Our Year in Review: 2018

Dear Community,

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter (if you aren’t on our mailing list, you can sign up here), we’re reworking our timeline for the strategic plan. On this year’s workshops on both coasts, I spent almost every waking hour in deep conversation with community members. When I got home in August, I looked at my notes from these one-on-one exchanges and attempted to compile them with my notes from our community forums. Immediately, I knew that we needed to take a step back and slow down our planning process. The thoughts, ideas, and concerns were too many and too precious to gloss over in the name of hitting a deadline. Our new timeline is as follows:

From Friday, December 28th – Monday, January 28th, we will open a final survey to the entire community. This will be your last opportunity to give input before the board begins handpicking a selection of our favorite ideas. We have selected a task force, consisting of Corinne Sykes, Hannah Blair, and Ross Smith, which will then get down into the weeds and perform in-depth research into the board’s selections in 2019. Their inquiry is designed to nail down the specifics of how we might implement these proposed plans, allowing the board to focus on the bigger picture of our community mission and values. Noel Kropf and Barbara Uhlemann have volunteered to oversee their efforts to ensure timely completion of their research.

In early spring, the task force will present the results of their investigation with details into each proposed idea, and the board will come to consensus on how to move forward. From there, we will begin drafting the final plan for publication in early June 2019. At our workshops, this year’s community forums will focus on presenting the plan and answering your questions, so that we can move into 2020 with a clear picture of our next steps forward.

We know this plan has been a long time coming, and we appreciate your patience while we handle this project with the gravitas it deserves. We look forward to reading your surveys and encourage you to stay engaged in the coming months. It’s an exciting time to be a part of this community as we position ourselves for a resilient future. Below is a summary of our work in 2018, which includes our financial report. We had a wonderful year, and look forward to doing it again in 2019!

Sincerely,

Melinda Russial, President

and the EEFC Board of Directors

2018 Year End Report