Many of you probably don't even know that Netroots for the Troops has a Board of Directors. I didn't until a little more than a year ago when I was invited by TexDem to join the Board and help plan the future direction of the organization. I was honored at the time. I have great respect for the work of NFTT and I had always wanted to feel like I belonged with the hard working crew that encompassed many of my friends here on DailyKos.
I have written wholeheartedly in support of NFTT and have probably convinced more than one of you to donate money to the cause. That is why I feel my resignation has to be a public one. I don't want another potential Board Member to go into this organization blindfolded as I was nor do I want potential donors to be unaware of the current state of affairs of the organization.
I also have to write this because recent events have made it difficult for me to write at all. Every time I go to write on a topic that is near and dear to my heart, I have this single issue clouding my mind and my judgement. I have allowed myself to be bullied into silence and that cannot stand.
I am writing this despite being told that all Board business is Private and Confidential. Call me a whistleblower if you like. I strongly believe that all non-profits should operate under a system of transparent governance and that the donors and volunteers should have all board minutes and expenses available to them if requested.
When I joined the NFTT Board in May 2012, I was one of seven members. As I resign today, I am leaving a Board of Directors that will only be two members strong, TexDem and VeloVixen.
NFTT is struggling and for multiple reasons. The last year has been painful, to say the least, as leadership of the organization has disagreed with board members so many times that it has been impossible to move forward on planning. Within my first couple of months, I saw three board of directors resign and watched as board meeting after board meeting was cancelled. It is incredible to me that TexDem, VeloVixen, and Eclectablog even managed to pull an event together at all for NN'13. And while they all deserve kudos for such a tremendous effort, the increased amount of work placed on fewer and fewer hands makes it more likely that future events will fail.
During NN'13, we had a board meeting where I thought we were moving forward and we would see the end of the struggles. I was actually excited by the prospects for NN'14.
That quickly changed after I did a small amount of research on my piece of the pie... I had recommended that NFTT consider changing our focus from sending care packages to Afghanistan, especially considering the uncertainty of our status in that country next year, and find a way to provide care packages to either homeless veterans or wounded veterans in Detroit. During the Board Meeting, the idea was met with strong support and possibility. I consulted my husband, a logistics officer with experience in the field of Afghanistan.
In the email to the board, I confirmed that the logistics of sending care packages to soldiers that would be pulling back would be difficult and not recommended and I suggested that we move forward with our plans to change the recipients of our care packages. I also added a suggestion about combining our booth with others that support veterans - this year the Mindful Veteran's Project and the Veteran's Green Bus had separate booths at NN'13 and I imagined a sort of one stop shop for veterans issues. It would help supply the support our volunteer veterans needed to have a better and more welcoming event.
Unfortunately, away from the meeting, my proposals were met by TexDem with disdain and outright rudeness to my husband. The email response I got from TexDem was scathing to say the least. He obviously disagreed with the assessment given by myself and my husband. That's fine. I've been on other boards where strategic decisions for the future are strongly debated. But TexDem crossed a line. He cowardly implied that others had referred to my husband by names that are derogatary and downright unacceptable, Pogue and REMF. He also said that the booth for NFTT has already been acquired and that NFTT requires the complete space. No sharing with others veteran support groups. End of discussion. No vote by the Board. And he didn't just reply to me; he chose to send this reply to the entire board of directors and the man who facilitated our board meeting at NN'13.
I asked for a formal written apology for insulting my husband to be sent to everyone that had received this email. That was weeks ago.
And now I begin to understand why three board members resigned in the summer of 2012. If you have an idea that TexDem doesn't like, you don't belong on the Board of Directors. The community needs to know this so that if new board members are recruited, they can go in with their eyes wide open.
After this latest email to me, we lost another Board Member, Eclectablog. He pledges to volunteer for NFTT next summer while in Detroit, just not as a Board Member. Today, the organization will lose me. I will not be volunteering my time because I cannot work with a man that does not respect all of those who serve in our Armed Forces. Our latest assignment also makes it unlikely that I will attend NN'14 in person.
Nor will I make future donations to NFTT. Unfortunately, the organization as a whole has lost my support and my trust.
As you go to make your next donation to NFTT, I would like you to ask the remaining Board of Directors a few pointed questions:
Is there a projected budget for next year's project?
What happens to your donation if it is not logistically possible to send care packages to Afghanistan?
What happens to your donation if NFTT does not have enough donors to meet the projected project needs?
Is there a way for NFTT to ask potential donors what projects they would support in the future?
Why can't NFTT partner with other progressive veterans groups at NN'14?
I'm sure you might come up with a few questions of your own. After all, NFTT started out as a community organization, run by a group of volunteers that worked together. They had a strategic vision and they made it work. I believe that can happen again.