The 2016-2017 year was a busy and demanding one for NSRAP as an organization. We faced a variety of issues that challenged the ability of the Board to respond to community requests. We would like to update the community on our current position, as well as our plans for the future.
We would like to acknowledge that our policy around conflict resolution was insufficient to handle recent conflict within the Board. Due to a slow and incomplete approach to addressing and resolving this conflict, it affected many people in the community. We would like to offer our sincere apology to anyone who was hurt because of the Board’s lack of timely response and implementation of our conflict resolution policy. We plan to revisit this policy and the structures that are in place to guide the organization, the Board, and its members in dealing with future conflict and crisis, as well as creating strategies for how we as a Board can support one another in times of crisis or duress. To this end, the Board recently participated in a resolution session. We invested time and resources to bring together past and current Board members along with an experienced mediator. NSRAP committed to holding the resolution session as a measure intended to provide an opportunity for discussion, in the hopes of facilitating accountability and reparation in a supported environment. Our next step is to share what we have learned about organizational crisis management, and horizontal violence within activist communities. Following on from the resolution session, the Board is committed to developing ways of communicating that center respect, compassion, and reflexivity; core values which we hope will give our activism and advocacy within the community a grounded foundation to better serve our membership and Two Spirit, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Bisexual, Lesbian, and Gay (2STQIABLG+) people throughout Nova Scotia. We are committed to sharing our growth and development with our membership and community on an ongoing basis. We thank you for your patience and good will throughout this process.
The current Board is small. That said, we are enthusiastic about carrying on NSRAP’s 30+ year history of important activism and advocacy toward the equality, justice for, and human rights of all 2STQIABLG+ persons. We look forward to continuing to work on our key areas of health and elders, as well as to grow and evolve as a responsive organization. We are excited about future plans for visioning, not only around political commitments and the goals of the organization, but around conflict resolution policies and building a compassionate Board culture that prioritizes respect and kindness, which will ensure that working and volunteering with NSRAP is an enriching and empowering experience. In short, we look forward to getting back down to work.
If you would like to be involved in rebuilding and re-imagining NSRAP, and in steering the priorities and mandate of the organization, please consider joining our Board of Directors (Nominate yourself here) or volunteering with one of NSRAP’s committees (coming soon!). Applications to join the Board will be reviewed on Friday, January 12th. Nominees will be voted onto the Board at a Special Resolution Meeting set to take place at 6 pm on Wednesday January 17th, 2018 at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service’s Teaching Room.
Thank you for your ongoing patience, support, and good will!