Empathy List Archives

DK

Deborah Kennedy

Wed, May 4, 2016 4:14 PM

Hello, all,

I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so!

Deborah

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM
To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL

Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw.

Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Jeff

On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:

As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow.
Thank you
Silja

.
Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ [JSILogo] http://www.facebook.com/worlded [JSILogo] http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:
Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea.
Silja

.
Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ [JSILogo] http://www.facebook.com/worlded [JSILogo] http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote:
Yes, thanks Deborah.

Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that.

In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected.

Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the entire membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that.

Jeff

On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com wrote:

Deborah,
Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee.
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hi, all,

I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program
Center for Applied Linguistics
202/355-1572
www.cal.org http://www.cal.org/
www.ehlsprogram.org http://www.ehlsprogram.org/

From: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org <president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM
To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch
Subject: COABE and NCL

Dear NCL Board Members,
We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition.

As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster.

Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time.

A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Tom Nash,
Board President

and

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director

Thomas Nash
President, COABE
PO Box 620
Syracuse, NY 13206

Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223)
Fax: 866-941-5129
Email: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org
Website: www.coabe.org http://www.coabe.org/

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

Hello, all, I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so! Deborah From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw. Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it. Jeff On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org<mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow. Thank you Silja . Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485 www.worlded.org<http://www.worlded.org/> [JSILogo] <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> [JSILogo] <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org<mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea. Silja . Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485 www.worlded.org<http://www.worlded.org/> [JSILogo] <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> [JSILogo] <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org<mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>> wrote: Yes, thanks Deborah. Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that. In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected. Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the *entire* membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that. Jeff On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com<mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com> wrote: Deborah, Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee. Heather Heather Ritchie Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer 240-643-4612 hritchie6@gmail.com<mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> â President, MAACCE (2014-2016) www.maaccemd.org<http://www.maaccemd.org/> On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org<mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: Hi, all, I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started. Deborah Deborah Kennedy Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program Center for Applied Linguistics 202/355-1572 www.cal.org<http://www.cal.org/> www.ehlsprogram.org<http://www.ehlsprogram.org/> ________________________________ From: president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org> <president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org>> Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch Subject: COABE and NCL Dear NCL Board Members, We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition. As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster. Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time. A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Tom Nash, Board President and Sharon Bonney Executive Director Thomas Nash President, COABE PO Box 620 Syracuse, NY 13206 Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223) Fax: 866-941-5129 Email: president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org> Website: www.coabe.org<http://www.coabe.org/> _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

SK

Silja Kallenbach

Wed, May 4, 2016 4:23 PM

Fine by e. Jeff?? Others? Letâs get this response out.
Silja

On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy dkennedy@cal.org wrote:

Hello, all,

I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so!

Deborah

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM
To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL

Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw.

Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Jeff

On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:

As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow.
Thank you
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:
Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea.
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote:
Yes, thanks Deborah.

Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that.

In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected.

Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the entire membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that.

Jeff

On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com wrote:

Deborah,
Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee.
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hi, all,

I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program
Center for Applied Linguistics
202/355-1572
www.cal.org http://www.cal.org/
www.ehlsprogram.org http://www.ehlsprogram.org/

From: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org <president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM
To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch
Subject: COABE and NCL

Dear NCL Board Members,
We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition.

As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster.

Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time.

A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Tom Nash,
Board President

and

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director

Thomas Nash
President, COABE
PO Box 620
Syracuse, NY 13206

Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223)
Fax: 866-941-5129
Email: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org
Website: www.coabe.org http://www.coabe.org/

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

Fine by e. Jeff?? Others? Letâs get this response out. Silja > On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org> wrote: > > Hello, all, > > I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so! > > Deborah > > > From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter > Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM > To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List > Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL > > Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw. > > Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it. > > Jeff > > On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: > > As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow. > Thank you > Silja > > . > SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 > www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> > > > On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: > Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea. > Silja > > . > SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 > www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> > > > On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org <mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>> wrote: > Yes, thanks Deborah. > > Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that. > > In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected. > > Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the *entire* membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that. > > Jeff > > On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com> wrote: > > Deborah, > Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee. > Heather > > Heather Ritchie > Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer > 240-643-4612 > hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> > â > President, MAACCE (2014-2016) > www.maaccemd.org <http://www.maaccemd.org/> > > > > On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org <mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: > > Hi, all, > > I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started. > > Deborah > > Deborah Kennedy > Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education > Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program > Center for Applied Linguistics > 202/355-1572 > www.cal.org <http://www.cal.org/> > www.ehlsprogram.org <http://www.ehlsprogram.org/> > > > From: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> <president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org>> > Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM > To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch > Subject: COABE and NCL > > Dear NCL Board Members, > We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition. > > As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster. > > Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time. > > A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience. > > Sincerely, > Tom Nash, > Board President > > and > > Sharon Bonney > Executive Director > > Thomas Nash > President, COABE > PO Box 620 > Syracuse, NY 13206 > > Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223) > Fax: 866-941-5129 > Email: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> > Website: www.coabe.org <http://www.coabe.org/> > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > > <Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > <Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>

JC

Jeff Carter

Wed, May 4, 2016 4:26 PM

I have a 12:30 call and will look at the revised version right after that.

Thanks - Jeff

On May 4, 2016, at 12:23 PM, Silja Kallenbach silja_kallenbach@worlded.org wrote:

Fine by e. Jeff?? Others? Letâs get this response out.
Silja

On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hello, all,

I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so!

Deborah

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM
To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL

Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw.

Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Jeff

On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:

As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow.
Thank you
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:
Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea.
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote:
Yes, thanks Deborah.

Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that.

In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected.

Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the entire membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that.

Jeff

On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com wrote:

Deborah,
Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee.
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hi, all,

I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program
Center for Applied Linguistics
202/355-1572
www.cal.org http://www.cal.org/
www.ehlsprogram.org http://www.ehlsprogram.org/

From: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org <president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM
To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch
Subject: COABE and NCL

Dear NCL Board Members,
We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition.

As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster.

Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time.

A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Tom Nash,
Board President

and

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director

Thomas Nash
President, COABE
PO Box 620
Syracuse, NY 13206

Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223)
Fax: 866-941-5129
Email: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org
Website: www.coabe.org http://www.coabe.org/

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

I have a 12:30 call and will look at the revised version right after that. Thanks - Jeff > On May 4, 2016, at 12:23 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote: > > Fine by e. Jeff?? Others? Letâs get this response out. > Silja > > >> On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org <mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: >> >> Hello, all, >> >> I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so! >> >> Deborah >> >> >> From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter >> Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM >> To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List >> Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL >> >> Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw. >> >> Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it. >> >> Jeff >> >> On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: >> >> As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow. >> Thank you >> Silja >> >> . >> SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 >> www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> >> >> >> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: >> Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea. >> Silja >> >> . >> SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 >> www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> >> >> >> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org <mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>> wrote: >> Yes, thanks Deborah. >> >> Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that. >> >> In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected. >> >> Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the *entire* membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that. >> >> Jeff >> >> On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Deborah, >> Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee. >> Heather >> >> Heather Ritchie >> Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer >> 240-643-4612 >> hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> >> â >> President, MAACCE (2014-2016) >> www.maaccemd.org <http://www.maaccemd.org/> >> >> >> >> On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org <mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: >> >> Hi, all, >> >> I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started. >> >> Deborah >> >> Deborah Kennedy >> Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education >> Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program >> Center for Applied Linguistics >> 202/355-1572 >> www.cal.org <http://www.cal.org/> >> www.ehlsprogram.org <http://www.ehlsprogram.org/> >> >> >> From: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> <president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org>> >> Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM >> To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch >> Subject: COABE and NCL >> >> Dear NCL Board Members, >> We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition. >> >> As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster. >> >> Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time. >> >> A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience. >> >> Sincerely, >> Tom Nash, >> Board President >> >> and >> >> Sharon Bonney >> Executive Director >> >> Thomas Nash >> President, COABE >> PO Box 620 >> Syracuse, NY 13206 >> >> Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223) >> Fax: 866-941-5129 >> Email: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> >> Website: www.coabe.org <http://www.coabe.org/> >> _______________________________________________ >> National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list >> Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list >> Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list >> Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> >> >> <Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ >> National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list >> Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> >> <Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ >> National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list >> Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> >> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

MD

Michele Diecuch

Wed, May 4, 2016 6:00 PM

Deborah,
The draft looks good. A note on the second paragraph (âYou are correct that the NCL board has not done a stellarâ¦â) I donât think itâs good to be self-deprecating at this point. Everyone on the board has been working hard, especially since itâs all volunteer in addition to our day jobs. Jeff responded to Sharonâs listserv post a few months ago answering her questions. And, Tom and Sharon did attend the October meeting and received the same update other members received. Other NCL members have not expressed confusion, so I donât think we need to elevate this.

That being said, we certainly want COABEâs participation in NCL and welcome it (which youâve done a good job at expressing, Deborah). I hope our response will answer Sharon/Tomâs questions while hopefully not perpetuating the problem.

The current board has a very collegial working relationship. I think we need to make sure COABE understands this and wants to participate in the same way, which frankly, I worry about at this point. Hopefully this communication will help that.

Michele

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Deborah Kennedy
Sent: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:14 PM
To: Jeff Carter jcarter@literacypolicy.org; National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL - Revised Draft

Hello, all,

I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so!

Deborah

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM
To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL

Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw.

Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Jeff

On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:

As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow.
Thank you
Silja

.
Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ [JSILogo] http://www.facebook.com/worlded [JSILogo] http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:
Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea.
Silja

.
Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ [JSILogo] http://www.facebook.com/worlded [JSILogo] http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote:
Yes, thanks Deborah.

Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that.

In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected.

Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the entire membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that.

Jeff

On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com wrote:

Deborah,
Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee.
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hi, all,

I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program
Center for Applied Linguistics
202/355-1572
www.cal.org http://www.cal.org/
www.ehlsprogram.org http://www.ehlsprogram.org/

From: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org <president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM
To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch
Subject: COABE and NCL

Dear NCL Board Members,
We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition.

As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster.

Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time.

A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Tom Nash,
Board President

and

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director

Thomas Nash
President, COABE
PO Box 620
Syracuse, NY 13206

Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223)
Fax: 866-941-5129
Email: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org
Website: www.coabe.org http://www.coabe.org/

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
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Deborah, The draft looks good. A note on the second paragraph (âYou are correct that the NCL board has not done a stellarâ¦â) I donât think itâs good to be self-deprecating at this point. Everyone on the board has been working hard, especially since itâs all volunteer in addition to our day jobs. Jeff responded to Sharonâs listserv post a few months ago answering her questions. And, Tom and Sharon did attend the October meeting and received the same update other members received. Other NCL members have not expressed confusion, so I donât think we need to elevate this. That being said, we certainly want COABEâs participation in NCL and welcome it (which youâve done a good job at expressing, Deborah). I hope our response will answer Sharon/Tomâs questions while hopefully not perpetuating the problem. The current board has a very collegial working relationship. I think we need to make sure COABE understands this and wants to participate in the same way, which frankly, I worry about at this point. Hopefully this communication will help that. Michele From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Deborah Kennedy Sent: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:14 PM To: Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org>; National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List <board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL - Revised Draft Hello, all, I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so! Deborah From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw. Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it. Jeff On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org<mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow. Thank you Silja . Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485 www.worlded.org<http://www.worlded.org/> [JSILogo] <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> [JSILogo] <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org<mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea. Silja . Silja kallenbach [Red Squares] Vice President [Red Squares] 617.482.9485 www.worlded.org<http://www.worlded.org/> [JSILogo] <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> [JSILogo] <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org<mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>> wrote: Yes, thanks Deborah. Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that. In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected. Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the *entire* membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that. Jeff On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com<mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com> wrote: Deborah, Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee. Heather Heather Ritchie Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer 240-643-4612 hritchie6@gmail.com<mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> â President, MAACCE (2014-2016) www.maaccemd.org<http://www.maaccemd.org/> On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org<mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: Hi, all, I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started. Deborah Deborah Kennedy Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program Center for Applied Linguistics 202/355-1572 www.cal.org<http://www.cal.org/> www.ehlsprogram.org<http://www.ehlsprogram.org/> ________________________________ From: president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org> <president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org>> Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch Subject: COABE and NCL Dear NCL Board Members, We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition. As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster. Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time. A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Tom Nash, Board President and Sharon Bonney Executive Director Thomas Nash President, COABE PO Box 620 Syracuse, NY 13206 Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223) Fax: 866-941-5129 Email: president@coabe.org<mailto:president@coabe.org> Website: www.coabe.org<http://www.coabe.org/> _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org _______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org<mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

JC

Jeff Carter

Wed, May 4, 2016 6:36 PM

Here are my edits. I did have a few concerns but I thought this was a nice response. I appreciate you doing this.

My suggested edits mainly have to do with striking a balance between being sensitive and responsive to their concerns while not going on the record with any suggestion or even a hint they are entitled to benefits or opportunities beyond what any other member receives. Generally I think generally the note balances this well â there are just a couple of spots where I would put things in more general terms.

If we are in fact a D.C. corporation (I canât remember), you may want to look at this regarding member rights to inspect records:

http://dccode.org/simple/Title-29/Chapter-4/Subchapter-XIII/

Thanks!

Jeff

On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy dkennedy@cal.org wrote:

Here are my edits. I did have a few concerns but I thought this was a nice response. I appreciate you doing this. My suggested edits mainly have to do with striking a balance between being sensitive and responsive to their concerns while not going on the record with any suggestion or even a hint they are entitled to benefits or opportunities beyond what any other member receives. Generally I think generally the note balances this well â there are just a couple of spots where I would put things in more general terms. If we are in fact a D.C. corporation (I canât remember), you may want to look at this regarding member rights to inspect records: http://dccode.org/simple/Title-29/Chapter-4/Subchapter-XIII/ Thanks! Jeff > On May 4, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org> wrote: > > <Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016.docx>

H

hritchie6@gmail.com

Wed, May 4, 2016 6:42 PM

I agree with Michelle on the âstellarâ comment.

Maybe something like. âAs a volunteer board we strive to communicate information out as best we can, but we understand that sometimes more information would be helpful and appreciate your feedback on increasing our communication to the members.â

The only other thought is whether a sentence should , at the start or end, be added recognizing COABE for all the work they are during/increase in work - i.e. giving them some kudos. (to create goodwill) I defer to you all as to whether to add.

Thanks again Deborah and all!!
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 4, 2016, at 2:00 PM, Michele Diecuch mdiecuch@proliteracy.org wrote:

Deborah,
The draft looks good. A note on the second paragraph (âYou are correct that the NCL board has not done a stellarâ¦â) I donât think itâs good to be self-deprecating at this point. Everyone on the board has been working hard, especially since itâs all volunteer in addition to our day jobs. Jeff responded to Sharonâs listserv post a few months ago answering her questions. And, Tom and Sharon did attend the October meeting and received the same update other members received. Other NCL members have not expressed confusion, so I donât think we need to elevate this.

That being said, we certainly want COABEâs participation in NCL and welcome it (which youâve done a good job at expressing, Deborah). I hope our response will answer Sharon/Tomâs questions while hopefully not perpetuating the problem.

The current board has a very collegial working relationship. I think we need to make sure COABE understands this and wants to participate in the same way, which frankly, I worry about at this point. Hopefully this communication will help that.

Michele

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Deborah Kennedy
Sent: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:14 PM
To: Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>; National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List <board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL - Revised Draft

Hello, all,

I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so!

Deborah

From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM
To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List
Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL

Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw.

Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Jeff

On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:

As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow.
Thank you
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org> wrote:
Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea.
Silja

.
SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485
www.worlded.org http://www.worlded.org/ http://www.facebook.com/worlded http://www.twitter.com/worlded

On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote:
Yes, thanks Deborah.

Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that.

In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected.

Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the entire membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that.

Jeff

On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com wrote:

Deborah,
Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee.
Heather

Heather Ritchie
Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer
240-643-4612
hritchie6@gmail.com mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com
â
President, MAACCE (2014-2016)
www.maaccemd.org http://www.maaccemd.org/

On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org mailto:dkennedy@cal.org> wrote:

Hi, all,

I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program
Center for Applied Linguistics
202/355-1572
www.cal.org http://www.cal.org/
www.ehlsprogram.org http://www.ehlsprogram.org/

From: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org <president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM
To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch
Subject: COABE and NCL

Dear NCL Board Members,
We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition.

As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster.

Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time.

A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Tom Nash,
Board President

and

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director

Thomas Nash
President, COABE
PO Box 620
Syracuse, NY 13206

Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223)
Fax: 866-941-5129
Email: president@coabe.org mailto:president@coabe.org
Website: www.coabe.org http://www.coabe.org/

National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list
Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org
http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

<Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________
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I agree with Michelle on the âstellarâ comment. Maybe something like. âAs a volunteer board we strive to communicate information out as best we can, but we understand that sometimes more information would be helpful and appreciate your feedback on increasing our communication to the members.â The only other thought is whether a sentence should , at the start or end, be added recognizing COABE for all the work they are during/increase in work - i.e. giving them some kudos. (to create goodwill) I defer to you all as to whether to add. Thanks again Deborah and all!! Heather Heather Ritchie Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer 240-643-4612 hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> â President, MAACCE (2014-2016) www.maaccemd.org <http://www.maaccemd.org/> > On May 4, 2016, at 2:00 PM, Michele Diecuch <mdiecuch@proliteracy.org> wrote: > > Deborah, > The draft looks good. A note on the second paragraph (âYou are correct that the NCL board has not done a stellarâ¦â) I donât think itâs good to be self-deprecating at this point. Everyone on the board has been working hard, especially since itâs all volunteer in addition to our day jobs. Jeff responded to Sharonâs listserv post a few months ago answering her questions. And, Tom and Sharon did attend the October meeting and received the same update other members received. Other NCL members have not expressed confusion, so I donât think we need to elevate this. > > That being said, we certainly want COABEâs participation in NCL and welcome it (which youâve done a good job at expressing, Deborah). I hope our response will answer Sharon/Tomâs questions while hopefully not perpetuating the problem. > > The current board has a very collegial working relationship. I think we need to make sure COABE understands this and wants to participate in the same way, which frankly, I worry about at this point. Hopefully this communication will help that. > > Michele > > > > > From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>] On Behalf Of Deborah Kennedy > Sent: Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:14 PM > To: Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org <mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>>; National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List <board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>> > Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL - Revised Draft > > Hello, all, > > I have made some revisions to the draft to reflect the excellent suggestions from Silja and Heather. Jeff, maybe this addresses some of your concerns â I hope so! > > Deborah > > > From: Board [mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:board-bounces@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>] On Behalf Of Jeff Carter > Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:21 PM > To: National Coalition for Literacy Board Members List > Subject: Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL > > Thanks all. I have a number of comments on this, but I need to run over to a meeting with OMB and probably wonât get to this until tmw. > > Deborah, I appreciate your taking the time to do it. > > Jeff > > On May 3, 2016, at 5:06 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: > > As the Board Nominations committee of two, Deborah and I would very much like to get the response letter to COABE tomorrow on behalf of the NCL Board. Please respond with your feedback by noon tomorrow. > Thank you > Silja > > . > SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 > www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> > > > On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Silja Kallenbach <silja_kallenbach@worlded.org <mailto:silja_kallenbach@worlded.org>> wrote: > Thank you, Deborah for drafting our response to COABE - great letter, very clear. Perhaps you'd want to add a sentence at the end affirming that we too want to work well with COABE. To Jeff's point, maybe you can add that we hope this letter addresses their concerns. And I would add that we welcome their candidacy to the Board. I also think Jeff's suggestion to post a general clarification on the NCL membership list re. NCL structure is a good idea. > Silja > > . > SILJA KALLENBACH Vice President 617.482.9485 > www.worlded.org <http://www.worlded.org/> <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> <http://www.twitter.com/worlded> > > > On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org <mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org>> wrote: > Yes, thanks Deborah. > > Without getting into the specific of Tomâs email, which restate a number of inaccuracies that I have tried to address with him and with Sharon on numerous occasions (to no effect, apparently), I just want to reiterate for the record what I have mentioned to others privately â that from my perspective COABE has had, and continues to have, the same opportunity to participate and be involved as any coalition member. It seems to me that these days everyone's role in this coalition is basically determined by their own level of activity and interest and goodwill. There is very little structure to fit into, and that is by design. Come to the meetings, get on the calls, propose ideas, etc. We donât have âliaisonsâ anymore â itâs up to each organization to do whatever they want in terms of connecting with NCL. We donât police that. > > In that spirit, I would argue against a meeting. I think it sets a bad precedent. I donât think it is fair or wise to be using up so much of our time trying to constantly appease one member at the expense of the other members. We went down this road with the state directors several years ago and it was a huge time expense that left other aspects of the coalition neglected. > > Iâm not suggesting that we donât respond â instead, I would suggest that we put something out to the *entire* membership about the board development process and also about expectations of and opportunities for members going forward. And also about the relatively loose structure I described above. At least that effort would have the benefit of being helpful for others as well. Iâd much rather put my time into something like that. > > Jeff > > On May 2, 2016, at 10:17 AM, hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:hritchie6@gmail.com> wrote: > > Deborah, > Thanks that sounds great. I would be happy to be part of a phone call with the exec committee. > Heather > > Heather Ritchie > Education Consultant & ESOL Instructor/Trainer > 240-643-4612 > hritchie6@gmail.com <mailto:heatheredu1@gmail.com> > â > President, MAACCE (2014-2016) > www.maaccemd.org <http://www.maaccemd.org/> > > > > On May 2, 2016, at 9:00 AM, Deborah Kennedy <dkennedy@cal.org <mailto:dkennedy@cal.org>> wrote: > > Hi, all, > > I'll get started on drafting a response, unless someone else is hot to get it started. > > Deborah > > Deborah Kennedy > Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education > Director, English for Heritage Language Speakers Program > Center for Applied Linguistics > 202/355-1572 > www.cal.org <http://www.cal.org/> > www.ehlsprogram.org <http://www.ehlsprogram.org/> > > > From: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> <president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org>> > Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 7:26 AM > To: Silja Kallenbach; Deborah Kennedy; Jeff Carter; Heather Ritchie; VALUE Office; Michele Diecuch > Subject: COABE and NCL > > Dear NCL Board Members, > We are writing on behalf of the COABE Executive Committee regarding a shared concern, coupled with a sincere desire to work together with all of the organizations that are members of the Coalition. > > As a long standing dues paying member of NCL, we have participated in meetings for as far back as we can remember. Many (if not all) years, it is our understanding that someone from our board served on the NCL board. With this in mind, and understanding that neither Jeff Fantine nor Jackie Taylor, who were previous COABE liaisons to NCL were no longer on our board, we had reached out to NCL through Jeff Carter in June letting him know that our new executive director as of July 1st, Sharon Bonney, would be willing to serve in that role on behalf of COABE. We then in a number of subsequent emails were given information that left us unsure of NCLâs organizational structure and how COABE fit into that which subsequently led us to request on several occasions a copy of your by-laws, NCL Board Minutes, information on the elections and the actual board roster. > > Peter Waite had indicated to us prior that he and ProLiteracy were providing much needed organizational support to NCL due to the volunteer nature of your board and a âlack of capacityâ. Thus on a conference call this past March with Peter and the two of us, we again sought clarification of COABEâs role in NCL and made the requests for information once again. He then did send us a list of recently elected board members, which is how we knew to contact you. This came as a surprise as we had been led to believe on numerous occasions that elections had not been held. We also found it odd that as a member, we were not informed in any way about the election. As per your By-laws, board members are voted upon at the October meeting, which we attended, but were told then that the slate of board members was not known at that time. > > A month ago the NCL membership chair reached out to us regarding payment of annual dues. We then raised with her the same questions and concerns as noted previously and we were given a very different response - that there was an active board that met regularly to conduct NCL business. With all of this in mind, we are reaching out to you to try to seek clarification on the structure of NCL, COABEâs role in it, and how we can work collaboratively. As an active and interested dues paying member, we would like some assurances that we will be involved in the important work of NCL and sincerely want to do our part to move the collective goals forward. We do want to work well with NCL and request a meeting with the executive committee to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience. > > Sincerely, > Tom Nash, > Board President > > and > > Sharon Bonney > Executive Director > > Thomas Nash > President, COABE > PO Box 620 > Syracuse, NY 13206 > > Phone: 888-44-COABE (888-442-6223) > Fax: 866-941-5129 > Email: president@coabe.org <mailto:president@coabe.org> > Website: www.coabe.org <http://www.coabe.org/> > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > > <Response to COABE_Draft1_3May2016.docx>_______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Board mailing list > Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Board@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/board_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>

SK

Silja Kallenbach

Wed, May 4, 2016 7:14 PM

Thank you for your edits, Jeff. I concur. I assume this should go out on your signature on behalf of the Board?
Silja

On May 4, 2016, at 2:36 PM, Jeff Carter jcarter@literacypolicy.org wrote:

Thank you for your edits, Jeff. I concur. I assume this should go out on your signature on behalf of the Board? Silja > On May 4, 2016, at 2:36 PM, Jeff Carter <jcarter@literacypolicy.org> wrote: > > <Response to COABE_Draft2_4May2016_jcedits.docx>

board@lists.nationalcoalitionforliteracy.org

Re: [NCL Board] COABE and NCL - Revised Draft