July 2005

In 2005, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship initiated a Chapter Council made up of seven Regional Representatives from across the United States and internationally. This page gives background and information on the Chapter Council, and serves as a repository for documents that the Council is currently working on.

Chapter Council Proposal/Description

Who's on the Chapter Council?

Working Documents

Chapter Council Proposal/Description

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Proposal to form Chapter Council

January 2005

drafted by Maia Duerr, BPF ED and Chapter Coordinator

Background

One of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship’s greatest strengths is its chapters – groups of people in a geographical region who share an interest in socially engaged Buddhism and who find each other underneath the BPF umbrella. Because BPF is a membership organization and, at heart, a community, these chapters all around the globe are potentially one of the most effective vehicles to embody the organization’s mission and purpose in the world.

In reality, the potential of the chapter structure is far from realized.  There are a number of factors which are challenges to realizing this potential. These include:

• Historically, BPF chapters have been very autonomous and acted independently. On the positive side, this has afforded much room for creativity and regional expression; however, it has also often left chapters feeling adrift and with little sense of belonging to a larger whole.

• There are few avenues for chapters to meet each other and exchange ideas.

• With BPF’s central office in Berkeley, CA, chapters outside of that region at times feel left out of the picture and that their input isn’t heard.

• There are no standardized policies for how chapters deal with finances. Some charge a membership fee that is separate from the national membership fee, which could be a dis-incentive for people to join BPF. As a result, the central office lacks financial resources to support chapters more robustly.

• The current Chapter Coordinator at the central office is also BPF’s executive director. With all the other duties of this position, it is difficult if not impossible to maintain regular, personal communication with more than 45 chapters across the world.

In the past, there have been several efforts to address these challenges and bring chapters together for conversation on these issues (an April 2003 weekend retreat in Berkeley, and more recently, I’ve had very productive meetings with several U.S. chapters). However, none of these efforts have been sustained or inclusive of all regions in which BPF chapters are located. This proposal is intended to address these shortcomings.

Proposal

The formation of a Chapter Council in 2005, made up of 7 people representing 7 geographic regions (California; Western States U.S., Central States U.S.; Northeastern States U.S.; Southeastern States, U.S.; Canada; International). These Regional Representatives would act as “hubs” to collect information from chapter leaders in their region, bring this information to conference calls with the Chapter Coordinator and other representatives, and in the span of a year, help to draft a document with recommendations about how to realize the potential of BPF’s chapter structure.

Some of the questions which this Chapter Council could explore together may include:

•  How have chapters found ways to keep members active and engaged? How do chapters deal with the inevitable cycles of ebb and flow of membership and interest? How do chapters sustain themselves?

• What social/political issues are most compelling for chapters? What events and actions have they found to be the most rewarding? What kinds of resources would be helpful from the central office to support their work? E.g. workshops on Nonviolent Communication, educational material on Buddhist perspectives on social issues, etc.

•  Would it be helpful for BPF to offer more guidelines to chapters in terms of how they organize themselves and set up their leadership structure? (e.g. requiring elected officers, or steering committees, etc.)?

• How do we work with finances? How can chapters be partners with the national office for membership recruitment and fundraising – so that in turn, a financially healthy BPF can offer more concrete financial support to chapters?

• Would it make sense to make a distinction between more organized and high-activity level chapters and smaller, more informal circles of people who are interested in BPF’s mission and socially engaged Buddhism?

Through the years, a number of people have suggested that BPF move toward a more de-centralized, regional model, similar to how the American Friends Service Committee is organized (see http://afsc.org/locations/us/default.htm). This Chapter Council could be the first step in this direction. For the first year of its existence, Regional Representatives would serve on a volunteer basis, but a long-term vision might be to build the capacity and funding to have regional BPF offices with either stipends or paid staff positions.

What’s Needed

This Council would require 7 people to volunteer to act as Regional Representatives for chapters in their geographic areas.

We are looking for 7 people who can give approximately five hours of their time each month and who would be responsible for:

• Staying in regular contact with other chapter leaders in their region, through either phone or email, to get input on the questions listed above and identify other chapter needs and ideas.
• Participating in a conference call every other month with the Chapter Coordinator and other Regional Representatives to talk about what they’ve learned from chapters in their region.
• Coming to BPF’s Membership Gathering in Spring 2006 to meet in person and come up with a set of recommendations for how BPF’s chapter structure might better serve all of us.

We hope to be able to have funding in 2006 so that we could pay for each of these seven Regional Reps to attend the Membership Gathering, or at least to cover the lodging and food costs for them.

Who's on the Chapter Council

As of January 2007, the following people have volunteered to serve on the Chapter Council.

• Northeast U.S. States: Joan Schwartz (Boston, MA)
• Southeast U.S. States: Rick Ferriss (Tampa Bay, FL)
• Midwest U.S. States: Lynne Brakeman (Cleveland, OH)
• Western U.S. States (except CA): Heidi Enji Hoogstra (Portland, OR)
• California: Delia McGrath (Pacifica, CA)
• Canada: currently vacant
• International: currently vacant

Working Documents

The following documents are currently being reviewed and revised as collaborative projects of the Chapter Council.

BPF Chapter Challenges, Needs, and Possible Solutions (Chart)

Draft: What is BPF About? And What is a Chapter?

Project Proposal: BPF Responds to Militarism