A message from Bary Hausrath, Interim President:
Greetings!
I hope you and yours had a pleasant holiday weekend.
You may know me from my work with the Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic, the Virginia Equality Bar Association’s flagship program. I was a founding member of VEBA and an early board member and officer. I resigned from organizational leadership in 2018 to focus on running the clinics.
Today, I reach out in a new capacity. The Friday before Thanksgiving, I was brought back onto the board and elected to the office of Interim President.
My platform was simple: We need a new cadre of leaders with the energy and direction to move the organization forward, and I am willing to act in a caretaker capacity until the current board can elect that new slate of folks.
For many, particularly our trans and nonbinary siblings, these troubled times demand more of us than VEBA has put forward.
That changes now, but only if you and the others receiving this invitation step up. You can help shape this into whatever you want it to be.
My goal over the coming months is simple: engage the membership to identify new directors for the board and new leaders eager to take on the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and be involved in VEBA's standing committees.
I have two requests:
1) Check that your membership is active, your membership category is up-to-date, and your dues are paid. Then register. Put January 23, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. on your calendar and be there (virtually). Only members present for the meeting can be elected.
2) Spread the word and ask your friends and colleagues to join. Only members who have registered to attend will receive the video conference link.
Thank you!
-Bary Hausrath
Interim President
P.S. Do you want VEBA to do more? Should it be involved in legislative advocacy? Judicial selection? Appellate Briefs? White papers and FAQ docs? Additional pro bono clinics? More CLE? Should it rebrand to a more appropriate name or reconsider the tax structure(s) of the association (501(c)(6)) and its related education foundation (a 501(c)(3))? Think about it, and what you can do to step up and help make it happen. You’ll be asked for your answer soon.
Background:
This is the 2024 board elections. Per the bylaws,
The Board shall consist of not less than six (6), and not more than twenty (20) members. Directors need not be residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Directors must be members of the Association in good standing and must maintain their membership in good standing during their term of office.
All board seats are up for election. Three of the six existing board members will be seeking re-election. To get back on track with a flighted board, new and re-elected board members may seek election for a 1-year, 2-year, or 3-year term.
Following board elections, officer elections will take place. Committee assignments will be made by consensus based upon interest. Standing committees exist because the board says they do.