Board of Trustees Bi-Weekly Recap

Greetings WESTAF Trustees: This is the first of just three more biweeklies to go until the end of this fiscal year. It’s hard to overstate the shocking whiplash we’ve experienced between the first and second halves of this year due to the sweeping, jarring impact of the pandemic. COVID is like a tidal wave, but instead of demolishing roads, trees and buildings across space, it has obliterated plans, hopes and dreams across time. Visualizing a FY21 budget in the face of such ongoing uncertainty has been quite a task, but the team rose to the challenge, and a FY21 budget…

Greetings WESTAF trustees, Here’s the latest update, covering the last two weeks! Let’s get to it: VIRTUAL WORK UPDATE (CG) Perhaps this is not a huge surprise, but WESTAF will be staying in remote work mode through the end of 2020. We’ll pick up this knotty situation again in January 2021. We really wanted to stay optimistic and be ready at any time for a return to the office, but willingness to do so is relatively low, WFH productivity is relatively high and the pandemic continues to pose too much of a risk. You may remember that WESTAF has renewed…

Dear WESTAF Board of Trustees: As July draws to a close, we will have only two months left in our fiscal year — FY21 begins October 1, 2020. This is a particularly busy time for WESTAF — in our web businesses, in public policy and advocacy, in social responsibility and regranting, in technology and innovation, in communications and marketing and in finance and administration — so let’s dive right in: OCTOBER BOARD MEETING UPDATE (CG, NS) Thanks to you all for completing our brief survey regarding the October board meeting. Perhaps not unexpected, the survey indicated that around 80% of…

Greeting WESTAF trustees: The July 4 holiday fell within this biweekly period, so fewer days upon which to report, but still scads going on at WESTAF, as you can see below. In the coming week or so, we’ll be reaching out to take your temperature (bad joke) on how you’d feel about a trip to Denver in October for the annual board meeting. There are no wrong answers, just honest ones. Like a lot of places in the US, the city and county of Denver’s rate of new cases and hospitalizations is currently heading in the wrong direction. We’ll need…

Hello WESTAF Board of Trustees: The biweekly comes to you a little later this fortnight, as I am just returning from some time off. You might have noticed that these biweeklies have of late begun to include lots of rich contributions from the WESTAF leadership resource team (LRT) and this one is no exception. Of note, some great updates from SRI (Chrissy Deal), Technology (Adam Sestokas) and Public Policy (David Holland), in addition to further great updates from Seyan Lucero, Christina Villa and our product managers. Thanks, all. Let’s jump in: LATEST ON WORKING FROM HOME (CG) As you may…

Greetings WESTAF Trustees: Across the United States and around the world, the last two weeks have seen continuing calls for justice in the murder of George Floyd and many others, and for an end to systemic racism and police brutality. In just a few weeks, a string of hopeful developments signaling real change has offered up some hope that there may be momentum. But the fight is by no means over, and global protests show no signs of slowing down. Thank you, WESTAF leaders on the board and staff, who brought our Statement on the Murder of George Floyd and…

Hello Trustees: It’s hard to sound upbeat or “business as usual” jumping into this biweekly report. The world is hurting so bad and I’m mad and sad and tired about where we’re at. Yet justice must prevail, along with an end to systemic racism. Black Lives Matter. I stay hopeful that great good will happen because of this, but it’s up to all of us to see it through. I am grateful for our WESTAF community and send strength, resiliency and growth to each of you as we press on with our work. Although we sometimes feel overwhelmed, I still…

Hello WESTAF trustees! There is so much happening at WESTAF right now, so I am super excited to see you all at our virtual meeting this coming Thursday, May 21. Thank you so much for your involvement in all things WESTAF. We realize how complex and perplexing navigating this new world has become for all of us, so for you to take this time to focus your attention and expertise on WESTAF means an awful lot and is deeply appreciated. Let’s jump right in: WESTAF BOARD OF TRUSTEE MEETINGS THIS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY (CG) On Friday, the full board of…

Hello again WESTAF Board of Trustees: There have been some significant developments at WESTAF in the past few weeks, so thanks for giving this biweekly some extra special attention! This update is a bit lengthy (sorry), but there’s some great stuff in here, promise! Highly capable WESTAF team members continue to effectively manage the work of the organization virtually. The Leadership Resource Team (LRT) continues with a 30-minute daily morning check-in to share what’s on deck in each WESTAF department. Individual business and project teams meet frequently and virtually, as do individuals with one-on-one meetings. Tools like Slack, Zoom and…

Hello WESTAF Trustees: Really hope that all of you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Like me, you may have whiplash thinking how quickly priorities have shifted in just weeks. I hope you are finding ways to maintain your physical, mental and emotional resilience. That can be especially hard when life consists of juggling uncertainties and letting go of the things that can’t be controlled. It’s a lot! At WESTAF, our work community has moved to Slack — conversation threads, topic channels, daily check-ins, video calls, music playlists, snack tips, recipes and pet photos. Everyone on the WESTAF...