Steering Committee Conference Call Agenda October 20th, 11am Dial-in Number: (857) 232-0476 Conference Code: 544212 Intro and Updates 1. Roll Call (5 minutes): Ron, Portia, Jackie, Leah, Jensen, Melanie, Laura, Ben F, Kat Jackie from SeeLA joining us on today s call, at the end of agenda we will discuss the topic of appointing Jackie to the steering committee. Questions, answers, discussion; Jackie will leave call and SC will discuss whether Jackie will join. Melanie leaving at 12:05, Leah leaving at 11:50. Plan to end the call on time. 2. Approve September Minutes Where did we decide to hold the retreat? Much discussion at previous meeting. Chose St. Dorothy s Rest. Details later in the agenda. Will add that detail to minutes. Ron moved to accept the September minutes; Melanie seconded. Approved. August and September meeting minutes will be on website by end of the week 3. Stanford Legal Clinic Approached to work with students this semester; help non-profits with legal support. Plan to work with governance guidelines for Alliance. Leah: Leah and Ben met with students, and head of clinic Jay Mitchell; have worked with many non-profits including CUESA and AIM; shared what we have in place for governance structure, will review what we have, offer feedback, clarify and refine for us; had great questions regarding coting process and membership selection, appointed membership, and all aspects of Alliance governance; will help to set up organization in the best way possible for continued positive evolution; touched briefly on the idea of creating a way for FM orgs to share information, but that will be secondary to the governance process, perhaps follow up with that next semester along with other relevant legal issues.
Asked great questions, much of which we may not have thought through thoroughly; will ask them to send us all the questions so that we can go through them as a group; very informative meeting, will do good work for us. Have already prepared a working document on membership and voting, to help refine the structure of the organization, and help the SC communicate to the membership how everything works. Ben F: very focused on real-world application, standard language. Timeframe is complete first round f work on governance by end of year; can continue work next semester. Kat is interested in contributing. Ben will send the materials they shared, all can look at those and also share thoughts on your perspective on any of this. Get back to Ben quickly with thoughts. Leah: governance is the foundation for us and very important to get it right in the beginning 4. FMPP Grant was awarded! Congrats to us! Yeah! Applause! This grant will cover 2 pieces: market manager trainings, building off CDFA manual created in 2012-2013, updating it on new changes, and series of trainings; statewide PSA program about why FM are great, what distinguishes them, using ad consultant and our partners statewide to place on radio and TV, and use targeted internet YouTube ads. Will we discuss more at the retreat? Ben: will form a subcommittee: have a full agenda for retreat; will bring together those interested and work on planning, start in January. Put on agenda for call following retreat. Will send full proposal for project to group again to review. Items for Discussion/Action 5. Retreat Logistics: Arrival 1pm Sunday November 9, check out by Monday at 4pm. Those coming from airport- will get everyone s information, rides can be arranged and coordinated. Let Ben know your plans. Group lunch at noon nearby for those who arrive early enough (not paid for). Sunday dinner cost provided by Alliance; have a kitchen in the farmhouse where we are staying; prepare dinner together, all SC members can bring something to contribute. Who wants to help? Laura: plan a menu? Yes. Diana: can bring fresh ingredients. Melanie Portia, Leah, everyone! Breakfast Monday morning, all contribute and cook Can we bring beer and wine? Yes, please do. Monday lunch will be catered so we can focus on our agenda/work that day. Sounds great.
Have options for all dietary needs, but choose one main option that works for most. Vegetarian lunch. Let Ben know your special dietary needs and we can accommodate for all meals. Room arrangements: facility rate based on double occupancy; if you want a single room we can accommodate that, but you will need to pay the additional charge. If you have a request for single room, or a specific roommate, please let Ben know and he can arrange it. Leah will be bringing her baby and husband, so may not be able to help with meal prep; all are welcome to join us for meals Erin: just joined the call, apologies for being late Goals: Ben: biggest goal is that we spend time together as a group, getting to know each other strengthening our relationships, and planning for the Alliance. Other ideas of how we should spend our time? Laura: do you have any team building exercises for us? Helps break the ice and get comfortable. Yes- that is important and will be a part. Share ideas? Yes has a great example. Melanie: obvious expected outcomes: attracting more Alliance members, attracting more shoppers at FMs, and other obvious goals could be overarching theme, with concrete action plans as outcome of retreat. Ben and Melanie had discussed this idea. Use this as the process, and develop some specific ideas for how to achieve the goals during the retreat. Ben has some ideas already, share other expectations and ideas. Everyone share ideal outcome, open brainstorm session now: Melanie: Part of the time- come up with creative new ways to increase sales at FM, and attract new people to shop at FMs Laura: develop elevator pitch for why is the Alliance important, why should people join the Alliance Leah: come up with strategy to reach out to new members, build Alliance membership Melanie: come up with what kind of marketing we want to implement over the next year as an Alliance, and also marketing ideas for individual members to utilize Jensen: use time for process work, most effective/efficient way to develop our process (governance, voting, membership); review FMPP and what SC members can do to use that work to connect with farmers. Laura: an exercise with a fictional scenario to engage with our decisionmaking process and see how it works in action; or a real decision, or try both Kat: brainstorm ideas of how to put the Alliance on the ground across the
state Can send Ben ideas over email, but most often request for emails yields few results but please do send ideas after the call Portia: develop a List of emerging policy and regulatory issues on the horizon, or that we are currently dealing with Kat: Ways to leverage AB 1871 and ideas to help market managers get through the transition to new regulations Ben: we may not be able to address every idea, but we will endeavor to tackle as much as we can within the time available. Send feedback and idea by the end of this week, agenda will be developed; Ben will send a final draft by Nov 5. 6. Steering Committee Application Jackie Sauceda-Rivera Jackie: work for SeeLA, foundation and corporate grants manager; been with SeeLA for 9 years in various capacities including market manager; very interested in the work of the Alliance and working with a group of people interested in furthering the work of FMs in CA. Jackie would fill the open space left by Alexandra, and could help with fundraising specifically for Alliance Laura: can you give your thoughts on the effectiveness and differences between city-run and non-profit market organizations? Jackie: Yes, have experience working with restrictions and challenges to non-profits who have less of a relationship with a specific city; many strengths to both models Jensen: how did you hear about Alliance, what interests you about this group? Jackie: Ben sent emails last year, and coworker Alexandra was a great fit; also at SCF. Wonderful opportunity for people across the state to work together for FMs, have not seen a great statewide partnership for FMs; CA Market Match Consortium work has been a great experience, and something similar for FMs as a whole would be great! Jackie will step off call, SC members will decide how to proceed. Ben: sense that there is strong support to appoint Jackie to the committee; please discuss any reservations or concerns Laura: would be a great addition, great successor to Alexandra, and SeeLA is a great organization and very representative Ben: Are there any opposition to appointing Jackie to the Steering Committee? None
Kat: moved to appoint Jackie to the Alliance Steering Committee, to finish out the 2-year term vacated by Alexandra. Seconded. No opposition; motion approved. Jackie has been appointed to the Alliance Steering Committee. See you all at the Retreat on November 9!