Announcement from OTW Board of Directors

Banner by Diane with the outlines of a man and woman speaking with word bubbles, one of which has the OTW logo and the other which says 'OTW Announcement'

The OTW Board of Directors regrets to announce that Nikisha Sanders has resigned from position as Treasurer of the OTW. We are immensely grateful for the dedication Sanders brought to her years of work for the OTW as Treasurer and as a member of the Board of Directors from 2011-14, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors!

The Board has elected M.J. MacRae to replace Sanders as Treasurer, effective immediately. We are looking forward to continuing to work with the OTW staff and volunteers to further the OTW’s projects and mission, and we are immensely grateful for the support of our donors and members that makes our work possible.

2015-09-16 admin
Announcement
  1. Lydia E commented: Will Nikisha continue serving on the board? Is she the one who is also running for a second term on the board? (a bit confused here)
    • sanders commented: My first term on the Board ended in December 2014. I have been serving just as an officer, disconnected from Board, since then, and as regular staff on Development and Membership. I am the same person running for a second term after taking most of this year not serving as a Director/Board member.
      • Lydia E commented: Thank you. So you've been working as Treasurer (2011-2015) and also on staff of Development and Membership (2015). And you resigned today as Treasurer? Is that because you are now running again for the Board? Note: (directed to the OTW News person), it would help to add a note if/when edits are made to original posts - this is getting very confusing.
        • Nikisha Sanders commented: Yes, I've resigned as an Officer, for several reasons. The decision to run for Board again was one consideration, but I also encountered a lack of support from the Board that made the position untenable on both sides, as well as experienced a workload that nearly quadrupled between my first year in the role and this last, without the time or support to recruit and train adequate help. I've also found an increased need to spend time with my family after a number of health crises among my relatives in the past year, and stepping down at this point allows me to do so without leaving any significant projects in the lurch while MJ gets up to speed.
          • Zooey commented: These issues seem as though they will make it challenging for you to serve as a Board member this year. How do you plan to manage those challenges?
          • Nikisha Sanders commented: Plainly put, I learned to trust a lot of staff I had little to no contact with as a Board member once I couldn't rely on Board. I have a better sense of who works well together, where connections still need to be made, and how to honestly collaborate with staff, not just pay lip service to it. I also have a better and clearer view of which decisions need to be made by Board and which ones need to be left to staff expertise. Because I have some insight to how Board functions, I know what information might be most persuasive from which sources to guide decisions, and I will use that to move us forward. As for my family issues, they are what they are. Some people know that since I joined Board in 2011, there've been several major illnesses in my family and two significant deaths that hit me hard. Taking a bit of a breather right now is what I need to find the balance between family and work, and to check my priorities. I've gotten better in the past year at setting boundaries to preserve my offline life, evaluating what work is critical for me to do and what can be delegated, and knowing who can be asked for help. All of those things will make it easier to meet the challenges of the time commitment and stress that comes with serving on the Board.
          • Zooey commented: Thanks for this reply! Hope all the family stuff stabilises.
  2. ElliotJ commented: "Note: (directed to the OTW News person), it would help to add a note if/when edits are made to original posts - this is getting very confusing." I may be wrong, but I think the candidate statements are also being edited without any tracking? Sanders original manifesto was posted 14/9/2015 and it made no mention of her resigning from Treasury. Today (16/9/2015), it now talks about her resigning with no indication of edits having been made. So you are not the only one who is confused.