CoDA, Inc. Board of Trustees

Minutes
February 4th, 2023

Day/Time: Saturday - 8-9:30 am Pacific Time

Acknowledging that we are all here for our personal recovery.
The mission of the CoDA Board of Trustees is to ensure the longevity and fiscal health of the organization, to support the Fellowship’s ongoing service work, to promote CoDA unity and to reach the still suffering codependents.

Attendance and order of round robin – Barbara, Faith, Joe, Katherine, Lisa, Steve, Tina, Yaniv (arrived at 8:42 Pacific Time) (Chairs Forum representative absent), Gail

*Absent: Florence
NOTE:

Steve (Board Alternate #1) voted in this meeting on behalf of Florence

Tina (Board Alternate #2) voted in this meeting on behalf of Yaniv until he arrived at 8:42 Pacific time.

Check in:

CONSENT AGENDA

Motions via email or Executive Session:

Face to Face (F2F) Workgroup on 1-15-23:

• MOTION to approve: 12-18-2022 Board Zoom Face2Face Workgroup Minutes
  Via email: Gail motioned, 2nd Barbara
  
  Vote: Unanimously approved with abstentions from those who did not attend the 12/18/2022 meeting.
   

• MOTION to approve: 12-03-2022 Board Executive Meeting Minutes
  Via email: Gail motion, Joe 2nd,
  
  Vote: Unanimously approved with amendments. (with abstentions from those who did not attend the 12/03/2022 meeting).
   
• MOTION: The Board moves to create a program to provide a one time $1,000 grant to Voting/Legal Entities, to assist in translating and/or publishing of CoDA literature. This motion supersedes Board Motion #18215 from 2018.
  Intent: To assist Voting Entities or upcoming VEs to begin to publish CoDA endorsed literature that they have translated to their language to help spread recovery.
  First: Barbara, Second: Florence  Vote: Unanimous approval
• MOTION to approve Dec 3, 2022 Public Board Minutes
  via email: Gail motioned, Barbara 2nd
  Vote: Unanimously approved with amendments. (with abstentions from those who did not attend the 12/03/2022 meeting).
   

MOTION: To approve Spanish Outreach’s (SPO) use of CoDA endorsed material verbally on social media to reach the still suffering codependent with proper CoDA citations.
 
Motion: Barbara 2nd: Florence      Yes: 4, No: 1                     Motion Passes

Treasurer’s Report:

MOTION TO APPROVE: Above Consent Agenda.

Moved: Barbara         Second: Katherine     Vote: Yes: 7 Abstain: 1

WEBSITE

CoDA.org update - issues being worked on:
 

• Website: Website hosting issues in the recent past. Board is working closely with our Web designer. Financial conversation regarding web hosting options will be discussed in the Executive Session after this meeting. update: Web developer has installed some changes to make things better; complaints are down. Less expensive than proposed options.
   
• Meeting Search Issues: Search issues: No meetings anywhere when someone searches; web developer is working on it.
   
• Meeting updates: Fellowship Service Worker ( FSW), is catching up on  the requested meeting updates.  We had a meeting with our web developer on Friday as to how we can make this task easier for our FSW.
  Update: Looking to identify all meeting update requests and see what’s been done or not. Want to make it a simpler process (one click ideally). Working to add a note for when a meeting was last updated. 100 meeting updates in December. A Board member offered to assist with updates.

• Spanish logos have not yet been uploaded to the website at:
  https://coda.org/proper-use-of-the-coda-logo/
  Action Item: Web Liaison to get Spanish logos up on the website.
   
• Member Resources area and Draft/Proposed Voting Entity literature: Still working with the web designer to make this area more user friendly and to bring attention to the draft literature for the Fellowship to review and give feedback.  We may develop a feedback form to make it easier to give comments.  Working on a simple way to comment on the proposed literature. NorCal has a document that we may find useful.
   
• CoDAteen+/ webpage:  We are designing a CoDAteen webpage with the web developer.  We are adding fields to the meeting search for CoDAteen.
  (In process)
   
• CoDA Literature Committee page;  I had a meeting with the CoDA Literature Committee chair concerning changes to their webpage.  The webmaster is able to implement these changes.
  (Done)

2023 CoDA Service Conference (CSC) Prep group:

Board Liaison: Lisa

1. There has been a request for a link to the Motions Database to be placed on the Delegate Package page on the CoDA website. CSC Prep would like the Board's input about this idea.

Action Item: Lisa will inform CSC Prep that putting a link to the Motions database is approved.

2. The original plan was to have the Delegate Package page and the CSC Information page go live as soon as possible. Do they need Board approval before it goes live?

Round Robin

CSC Prep                                      GC’s their own items

Action Item: Lisa will inform them that CSC Prep does not need Board approval to go live. CSC Prep GC’s their own items and moves forward.

3. CSC Prep asked about the FSM and when the updates would be completed. UPDATE: Board reviewing updates

Action Item: Lisa will inform CSC Prep that the FSM updates are done and in the review process. Hope to be done by next weekend (2/11/2023).

Action Item: Continue discussion to email: Gail, Barbara, Katherine and Brenda to set up a meeting on Monday to finalize review of FSM changes. Katherine will send out the email.

TASK FORCES:

• Delegates Relations Task Force DRTF@coda.org:
  Board Liaison: Katherine, Backup: Tina
  Report: Doing well. Meeting in a week. They want more members.  
   
• Alternate Format Meeting Task Force (AFMTF) AlternativeFormatMeeting@CoDA.org
  Board Liaison: Florence, Backup: Faith
  Report: The task force recently completed a Group Inventory to get them back on track and focused on their task of creating a recognizable Voting Entity of Alternate Format Meetings composed of many different such meetings.
  Meetings are now set for monthly on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.

• Gender Inclusive Language Task Force (GILTF@CoDA.org) :
  Board Liaison: Lisa, Backup: Faith
  Report: Sent out a  survey to get scheduling information. Meeting is set for Tuesday 2/7/23 6:00pm - 7:30pm Central Time. Not all members could attend; the meeting will be recorded.

OLD BUSINESS: 

• Two 2022 CSC motions that passed by Simple Majority (did not pass ⅔ vote), thus not binding on the Board:
  
  1) World Connections Committee (WCC) Motion: 22059
  Motion: (Simplified) CoDA approved literature available in the languages of CoDA Fellowship worldwide.
  Update: WCC has withdrawn their motion. Board was able to accommodate their concerns and needs.  DONE
  
  2) Communications (Comm) Motion: 22049 (Resolved - See motion that passed unanimously to adopt simplified wording that was created via a 2x2 with Communications committee and the Board.
  
  ACTION ITEM: Gail to notify Connie to update the Motions Database regarding these two 2022 CSC Motions.
  Action Item: Gail will send an email to the Fellowship (Draft to the board first) then send out.
  This item will be removed from the next agenda.
   
• Fellowship Service Manual (FSM) Update: In process. (See report in CSC Prep)
   

NEW BUSINESS: 
 

• Meeting Minutes guidelines:
  After guidelines are created, run by Chairs Forum

Is there an established requirement that committees establish a quorum (may need a motion for 2023)

How to define quorum as part of guidelines?

Action Item: Barbara & Tina will work on minutes guidelines.

• Robert's Rules vs Community Problem Solving Method

During the 1994 Service Conference, the Fellowship allowed the Board to conduct the Conference in a different manner than using Robert’s Rules of Order. This manner of conducting business was called the Community Problem Solving Method or Interactive Decision Making Method. Unlike the more rigid structure of Robert’s Rules, this method is relatively simple to learn and lacks the legal and potentially antagonistic tone of standard parliamentary procedure. It is a friendlier and more cooperative method of decision making where motions are made only after information around the problem has been gathered and solutions brainstormed(FSM Part 4, section 3, pg 13)

Purpose: Question came up about Chairs of committees/Board making a motion. In Robert’s Rules (RR) it’s complicated. In FSM we use the Community Problem Solving Method, not RR’s. May need clarification with committees about this. In FSM there is information about RR’s, it’s an option to use them.. May need a motion to remove it from FSM.

Action Item: Gail Add this to 2023 CSC Motions folder for possible motion.
 

• How meetings should register on coda.org- Face to Face, Online, Hybrid and who represents them

Need our FSW in on the discussion. May lead to a motion. Confusing if every group does their own thing.

Action Item: Barbara - will continue this discussion via email and next work group.

Next Public Board Meeting – March 4th, 2023 @ 8 AM Pacific (1st Sat of month)

Next Workgroup Meeting: February 19th, 2022 @ 9 AM Pacific (3rd Sunday of  month)

Questions or comments from our observers?

Move to Executive Session:

board@coda.org

2019-2023 minutes: https://coda.org/service-info/board-minutes/

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