Greetings San Francisco Permaculture Guild
| 05 November 2012
We would like to thank all of you who have been attending the monthly Guild meetings. We love your energy, inputs and the vibrancy that your presence creates on the first Wednesday of every month.
Have you ever considered taking your participation to the next level?
As you may know we have incorporated our organization into a for public benefit corporation (501c3) in the hopes of being more effective in realizing our mission. As such we have created the SF Permaculture Guild Council to keep us on mission and to advance our activities in the world.
The Guild Council is grateful for the members who have since stepped up to support and guide the organization in fulfilling its mission. But, we are still looking for a special person interested in the taking on ADVANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT. This would be a great opportunity to inhabit the understory of the council while furthering your experience in this area in a supportive environment and making a positive change in our community. Plus it's a great opportunity to have lots of fun with like-minded people.
Here's how we currently see how this position:
- ADVANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: Keeping track of who's at the meetings, maintaining lists of attendees, records of contributions to the Guild. Developing fund raising plans as appropriate (think of this as using permaculture design methods and principles to design a capacity/funding program). Interacting with Programs and Community Connections to ensure healthy attendance of events.
You may or may not have experience in this area, or you may want to develop a new set of skills.
If you are interested you are invited to send an email to David Cody, President (
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) or join the Guild Council Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/permaculture-sf-wc) and send a note about what role(s) you are interested in or come to the regularly scheduled Guild Council meeting held at 5:30pm on the first Wednesday of every month before the Guild Gathering at the Gazebo.
Listed below are the complete descriptions of all the roles in the guild council and who in our vibrant system is filling those niches.
SAN FRANCISCO PERMACULTURE GUILD COUNCIL
Here is a definition of the eight working roles for the Council describing their main characteristics and how they function within the system and in relation to the community.
THE OVERSTORY: These are the director roles required organizationally in our 501c3 articles of incorporation and bylaws and are named as such. All three of these members must be present for all council meetings and are essential for the health of the organization. These roles function as the keystone elements of the system. The bylaws outline these roles more specifically, but here is a distillation of the primary characteristics:
- PRESIDENT (David Cody): Facilitates council and guild meetings, summarizes the work of the council and communicates it to the guild at large. Check signing privileges along with Treasurer.
- SECRETARY (Jay Rosenberg): Scribe. Records minutes of all council meetings and summarizes the proceedings of guild meetings for the rest of the council and the community.
- TREASURER (Kevin Bayuk): Responsible for all funds entering and leaving the circle. Keeps records of all transactions. Check signing privileges along with President.
THE UNDERSTORY: These are the functional roles that support the overall health and vibrancy of the system.
- PROGRAMS AND EVENTS (Booka Alon) : Planning, scheduling and providing content and structure to all guild meetings and special events. Engaging speakers and venues, communicating event specifics to the communications and community connections council members.
- ADVANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (COULD BE YOU!): Keeping track of who's at the meetings, maintaining lists of attendees, records of contributions to the Guild. Developing fund raising plans as appropriate. Interacting with Programs and Community Connections to ensure healthy attendance of events.
- VOLUNTEER MANAGER: Allowing all who wish to contribute to the organization their place and time in the system. Encouraging participation in special projects and events.
THE RHIZOSHPERE: Underlying the organization's viability is the ability to communicate and cross-pollinate with other organizations and potential new members and allies.
- COMMUNICATIONS/ PUBLICITY: Organizes press releases, uses social media and other communication outlets to let the community at large know about the Guild events and activities
- COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Forms associations with other organizations and individuals who may benefit from Guild activities or events. Creates mutually beneficial relationships with other businesses, entities , school, facilities, organizations and publications.
ZONE 5: Former council members hold wisdom and continuity much as elders and ancestors do in traditional communities. They are called upon occasionally, but are often interwoven into the life of the guild.
- THE SAGE CIRCLE (Fred Bové , Diana Arsham): Available to be called in as needed to assist with council or guild activities. Advises in matters relating to council strategy, direction, operation, etc.
- COUNSELOR (Paige Tomaselli): Available to be called in as needed to assist with legal matters as they pertain to the council or the guild. May be part of the Sage Circle.
THE CYCLE: All roles turn on the wheel of the year with the exception of the Overstory which follows the organization's bylaws for term. December 21 (Winter Solstice) marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The six Overstory and Understory council members will be responsible for succession planning for their role. During tenure, each council member in these six positions will identify another member to succeed them when their time on the council in that role has come to an end. In this way, the roles continually renew and the system flourishes on the energy and resiliency generated by each member's predecessor. Successors for the following year must be declared no later than June 21 (Summer Solstice). No member may serve more than 1 cycle per role, although any member may alternate through roles. All Sage Circle members may continue to assist the council as needed at their own discretion.
EVERY FUNCTION SERVED BY MULTIPLE ELEMENTS: All roles can be fulfilled by a team of people as needed. Teams are encouraged with leadership identified for purposes of accountability and succession.
THE MISSION: The SF Permaculture Guild supports a local community of designers and those interested in permaculture by producing educational and social events, enabling permaculture projects and providing opportunities to exchange information related to permaculture design.
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In less than nine months, The Malabar Gourd has made itself quite comfortable at Hayes Valley Farm. All winter, this perennial squash stretched out over newly sheet-mulched ground on a steep south-east facing slope. It needed no encouragement to offer its pretty green cloak to the chain-link fence at the bottom, and even decided to meander into the neighborhood a few dozen yards to see what was what. Now football-sized fruit is seemingly appearing overnight, and getting larger. Time to figure out a fun way to eat what could be San Francisco's new Superfood.
Hayes Valley Farm’s Earth Week will follow Earth Day. San Francisco already planned a 
