Section 5 Only -- Commentary on Other Vice Presidents (7.1)

(7.1 currently reads "LifeRing Inc. shall have the officers required by law, namely a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, and a Secretary.")

(7.1.1 currently reads The Chief Executive Officer shall comply with the duties required by the law, and shall have such other responsibilities as the Board may delegate.)

(7.1.2 only replaces "Chief Financial Officer" with  "Treasurer".)

The bylaws change is very simple and open-ended here, allowing the board maximum flexibility.  The committee did, however, have extensive discussions on which officer positions would be desirable.

As a preliminary issue, however, we concluded that if LifeRing is have Vice Presidents, it seems best to rename the Chief Executive Officer position to that of President. (The less comfortable alternative would be to populate LifeRing with Vice Officers.)   Having changed Chief Executive Officer to President, it seemed natural to change Chief Financial Officer to Treasurer.

Because we created a Chairman of the Board position, we had to make very clear that the President, not the Chairman of the Board, carries the legal responsibilities assigned to a chief executive officer.  

The Expansion committee had a lengthy discussion on which officer positions might be appropriate.  Much of this was based on review of what our current Chief Executive Office does.   Much of the motivation here was to divide the functions now carried by Marty so that individuals not able to make the same time and intensity commitment could, as a group, carry out the same work.  That has to be balanced against the difficulty of finding people to fill out that group, of balancing "motivation vs. positions", of getting the job done but not piling too much on new positions.   Note that however tasks are divided, the President would still be responsible for managing the Vice Presidents, carrying out the functions if a vice president role is not filled, and managing the non-profit [510(c)(3)] as a whole.

The Committee would recommend establishing the following Vice President positions. 

1. Vice President for "External Development". This is the role of dealing with conferences and treatment organizations and of generating or organizing publications.  We would be extremely pleased if Marty could fill this position for the next several years and actively mentor successors.   There may be considerable interaction with the Board or a Board Committee here.

2. Vice President in charge of LifeRing Press.  This person would manage the
sales side of LifeRing, which is separate from the management of meetings and of the non-profit [501(c)(3)] corporation. This includes finding and managing the contract of an office assistant ... and filling in when the job is vacant.   The office administrator would do the day-to-day work; the VP would be more involved in coordination, planning, tax paperwork, finding people to fill the office assistant position, contracting, managing publications, etc.   The management of the office – the physical space, the phone, the computers -- would probably be shared between this VP, the President, and the Treasurer. In the long term, this may be a paid professional position.  In the interim, we seek a volunteer with business skills. This is a largest of the VP jobs, but breaking it out frees up the President considerably.

3. Vice President in charge of the Congress/Expo chair.   This would be an annually rotating position, but a seasonally big one.   This Vice President might work with the President, with the Board as a whole, or a committee of the Board.   We envision that the Vice President would manage all the local issues but that the President, Board, or Board Committee would assist with program planning and speaker recruitment.

4. Vice President for Information Services. This person would oversee both LifeRing’s internal information and internet infrastructure. Although this position requires some comfort with all the subject matter involved, a primary duty will be to find and supervise persons with the necessary expertise for particular infrastructure tasks. For example, a webmaster might focus on lifering.org and lifering.com and perhaps the on-line software hosting the forums, chat, and the e-mail groups.  (Note the On-Line Regional Representative would coordinate the subject matter and contacts on Chat, the forums, Ning, and the e-mail lists.  The Board may play a role in website content issues.)  A data manager might focus on updating and/or restructuring LifeRing’s accounting, database and other systems for use by the President, Treasurer, and Board.

And what is NOT here?

1.  Fundraising chair (at least initially). The committee concluded that fundraising is a core responsibility of the Board and should stay there.   They may choose to develop a fundraising committee and may seek a vice president for support, but the lead responsibility should not be delegated.

2. Internal development, meeting support, and public relations. These appear in the Marty's initial proposal.  The regional coordinators should be playing a
big role with internal development and meeting support.  Public relations today mostly involve fundraising, the Congress, and the "external development" activities, all of which have been parceled out to other VPs. So the committee didn't see a role here.  If LifeRing develops a get a stronger communications infrastructure (e.g., a newsletter or its internet equivalent) it may be appropriate add something there.

The group discussed the task of filling the VP positions.  Filling some may be difficult.  We did note, however, that a substantial volunteer position can be a benefit to one's resume, thus making such jobs more attractive.   The Board might also choose to create positions as position-holders are found.  There might be some iteration too: the board might define a position, seek a candidate, and then adjust the definition of the position around a candidate's skills and interests.

Some VP positions may initially be filled by Board Members.  Many Officers have simultaneously been Board Members.  However, in the long run, it may be desirable for many of these positions to be separate, thus providing another intermediate step for LifeRing leadership development.