meeting.

Getting involved in the leadership of BIEN is easy for anyone who wants to contribute to the work of BIEN. Often, when more people are interested in joining the EC than there are spaces on the committee, the EC invites the additional candidates to join as informal non-voting members of the committing. Volunteer members of the EC share the duties with official members and participate in EC discussions even if they do not officially vote. Many of them later become full members of the committee.

In addition to these positions, BIEN has unlimited opportunities to get involved as a volunteer. Volunteers work with BIEN on some agreed task, but do not attend meetings of the EC. Volunteering is a good way to get involved with BIEN. Many people do so for a year or years before they run for an elected position. Please see our call for volunteers to see how you might get involved.

If you would like to run for one of the positions on the EC, here is now you do it:

  • Join BIEN, if you haven’t already. See the instructions for becoming a member.
  • Nominate yourself or get another member of BIEN to nominate you by emailing the Secretary. Get another member to email the Secretary of BIEN to second your nomination. (You can also nominate yourself in person at the BIEN Congress.)
  • Send the secretary a paragraph about yourself and why you would like to join the committee. This is not a requirement, but it will help your chances of getting elected.
  • You do not have to be present at the General Assembly in Seoul to run for a leadership position in BIEN, or to nominate someone, or to second someone’s nomination, but you do have to be present to vote.

If you would like to see who has been nominated for these positions so far, they are listed here with links to their bios. We will continue to update this list as more nominations come in.

Karl Widerquist, Co-Chair BIEN <Karl@Widerquist.com>
Louise Haagh, Co-Chair, BIEN <louise.haagh@york.ac.uk>