Little People of America — 2021 Election
Bylaw Amendment FAQ

 

Why Vote?

Voting for LPA officers and Bylaw amendments only takes 3 minutes of your time. Your vote directly impacts the future of LPA. Amendments to the Bylaws are proposed to take LPA in a forward direction and to address the needs of the membership.

How did the amendment proposing an Inclusion Director come about?

In the summer of 2020, the LPA Board of Directors hired consultants, with money raised from the board and staff, to assess areas where LPA was falling short of meeting the needs of our underserved members. Our consultants held listening sessions with a wide cross section of our members. From these listening sessions and accompanying survey, the consultants made recommendations to the Board for areas of improvement and change. The top recommendation was to add a position to the Board whose purpose was to lead an Inclusion Committee and address the needs of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.

Why did the board recommend sunsetting the position of Senior Vice President?

The current Senior Vice President, Jon North, proposed sunsetting his position and replacing it with the Inclusion Director. It avoided adding an extra board position or folding the duties of the Inclusion Director to an existing position. Further, the SVP’s duties over the years have largely been offloaded to other board or staff positions, leaving the SVP with very few actual responsibilities. Meanwhile, it became apparent that there are responsibilities that weren’t being addressed. Since the Membership Director currently works most closely with the members, it was an added logical transition to move the order of Presidential succession to the Membership Director.

How will the Inclusion Director be appointed?

The current bylaws state that in cases of vacancy, the Board of Directors shall appoint an interim Board Member to fill such vacant position. Therefore, the board would appoint an interested candidate to serve until the next election (2023).

Who supports the inclusion director amendment?

The LPA Board of Directors submitted the proposed amendment and support its passing. No statements of opposition were submitted against the amendment.

With the proposed Chapter bylaws amendment, will the Chapter Presidents maintain their autonomy?

The intention of this amendment is not to alter the autonomy of the chapter officers. Currently, each chapter has its own bylaws resulting in some 70 different bylaws within the organization. One set of bylaws for all the chapters ensures clarity and simplicity to the structure and operational duties of the organization. The role and responsibilities of the chapter officers will not change.

Will having one set of chapter bylaws address holding chapter officers more accountable?

The unified chapter bylaws will allow for continuity within the entire organization and allow the national office to be able to address the needs of chapters better. LPA is run by locally by elected volunteers. The unified bylaws will establish consistent elections and a uniformed process for replacing and/or removing an officer.

Who supports the chapter bylaws amendment?

This proposal was initiated by and the amendment is sponsored by the District Directors. No statements of opposition were submitted against the amendment.

What does it take to approve a bylaw change?

2/3rd of the 13 Districts need 2/3rd of their voting age membership to approve an amendment for it to pass.