Report on NaFFAA’s 8th National Empowerment Conference in Seattle, WA
Date: Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Dear Valued Member, Affiliate and Supporter of NaFFAA and Region 8 Northern California:
I attended the recently concluded NaFFAA, 8th National Empowerment Conference in Seattle from September 26-28 where NaFFAA delegates, young and old, traveled from all parts of the US to take part in “Forging a New Filipino American Agenda for the 21st Century.”
Joining our NaFFAA R8 team in Seattle was our new NaFFAA R8 Youth Chair, Jenab-i Pareja. We are very excited to have Jenab-i on board. Jenab-i has a long, illustrious community organizing background (and he hasn’t graduated yet!) and he is currently enrolled at UC Berkeley. We look forward to all members assisting Jenab-i with strategic plans and implementation for our youth/young professional members. We bid “Good luck” to former youth chair, Caroline Iwamoto, who has started her college freshman classes at NYU.
We were also treated to meeting 17 year old, Filipino American David Gilbert-Pederson of Minnesota. David is the NaFFAA Youth Chair for Region 3 (Midwest Region) and has been interviewed recently by Time Magazine for having been the youngest delegate at the recently completed Democratic National Convention in Denver. His charisma and maturity is beyond his 17 years and if David is representative of our Filipino youth across the nation, then our future looks 100 times brighter. During the plenary session of “Forging a New Filipino American Agenda for the 21st Century, in which he was a panelist, David announced his candidacy to run for City Council in his home town of Minneapolis to huge applaud by the NaFFAA delegates (both Republicans and Democrats present). Here is links to the Time Magazine interview http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1834668,00.html and a video interview http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200808/20080827_gilbertpederson.html.
The highlight of the conference was the voting of a new Chairman to lead NaFFAA. I’m happy and proud to announce to you our very own Greg Macabenta has been voted to succeed Alma Kern and lead NaFFAA for the next 2 years. See http://naffaar8.com/congratulations-to-greg-b-macabenta-naffaas-new-national-chair/ for Greg’s initial thoughts after the election.
Region 8 played a pivotal role in stopping a vote to the amendments to the bylaws proposal. On behalf of Region 8, I wrote a position paper, which was circulated to conference attendees:
Regions were not provided the final proposed NaFFAA Constitution and Bylaws change until September 20, 2008, via email by National Executive Director, Doy Heredia. Calling for a vote on the final proposed amendments, despite their having been circulated on said date, clearly violates the articles and sections: ARTICLE X – THE NaFFAA COMMISSIONS, Section 5 and ARTICLE XVII – AMENDMENTS AND EFFECTIVITY, Section 1. Having minimal time to discuss the proposed amendments unfairly penalizes the members of our organization and disenfranchises them from the process. Moving forward with a vote would not be in keeping with the spirit of the mission and vision of NaFFAA.
While we concede that thoughtful consideration was made of the proposals by the Constitution and Bylaws Commission, Region 8 respectfully disagrees with the voting of these amendments at the 8th NEC and recommends that the National Chair entertain a motion to table the voting until the 2010 NaFFAA National Empowerment Conference. Under the current circumstances and in the best interests of our organization, we believe that tabling is the most prudent course of action and will allow our members and officers at the regional level to have the right and privilege to study the final draft of the proposed amendments in a fair manner.
Let us now allow the process of strong, effective governance to work. Let us honor the right of our regional members to study and provide input on the final draft before a final consensus vote during the 2010 NaFFAA National Empowerment Conference.
We are calling for members in Region 8 to form an adhoc committee to study the proposal of these amendments to the bylaws and collect inputs from the members and valued stakeholders. The proposed amendments to the bylaws will be circulated in another email.
The “How to be a techy non-techie in using internet and technology tools for effective communications” workshop by Lorna Dietz, and her sister, Noemi Dado, in Seattle was very well-received. Members of the workshop will be invited to a by-invitation only blog where the tips and tools will be housed. Any active NaFFAA member (meaning, you’ve paid your current yearly dues) can request for inclusion in the upcoming blog, NaFFAAVoices.org, by emailing Lorna Dietz at NaFFAANorcal@gmail.com.
HERE ARE SOME UPDATES:
Plans are brewing for the 6th Global Filipino Networking Convention tentatively scheduled for Cebu on October 9-11, 2009. Lead person is Rodel Rodis, who is finalizing the business proposal. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Rodel at rodel50@aol.com.
San Francisco will be the site of the 9th NaFFAA National Empowerment Conference sometime in 2010. There is no date set up. Ben Menor has been appointed the Event Chair, you may reach Ben at bmenor2001@aol.com.
Filipino Veterans Equity Legislation (FILVET). The proposed reconcilation of both the Senate and House versions of the bill GOT LOST in the maelstorm that surrounded the Bailout Package just recently passed by both houses of Congress. In sum, the FILVET legislation never got to home base. The bill will have to be re-introduced in the next session of Congress.
More updates later! Please visit http://NaFFAAR8.com. If you have an upcoming event that you would like listed, please check out http://naffaar8.com/calendar/ and email NaFFAANorcal@gmail.com .
I look forward to seeing everyone at a community event soon.
Sincerely,
Jose Pecho, Chair
Region 8, Northern California
NaFFAA