Last night was our Annual General Meeting. We had a good turnout and I want to thank everyone who came out and congratulate our new Board of Directors: Alan Byers, Crystal Catudal, Eric Damer, Mclean Edwards, Kathy Leavens, Heather McDonald, and myself.
At the meeting we also brainstormed a bit about the direction people want to see the BCHA go in the next year, both in big picture vision terms, and in more specific terms.
Here are the results of that brainstorming. The “Why we exist” question is discussed on the right, while the “how should we carry out our mission” is compiled on the left board.
Overall, people want to see the BCHA act as a community for humanists, providing opportunities for enrichment and learning, and social support. There is also a desire to see humanist and secular outreach, both educational and advocacy. Finally, there is a desire for opportunities to do social justice and charitable work.
Besides our legal requirement to avoid partisan activity, many also want to see less of a focus on hardline new atheist topics such as trashing religion. The discussion suggested we’d do better focussing on affirmative statements – i.e. what we do believe in.
We also came up with lots of ideas for events for the next year. Working with secular groups in the area, like CFI Vancouver, the campus groups, and Radio Freethinker, was a popular idea. Furthermore, there was a desire to see more speakers, both local and ones from out of town.
These ideas will help give direction to our new board of directors and eventual new executive director. If you have any more ideas, please leave them in the comments below.