Governing Documents
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Organizational Guidelines for
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Our Mission
We are an organization founded by family members of those killed on September 11th who have united to turn our grief into action for peace. By developing and advocating nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice, we hope to break the cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism. Acknowledging our common experience with all people affected by violence throughout the world, we work to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.
Our Goals:
To promote dialogue on alternatives to war, while educating and raising the consciousness of the public on issues of war, peace, and the underlying causes of terrorism.
To support and offer fellowship to others seeking non-violent responses to all forms of terrorism, both individual and institutional.
To call attention to threats to civil liberties, human rights, and other freedoms in the U.S. as a consequence of war.
To acknowledge our fellowship with all people affected by violence and war, recognizing that the resulting deaths are overwhelmingly civilian.
To encourage a multilateral, collaborative effort to bring those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks to justice in accordance with the principles of international law.
To promote U.S. foreign policy that places a priority on internationally-recognized principles human rights, democracy, and self-rule.
To demand ongoing investigations into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks that took the lives of our loved ones, including exhaustive examinations of U.S. foreign policies and national security failures.
ARTICLE I
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership.
Membership shall be open to any person who had a family member die as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and who supports the Peaceful Tomorrows’ mission statement and goals.
Accurate records of members will be maintained by the Staff and made available to members of the Steering Committee. The Staff will also work to facilitate discussion among all members of Peaceful Tomorrows.
Section 2. Meetings.
Meetings of the members may be held at a place, time and date as decided by the Staff and the Steering Committee.
We will strive to hold at least one meeting to which the full membership is invited each year. Written notice of these meetings will be provided to all members by mail or email with at least 6 weeks advanced notice.
We will also hold regional meetings when necessary or desirable, giving written notice to all members by mail or email with as much advance notice as possible.
ARTICLE II
Steering Committee
Section 1. Number and selection.
Peaceful Tomorrows shall have a Steering Committee of an odd number of at least 5 and not more than 11 people, all of whom are members of Peaceful Tomorrows.
Revised 6/17/05: not more than 12 people.
Section 2. Major responsibilities of the Steering Committee.
The members of the Steering Committee will be in regular contact with each other and with the Staff of Peaceful Tomorrows.
Major responsibilities of the Steering Committee include:
• hiring and oversight of principal staff (the co-directors);
• fiscal responsibility for approving budgets and actual expenses quarterly;
• approval in advance, by the Finance Committee of the Steering Committee, of all expenditures in excess of $50 which do not appear in an approved budget.
• guidance, support and final approval for all program activity carried out under the name of the organization.
• advise on organizational growth and development.
• advise on outreach to members and supporters.
Section 3: Selection of Steering Committee members.
Nomination and Approval.
Each year in January the Staff and Steering Committee will nominate and approve a slate of new Steering Committee members. The full Peaceful Tomorrows membership will be informed about the new members of the Steering Committee via email and mail, and at the annual meeting when it is held.
[Note as of 6/2004: We would like to move toward a process in which the full membership is more involved in nominating and approving new Steering Committee members, but presently the need to have a smoothly functioning and broadly representative Steering Committee seems to call for the Staff and Steering Committee retaining control over the final approval of Steering Committee membership.
We are interested in the SC reflecting a diversity of gender, ethnicity, geographic location, age, relationship to victim, location of loved one’s death, non-US member, faith, special skills/profession, non-traditional family member.]
Revised 6/17/05: Nominations for the Steering Committee will be made by current Steering Committee members who choose to stand for reelection and by members who nominate themselves or another member. All names must be submitted to the Staff by the final day of the annual membership retreat. The Staff and Steering Committee will then vote from among the nominations to fill the vacancies on the board.
Beginning in 2005, the Steering Committee will fill four vacancies each year, although since John Titus only joined the committee in 2005, he will be assumed to be automatically elected.
Obviously, this is not exactly what we did.
Term of Office.
The term of office will be three years. Each Steering Committee member shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which he or she is elected or until his or her death, resignation or removal. In any given year approximately one-third of the Steering Committee will reach the expiration of their term.
Vacancies.
Vacancies on the Steering Committee may be filled by vote of a majority of the Steering Committee members then in office, and the Steering Committee members so elected shall serve until the expiration of the term they are filling.
Resignations.
Any Steering Committee member may resign from office at any time by delivering a resignation in writing to the other Steering Committee members.
Removal.
Any Steering Committee member may be removed for cause by a modified consensus vote of the entire Steering Committee. Any member who is at risk of removal will be given at least two weeks’ notice and an opportunity to address and correct any failures to meet her/his responsibilities.
Grounds for removal include, but are not limited to failure to carry out Committee work, especially missing three consecutive scheduled staff calls or Steering Committee meetings.
Section 4. Meetings.
The Steering Committee and Staff shall meet in person twice a year and by telephone conference call every two months. Staff or Steering Committee members may request additional meetings by phone or in person as needed.
When decisions of the Steering Committee are needed between meetings, Staff will use due diligence to obtain opinions of all the Steering Committee members by telephone or email.
Section 5. Quorum and Decision Making.
At least ¾ of the members of the Steering Committee must be present in order for there is be a quorum with the authority to make decisions.
The Steering Committee will strive to use a consensus model of decision making. We will also utilize straw polling in which all persons participating in a meeting are included.
If profound disagreement prevents us from achieving consensus, decisions will be made by a 2/3 supermajority vote of the Steering Committee and the Staff Co-directors.
On personnel issues, the Staff’s opinions may be solicited, but their votes will not be counted as part of a supermajority should efforts to reach consensus fail.
Section 6. Record keeping.
A record of decisions/actions taken at each Steering Committee and Staff meeting and will be disseminated to all Peaceful Tomorrows members in a timely fashion. These records will also be kept by Staff in a central location accessible to all Steering Committee members.
Staff will prepare these records and present them to the Steering Committee for amendment and approval. Then the Staff is responsible for seeing that they are transmitted to the members.
Section 7. Steering Committee / Staff Process.
Staff will have regular weekly calls and will maintain a rotating schedule of Steering Committee members assigned to be on the weekly Staff call.
It is the responsibility of the Steering Committee member to attend their designed calls or to find a replacement Steering Committee member. Failure to be on the call or to find a replacement can becomes grounds for removal from the Steering Committee.
Staff calls are open to all Steering Committee members should they chose to participate. Staff will send the Steering Committee records of decisions/actions taken on these calls by email in a timely manner.
Additional items: Staff weekly schedules, report on weekly activities or project status – discuss what is useful to share, make sure it is not a burden on the Staff or Steering Committee.
Section 8. Annual Staff evaluations.
A Sub-committee of the Steering Committee will be responsible for conducting annual staff evaluations before the end of each calendar year.
Section 9. Steering Committee Structure.
The Steering Committee will have subcommittees including, but not limited to:
Finance Committee
Staff Evaluation Committee
