The members convened at 3:30 p.m. using the virtual meeting technology.
PRESENT: Luke Shorty, Celeste Branham, Ed Barrett, Bill Guindon, Pam Proulx-Curry, Maryalice Crofton (staff)
Work realignments among staff. Before the meeting, some Exec members expressed concern about how or if current work could be maintained. There was also concern about retaining staff. This discussion was acutely aware that the candidate offered the PIO job declined to accept and there are no other viable candidates; the Volunteer Initiatives Program Officer is not funded in 2024; and the Maine Service Fellows program coordinator is not funded after November 2023. Although supplemental budget requests have been submitted, there is no assurance they will be allowed to move forward and, if they did, funds would not be available until July 2024.
Exec Committee members had a thorough discussion and ended up supporting this scenario: the PIO search be suspended indefinitely; the current Volunteer Initiatives Program Officer appointed acting PIO (the person has appropriate background before changing career focus); and the Maine Service Fellows support and leadership shift to the Climate Corps Coordinator. The last fits due to the fact the MSF assignments are climate related at the moment.
Maryalice will discuss with the staff impacted but changes won’t occur until November since the Volunteer Generation grant does not end until 11/30/23.
Update: Rep Morgan Rielly report on 09/28/23 White House climate summit. On short notice, Rep Rielly was invited to participate. He expected discussion related to climate corps but advance questions were about state emergency management and climate. Bill quickly provided some talking points and Maine perspective for Rep Rielly’s meeting with members of Nat'l Security Council in a breakout. Climate Corps was not a central issue but he did make connections with key people in USDOT, USEPA, and FEMA that may lead to corps opportunities.
Status of Board Appointments. Joe Boucher has met with the Governor who had questions about the profile of the entire board. Maryalice provided the information and Joe is on the schedule for another meeting on 10/5. He still thinks it’s possible to get decisions and action on time for new people to participate in the board retreat without concern.
Retreat attendance and plan. Luke will send out request for confirmation tonight. Kaira is drafting agenda and will send for review on 10/10. Pam will be the senior officer in attendance and lead the business meeting. Luke will be overseas and Jenni will be at an international conference.
Oct 20 business meeting. Ariel Ricci, Executive Director for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous & Tribal Populations, is slated to be a guest speaker. The invitation needs to go out to her. [Post meeting note: she is not available until February 2024.]
Task Force Updates. Luke asked task force chairs to send Maryalice any routine updates that need to be included in the minutes. Grant Selection and Performance will need time on the agenda for votes on funding recommendations. There are three AmeriCorps competitions underway and votes for the formula competitions will happen in October.
There being no other discussion items, members dispersed at 4:33 pm.