The United States Association of Prides will hold an election this fall for its Board of Directors. This notice contains important information about this call for nominations, open positions, duties for positions, and information on revised districts. This notice was originally sent to member organizations via email on July 29, 2023.
Open Positions are:
President, female-identified (4-year term starting January 1, 2024)
Treasurer (4-year term starting January 1, 2024)
District Representatives for USAP’s 4 regions (see related article)
Two people will be elected from each region. The person receiving the most votes will be elected to a four-year term and the person with the second most votes to a two-year term. (All terms will begin January 1, 2024.)
Duties and Responsibilities for Open Positions Board Members are required to act in accordance with these bylaws and all policies established by the Board of Directors, in a manner that is in the best interest of the Association. Individual Board members may not bind the Association to a particular course of action or position, or commit the Association contractually, without specific approval of the full Board of Directors unless, otherwise stated in these bylaws or through Board-approved policy. Co-Presidents: one (1) female-identified and one (1) male-, trans-, or non-binary-identified.
Must be an active member of, and maintain affiliation with, a member pride organization.
Preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors and the Membership, be a member of or chair at least one committee;
Provide vision and direction to the Association;
Call and give notice (or delegate) for all meetings of the Board and Membership;
Oversee implementation of resolutions, plans of action, and other Association business and activities;
The Co-Presidents will be the first two members to represent the Association at any events requiring delegates and/or official representatives, including InterPride meetings.
Exercise and perform such other duties and responsibilities as be assigned by the Board, these Bylaws, and the other governing documents of the Association.
Serve as the primary spokespersons for the Association, unless delegated otherwise.
Treasurer
Must be an active member of, and maintain affiliation with, a member Pride organization.
Receive and safely keep all funds and negotiable instruments of the Association and deposit them in the Association’s accounts be a member of or chair at least one committee;
Serve as an official signatory on the Association’s accounts and other financial documents, as needed;
Supervise and maintain the Association’s financial records, including the provision of copies of all financial reports to the Secretary for archiving;
Prepare and submit all financial reports as required by law, the Board, the Executive Committee, or other governing documents of the Association;
Maintain a database of the Association’s data regarding all current and former Member Organizations and making such data available as might be required by these Bylaws and the other governing documents of the Association;
Exercise and perform such other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Board, these Bylaws, and the other governing documents of the Association.
There are two (2) District Representatives per District
Must be an active member of and maintain affiliation with a member Pride organization.
Preside at all District meetings.
Contribute to the vision and direction of the Association.
Attend and give notice of all District meetings.
Communicate to their Districts the resolutions, plans of action, and other Association business and activities
Recruit pride organizations from their District into the Association.
Serve on at least one committee or subcommittee of the Board.
Represent the Association at any events requiring delegates and/or official representatives, as directed by the Co-Presidents, in their absence.
Exercise and perform such other duties and responsibilities as be assigned by the Co-Presidents, Board, these Bylaws, and the other governing documents of the Association.
Call for Candidates
Candidates should supply the following upon request during either a call for candidates or a request for appointment suggestions:
A Letter of Intent that includes the reason(s) why you feel you are a good candidate for the position that you are seeking.
A personal biography (no more than 500 words)
A Letter of Endorsement from your affiliated full member organization, stating your current role and support of you as a candidate.
(Optional) A personal photo that can be used with election materials sent out about the candidates.
Interested individuals must send their nomination information to secretary@usaprides.org by September 1, 2023. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors will verify each candidate, and notify him or her if they meet the criteria or are rejected, and in the latter case, offer an explanation. A rejected candidate will be given one opportunity to appeal the ruling to the Executive Committee.
Election Process
District Representatives will be elected in the fall for 2023 by a majority of full member organizations in the District.
District Representatives will be elected in staggered years, with a two-year overlap of terms. For the first election, the candidate with the most votes will serve a four-year term and the candidate with the second most votes will serve a two-year term.
During non-election periods, the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors will fill vacancies.
Election Timeline
July 29 – Open call for self-nominations
September 1 – Candidate nomination materials are due
September 23 – Open forum for candidates during the membership call 12:00 pm ET
October 1 – electronic ballots are sent out to voting member organizations. Organizations must be a paid member by September 1, 2023
October 7 – election closes
Revised USAP Districts
The USAP Board of Directors revised our districts during the May 2023 Board Meeting. Because InterPride is moving from a regional basis to encouraging Pride Platforms like USAP, the Board of Directors spent the past few months studying our districts. It should be noted that when USAP was formed the founding members adopted the InterPride Regions with the goal to review and revise the districts as we developed a better understanding of our members. The new district plan moves some states from previous regions which had limited member numbers into districts with more active membership and leadership, allowing for greater and more consistent access to active programming. (This plan still allows CAPI to recruit members because it is a separate organization.)
The images below map out the district revisions.
