Applicants should be members of the organization and agree with our core tenets. Board members serve 2-year terms. Board members should be willing and able to attend almost all meetings, and should also be willing to engage on our Facebook group, accept special assignments and serve on at least one of our two standing committees: Finance & Operations or Policy & Elections. Regular board meetings are once a month.

If you are interested in serving on the Board, please fill out this application by midnight on February 28, 2019. If your nomination application is approved, you will be placed on the ballot for the annual membership meeting vote to be held on April 6, 2019. If you are voted onto the board, you will receive leadership training. Leadership experience is NOT required!

Athens for Everyone’s goal is to have a board that is as diverse as our city is, and that represents all the different areas of the progressive and activist community whose goals we share. We’re looking to give as much organizational and political power as we can to historically and presently oppressed communities. A diverse Board is key to our movement and has the best chance of effectively bringing about the change we all need.

As we review applications we will also be looking for individuals who have experience with, formal expertise in, and/or interest in learning more about one or more of the following (in no particular order):

• community organizing
• interest in or experience with our aspirational goals and strategies, including grassroots organizing, radical economic thought, and electoral politics
• expertise in economic issues, especially as they relate to racial and gender disparities
• leftist, feminist, and anti-racist social movement history and activism
• lobbying
• fundraising and accounting
• grant writing
• computer programming/coding/software engineering
• local and regional politics
• leadership development
• social media
• interest in or demonstrated experience with our platform.

Fill out your application here.

If you have any questions about serving on the Board please contact Jimena Vargas-Pacora. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you more and help you with your application.

[expand title=”We’re also looking for a Treasurer to take over for the wonderful Judy Burke as she steps down from this position after five years of service (click for more):“]

This is an excellent opportunity to deepen your engagement with our organization and take on an officer role. This is one of our most important positions, but it is also one of the most flexible in that the vast majority of the work can be done from home on your own time. We require your presence at only two meetings per month, our Finance and Operations and monthly Board meeting.

As treasurer, you will be responsible for the following:

1. Facilitating preparation of our annual budget and regularly monitoring our revenues and expenses against said budget
2. Ensuring accurate and complete financial reporting and proper maintenance of financial records and information/tax returns and making this information available for board review
3. Learning the particulars of the organization’s finances and the applicable laws, which may include laws related to earned income, the unrelated business income tax, appropriate expenditures
4. Signing checks, handling payroll, issuing expense reimbursements, keeping track our bank statements, and managing our cash flow
5. Keeping a calendar of filing requirements and deadlines and have clear assignments (with backups) to help ensure they are all met in a timely manner

Experience preferred but we will train a dedicated candidate. If you are interested, in addition to your application for Board of Directors, please send a copy of your resume and a cover letter to members@athensforeveryone.com.

[/expand]

Board of Directors, term of 2018-2020

Eleanor Davis, Meera Naqvi, Nnenne Onyioha-Clayton, Eric Rose, Imani Scott-Blackwell and Jimena Vargas Pacora were elected to serve two-year terms on the board. They bring a wealth of activist experience to the organization on issues including health inequalities, immigrant rights, union organizing and racial and economic justice.

Awards

Five awards were presented during the meeting. Eleanor Davis (who also presented on A4E’s accomplishments in 2017) received Member of the Year; Tim Denson was honored with a Lifetime Member Award; Eric Rose received the Laura Conroy Community Spirit Award for his indispensable contributions to many local causes; Deborah Gonzalez received the Elected Official of the Year Award for championing progressive and transformative policies during the current state legislative session; and Broderick Flanigan received the first ever Anthony “Versatyle tha Wildchyld” Little All Love Solidarity Award for the impact of his art and activism on the Athens community.

Musical Performances!

District 2 commission candidate Mariah Parker performed as Linqua Franca, as did Clarke Central senior Kxng Blanco, who was disciplined for his role in a Black History Month performance at the school in February, an action that sparked a peaceful protest by students.

2018 Local Platform

The 2018 local platform consists of 10 planks, the first seven of which were carried over from 2017 (although some were expanded or revised). Planks 8 and 9 were submitted by A4E member Broderick Flanagan and A4E’s Policy and Elections Committee and adopted by a voice vote. Members voted on the 10th plank from four proposals submitted by A4E members.

• Invest in public transit
• End discrimination
• Support early learning
• Complete our streets
• Protect and build affordable housing
• Ban the bag
• Decriminalize marijuana
• Support an equity package to combat poverty (submitted by Broderick Flanigan)
• Oppose deportations
• Improve EMS response times (40 votes, submitted by Sam Rafal and Bob Gadd)

2018 State Platform

Due to a tie in the voting, our 2018 state platform consists of 11 planks. The first five of which were carried over from the 2017 platform and members voted on the remaining six.

• Fight for $15
• Establish an independent redistricting commission
• Expand Medicaid and work toward Medicare-for-All
• Reform state laws and legal code regarding rape and sexual assault
• Legalize marijuana
• End money bail and abolish mandatory minimum sentencing (70 votes)
  
• Repeal Campus Carry (60 votes)
• Allow driver’s licenses for undocumented Georgians (58 votes)
• Support a Massive Public Jobs Plan (52 votes)
• Commit to 100 percent renewable energy (34 votes)
• Sign on to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (34 votes, submitted by A4E member Caroline Aiken)

Thank you to Wade Sheldon for providing photography!

Also thanks to new Board member Meera Naqvi for taking photos!

Athens for Everyone
March 4, 2018

You can read a full recap of the event here: https://athensforeveryone.com/2017-annual-meeting-recap/

Check out our recap video here: https://athensforeveryone.com/2017-annual-meeting-video/

The 2017 Athens for Everyone Platform is as follows:

• Continue the Athens Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) Campaign
• Expand Athens Transit Bus Routes
• $15 Minimum Wage and Living Wages for ACC Workers
• Athens Civil Rights Committee and Non-Discrimination Legislation
• Guaranteed Affordable Child Care and Universal Pre-K
• Repeal the Single-Family Ordinance and Start an Affordable Housing Campaign
• Independent Redistricting Committee
• Fare-Free Bus Service Every Day
• Establish a Network of Complete Streets and Support the T-SPLOST Referendum
• Decriminalize Marijuana in Athens
• Fee on Single-Use Plastic Bags

The Athens Elected Official of the Year Award went to ACC District 3 Commissioner Melissa Link for her consistent work on behalf of transparency and progressive policy. The Athens for Everyone Member of the Year Award went to Operations Coordinator Chris Dowd, who performs myriad indispensable tasks. The Laura Conroy Community Spirit Award, in honor of the late A4E member and Canopy Studio Instructor, went to Immigrant Rights Activist and 2015-16 A4E Board Member Beto Mendoza, who shares Laura’s commitment to ending all deportations.

A4E Board Member Adam Lassila gave an overview of ACC’s ten Commission Districts and their Commissioners, looking forward at the May 2018 local elections. The crowd cheered loudly for Melissa Link and Kelly Girtz, while booing Sharyn Dickerson, Diane Bell, Andy Herod, and Mike Hamby. Lassila also pointed out Regina Quick’s State House seat as the best chance for progressives to gain a Republican seat in the November 2018 election. State Senator and Atlanta mayoral candidate Vincent Fort was unable to attend due to last-minute changes to the legislative calendar, but sent in a video of support praising A4E’s efforts and committing to fighting for an Atlanta that works for everyone, as well.

Thank you so much to Wade Sheldon and Maureen Sheeran for their photography expertise! You can see their work at Wade Sheldon Photography.

On November 20, 2016 more than 500 people from Athens and beyond flooded the Cotton Press at Chase Street Warehouses, mobilizing a response to the sweeping Republican victories in the November elections.

The event, “What now? Organize!”, was Athens for Everyone’s largest since its establishment in 2014. With not even standing room left, attendees spilled outside the open garage doors as board member Kelly Happe called for everyone to meet the challenges ahead with “radical hope” and action.

Athens for Everyone assembled a diverse panel of experienced local stakeholders who spoke on issues of climate change, abortion access, immigrant struggles, racial tension downtown, unresponsive elected officials, and the difficulty of talking about politics when others disagree.

“Regardless of the nature of our comfort zone, we must meet injustice and discrimination with both dialogue and open rejection,”  Rouhollah Aghasaleh, from the group Feminist Scholar Activists (FSA), said.

April Greene of the Magnolia Fund, Athens and Atlanta-based advocates for reproductive rights, outlined the woeful current state of abortion access in Georgia and elsewhere. “My worry is Roe v. Wade will remain intact, but so many restrictions will be enacted that it won’t matter,” she said.

Russell Edwards, chair of the Clarke County Democratic Committee, opined for a mayor and commission “that represents the people in this room,” and urged progressives to stay motivated because “there is a whole lot we can do locally.” Edwards also encouraged Athenians to “throw your hat in the ring” and run for office.

“I’m not afraid of Donald Trump, the machinations of deportation of Obama, or of white supremacists,” Beto Mendoza of Dignidad Immigrante en Athens and also of Athens For Everyone said. “I’m not surprised that Trump was elected. We have seen this opposition of immigration for years.”

“Aquí estamos, y no nos vamos,” Mendoza declared later, to much applause. (We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.)

As the event moved into its second half, Athens For Everyone President Tim Denson raised the energy by tapping into attendees’ frustration over recent election results.

“Who’s ready to do something about it?” he boomed.

[youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH6VtK2xjDo&w=500&h=360]

Denson outlined the unacceptable reality that decidedly left-leaning Athens-Clarke County is represented by very few Democrats, versus scores of Republicans from the local to national level.

“Eighteen offices (were) up for re-election this year, and only three were even contested. And that includes Hillary Clinton,” Denson said.

This portion of the event was an apt depiction of where we, the progressive left, find ourselves in the political landscape.

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a wider margin than Al Gore in 2000, Richard Nixon in 1968, and John F. Kennedy in 1960, yet Donald Trump is primed to accept the Presidency. After two terms of Obama in the White House, progressives have felt that a brighter day was breaking. However, Republicans continue to make gains in the US Congress that threaten to reverse progress made towards a more inclusive, egalitarian American society.

Luckily, there are many ways to channel our discontent.

In less than two years, it will be time to run progressive candidates for a great deal of seats at the local, state, and national level. We must be prepared with candidates and campaigns.

Here at home we must ensure that the Athens Civil Rights Committee is established expeditiously, and do everything in our power to firmly establish Athens-Clarke County as a welcoming place for immigrants and for all. Together, we will have to oppose unacceptable legislation that our emboldened state and federal legislatures puts forth, and ensure the passage of that which would benefit our communities.

The time for action is now. It’s clear that waiting on shifting demographics and relying on centrist, non-progressive democrats will not win these fights. We must organize. We must resist. We must move forward.

We are the ones that we’ve been waiting for.

Below is a list of ways that you can get involved with A4E. Email us at athensforeveryone@gmail.com for more information, and to join specific mailing lists to stay informed.

JOIN ATHENS FOR EVERYONE!

DONATE!

ATHENS DAY OF RESISTANCE
January 20, 2017

Level 1) Show up!
Level 2) Recruit participants through passionate personal communication with friends and family.
Level 3) Canvassing (door-knocking) 12/11, 12/17
Level 4) Help plan logistics

ASAP (Athens Sexual Assault Prevention)

Next Meeting: December 5, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
ACC Library, Multipurpose Room B

Agenda: Bartender bystander training, consent workshops for fraternities, more
LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE (mobilizing citizens to use phone calls and social media to support / oppose legislation)

Next Meeting: Saturday, December 3 at 3 pm
ACC Library, Multipurpose Room B

Click here to express interest in this group!
RESISTANCE DINNERS (community meetings for strategic planning)
December 20

Level 1) Show up on the 20th!
Level 2) Canvassing (door-knocking) 12/11, 12/17
Level 3) Host a dinner
SUPPORT & COMMUNICATION TEAM (Facilitated Group Dialogue around difficult issues)
Next Meeting: TBD

Click here to express interest in this group!

“Our strength comes from you, the community. If we work together, if the people of Athens unify and focus our efforts, there is nothing we cannot do!”

Tim Denson, A4E President

The 2016 Athens for Everyone Annual Membership meeting took place on February 28th, a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  More than 50 Athens for Everyone members met and discussed our first full year, and looked forward to our next.

Several A4E Board members spoke about the current state of our organization, including Tim Denson (President), Judy Burke (Treasurer), Adam Veale (Political Committee Coordinator), and Jesse Houle (Outreach Coordinator).  The big takeaways are that our resources (both volunteer time and money) are growing, our dedication to the cause is as strong as ever, and that we’re poised to have a great 2016 with your help!

This year, we intend to help combat discrimination in our downtown (and across the county); to push for continued expansion of bus service (Sunday service was only the beginning!); to fight back against some of the terrible legislation being put forth by the Georgia Legislature, including Campus Carry; to push for living wages for all county employees and to help workers across town know their rights and how to fight for them, and to continue pushing for a culture of consent, among other initiatives!

When it came to the voting portion of our meeting, we overwhelmingly voted in two new Board members: Ashley Mensah and Jen Letchuck.  Congratulations to you both!

We also voted (31-4) to amend our bylaws to make it easier to qualify as a member by donating.  This year, it will only take $60 to qualify as a full member (down from $100 last year).  That means you can qualify with a $5 / month recurring donation (you can donate here!).  Becoming a member through volunteer hours still only takes three hours per year.

In a non-binding opinion poll, we also decided to start new Human Rights and Housing Justice campaigns, assuming there is enough interest.

After voting, we mingled for a while and each A4E campaign coordinator got to converse with volunteers about what needs doing and how we can all pitch in.

Athens for Everyone gives a big THANK YOU to Broad 9A for donating their beautiful venue for this meeting.  Thank you!

The following items will be on the ballot for our members to decide:

1. Election for two openings on the A4E Board of Directors
2. Bylaw changes regarding monetary qualifications for membership
3. Interest poll of two prospective new campaigns (Human Rights and Housing Justice)
4. Advisement about financial transparency

Schedule of Events

• Welcome (2:00 – 2:10 pm)
• 2015 Activities Report given by President (2:10 – 2:20 pm)
• 2015 Financial Report given by Treasurer (2:20 – 2:30 pm)
• Introduction of Board candidates and ballot initiatives (2:30 – 2:35 pm)
• Voting (2:35 – 2:40 pm)
• Our plans for 2016 (2:40 – 2:55 pm)
• Closing Speech given by President (2:55 – 3:00 pm)

Following the events scheduled above, we will mingle so that everyone present can meet with the various A4E campaign coordinators to discuss our goals and strategies for the upcoming year.  We have Broad 9A reserved until 4:00.  We will also visit our new office, located nearby in the Tracy Street Warehouses complex!

While voting is restricted to qualified members, everyone is invited to attend!  We hope to see you there!

You can RSVP on the Facebook event, which is linked here.  If you have any questions, please send them to AthensForEveryone@gmail.com.