Dear CWR Friends:

In the interest of keeping you informed, the CWR Board of Directors shares highlights of our monthly meetings. The Communicators for Women Religious Board of Directors met in a videoconference on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

Three members who will begin Board service in January were also in attendance: Dave Eck, Sarah Jenkins and Jean Merry.

Here are the highlights of that meeting:

The meeting opened with a prayer shared by Kate Martin.

November Board meeting minutes were approved.

Executive Team – Chair Eileen Dickerson reported that the ExecTeam will be offering a short-term interim contract to Coordinator Susan Oxley. The new contract will run from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2016. The Coordinator position will be re-evaluated when an Executive Director is hired. Eileen also asked the Board members to complete self-evaluations of their Board service by the end of this year.

The Exec Team will prepare new Board member orientation documents for the January in-person Board meeting.

In the new year, Committee chairs will reach out to those CWR members who expressed interest in committee service on their conference evaluation forms.

Finance Committee Chair Sister Beth Kress, PBVM, presented the 2016 CWR budget to the Board for approval and it was approved, with discussion.

Hilton Grant Committee Chair Julie Gilberto-Brady advised the Board that, with the exciting approval of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant (read news release), the committee will now become known as the Strategic Plan Implementation Committee. Julie and Eileen will serve as co-chairs. The new committee met on Friday, Dec. 11 to establish the role of the committee, decide on next steps and establish a meeting schedule.

The strategic plan brochure will be mailed in January to all CWR members and to their congregational leadership.

Coordinator Susan Oxley presented a list of possible sites for the 2017 CWR conferences for the Board’s review. The Board will conduct more research before a decision is made.

Conference 2016 Chair Kathy Gatliff and her committee are working diligently on the planning for the annual conference, which will be held in Indianapolis.

The Marketing Committee, co-chaired by Jennifer Kaminski and Leah Wand, followed up with non-members who attended the 2015 conference, inviting them to join CWR. They are planning marketing materials to expand CWR’s outreach in 2016.

Membership Committee co-chairs Sister Paulette Gardner, SSA and Paula Schultz updated the membership renewal letter to be sent to CWR members. They will meet before the end of the year to compile transition information for the new committee co-chairs.

The next CWR Board meeting will take place Jan. 19-21, 2016, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

CWR Board of Directors
Eileen Dickerson, Chair
Sister Angela Szczawinska, CSFN, Vice Chair
Sister Beth Kress, PBVM, Treasurer
Sister Paulette Gardner, SSA
Kathy Gatliff
Julie Gilberto-Brady
Stephanie Hall
Jennifer Kaminski
Stephanie Manseau
Kate Martin
Paula Staisiunas Schultz
Annemarie Sanders, IHM, LCWR Liaison
Carol Shuck Scheiber, NRVC Liaison

“Please remember that the benefits you receive as a member of CWR are made possible by an ALL VOLUNTEER Board and committees. CWR can thrive and grow as long as our members volunteer their gifts through Board and committee service.”