Moving

San Francisco companies centered on ladies, women, and nonbinary individuals announce restructure

Two agencies in San Francisco that focus on women, girls and non-binary people are restructuring their relationship after almost 50 years of working together. Both expect the transition to be seamless and benefit both.

The Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women and the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women announced on November 8 that the Friends Group will no longer fund and support the work of the city council and its public oversight agency. Instead, the Friends Group would widen its focus to working with myriad organizations working to ensure equality for all women, girls and non-binary people.

“We are incredibly proud of the extensive work we have done together over the past 46 years and we will continue to work with the Commission and the Department in a new format that will better serve women and girls by focusing on whom and as we expand. ” distribute the funds we have raised, “said Verna Liza Antonio-Caba, director of the group of friends, in a press release announcing the restructuring.

In a telephone interview with the Bay Area reporter, Antonio-Caba said the decision was made amicably between the two organizations. The Friends Group is its own 501 (c) 3 community and has already launched its own programs, such as two upcoming trainings for women and non-binary individuals to learn how to negotiate with their employers about a raise or a better contract . According to the 2019 tax return, the company had revenue of approximately $ 74,000 that year.

“With a view to rebranding and redefining our mission, I hope to offer more services similar to salary negotiations,” said Antonio-Caba, a direct ally who has led the group of friends for the past five years.

Due to the changed relationship with the magistrate, the Freundeskreis is expected to agree on a new name sometime in 2022. It is unclear whether it will be broader than just using the term women.

“This was so new that the board had no chance to actually meet and find out what the new name will be,” said Antonio-Caba. “Most likely yes, we will have a new name in 2022.”

Antonio-Caba noted that providing services to transgender and non-binary people has been a focus of the group of friends for quite some time. When it was founded, these terms were not used

“It’s a 46-year-old organization and I would say that terminology has only become commonplace in the last few years,” she said.

The Friends Group was founded in 1975 when the city set up the Commission on the Status of Women. A few decades later, in 1994, the city’s voters passed a vote creating the Department of the Status of Women to carry out the work of the commission.

Last November, the Mayor of London Breed appointed progressive activist Kimberly Ellis as its new director. Ellis, former executive director of Emerge California, which trains women to run for office, tried unsuccessfully to become chairwoman of the California Democratic Party in 2017. It lost in a closely-split vote against Eric Bauman, a gay man who resigned in 2018 on charges of sexually molesting several party’s employees and younger male leaders.

Ellis took over the management of the city department a few months after Breed issued an executive order that obliged all city departments with external partner organizations to introduce uniform and stricter standards for their fundraising. It followed the federal corruption scandal involving the former head of the city’s public works department, who was accused of channeling bribes into an account owned by the nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance.

Part of the mayor’s directive required all city departments to formalize their relationships with a non-city organization that accepts donations on behalf of the department through letters of intent. The MOUs should be drawn up and approved by the offices of the public prosecutor’s office, the controller and, if applicable, the board or commission of the department.

Ellis told the BAR in a telephone interview that her department and circle of friends had concluded that it made no sense for her to enter into a letter of intent. Instead, the city council plans to reach an agreement with a foundation that will monitor its fundraising from outside sources.

“I want to reiterate that this was a decision made after much thought and research into the historical nature of both organizations,” Ellis said, adding that what worked between the two entities decades ago no longer is what they are today Development fits.

“Really, for us it came down to the incongruity in the structural nature of the relationship that led us to decide that we had to take a different direction by partnering with a foundation or company that was not only better structured, but better also “uniquely structured to meet the needs of a department like ours,” said Ellis.

According to their joint publication, the group of friends had given the city council a total of more than $ 260,000 in annual grants over the past 15 years. The fellowships were for specific purposes based on the department’s budgets and projections, with some funding the department’s fellowship program, including a full-time fellow with an emphasis on women’s economic security.

The department, Ellis said in the press release, owes the group of friends “thanks for their staunch support, and we congratulate them as they take this new direction, when their leadership is most needed.”

Ellis told the BAR, “We do not anticipate any negative impact on either side due to the change in the relationship between the two organizations”.

“We look forward to continuing to support the Friends in the development of their organization,” said Ellis. “We look forward to this new chapter for everyone involved.”

The department has a budget of $ 10 million for the current fiscal year and has distributed more than $ 8.5 million to local organizations over the past 18 years. Like the Friends Group, she and her commission provide services to women and girls of all ages, including those who identify as non-binary or transgender.

But it is not intended to change its name to be more expansive, said Ellis, who noted that this could be confusing as the city also has an office for transgender initiatives that reports directly to the mayor. Nonetheless, she pointed out that the department had become more inclusive in the terminology used.

For example, its website includes a statement that “all references to ‘women and girls’ include gender-expansive people (cis women and girls, trans women and girls, non-binary people, gender nonconforming people, gender-specific people, and all women or girls) . identified persons). “

“This is something I have come to be aware of during my tenure, since I have worked here in all aspects of the way we work to take the most comprehensive and inclusive approach to gender,” said Ellis.

Sophia Andary, a queer woman who sits on the commission, told the BAR that there was no need to change the official name of the city council or its regulator as trans women are women.

“Trans women are women’s time,” said Andary, co-founder of the Women’s March San Francisco. “There has to be a more inclusive language for the non-binary community so that they know where they belong. But that doesn’t have to be in the title. ”

To accommodate gender-specific involvement by the department and the commission, several members of the supervisory board, including Andary, have set up a working group to develop a mission statement that will outline how both institutions will provide services to women, girls and non-binary individuals independently their sexual orientation or gender identity. It would be in addition to the model of the two entities.

“You cannot summarize everything in one mission statement. I think a vision statement goes a little deeper, ”explains Andary. “It’s something that focuses on future goals, not just a general everyday thing, but more on getting us to that point.”

It is expected that the full commission will adopt the vision statement in the coming months.

To learn more about the Friends Group, visit their website.

You can find more information about the city office here.

Stay up to date with the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes

Do you have a tip about LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email m.bajko@ebar.com

The Political Notes column will appear on Monday, December 6th.

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