so one of the outer-tcask incarnations i have is that of an ncadp board member... i'm in the second year of my second year as an affiliate representative on the board (having been elected the same year as jane bohman with the illinois coalition to abolish the death penalty) and participate in meetings 4x/year (quarterly if you will)...

so as i peck (and make no mistake, i peck i do not type) i sit in the ncadp offices at 1717 k street right amidst the stench that is the k street project lobby scandal that currently is the talk of the town) and tomorrow i will be in a board retreat helping to determine the future relationship between the ncadp staff and the board of directors...

now like a lot of single issue progressive non-profits the ncadp board has many more activists and organizers on it than a "traditional" board, while hosting too few donors and too few persons capable of facilitating "entre" to groups that the anti-death penalty movement (including tcask) needs to have relationships with in order to succeed at the earliest possible date (i mean, why abolish the death penalty in 2015 when you can do it in, say, 2009)...

and the tcask board is like this too - many strong willed individuals who understand that the practice is just plain wrong from a civilized society, moral, human rights perspective but that's not, as they say, gonna "git er' done"...

no, we need to be talking with moderate conservatives who do not oppose the death penalty outright on moral or any other grounds BUT they do have a problem with a policy, any policy, that is proven to be applied unfairly, arbitrarily, and too often unconstitutionally -- and THAT my friends describes the death penalty without exception...

so, in order to make tcask stronger, i try to attend the ncadp board meetings and understand what it must be like for our board members to relate to staff, to understand how they appear to view what and how alex and i do the organization's work (it's not our work but that of the organization), what it is they they will need added to their skillsets in order to be stronger, more productive, and empowered activists in their roles as board members, and as strategic organizers in their local community roles -- and bring something back to tennessee that demonstrates that i understand their needs, their concerns, and their responsibilities...

so, as i participate tomorrow in the ncadp board retreat, i will be quietly wearing my tcask executive director's hat, in effect pulling double duty, trying to understand better the dynamic between board and staff thus strengthening our organization as a whole and building on our already visible growth and progress...

who says multi-tasking is a dying art!!!

peace out - <3