The USNA Women’s SIG was established in 2017 to provide a network for alumnae throughout the alumni association to perpetuate the history, traditions, memories, and growth of the Naval Academy and bind alumnae together in support of the highest ideals of command, citizenship and government. A Charter was drafted, reviewed and approved by the Alumni Association Board of Trustees. At its inception, the SIG leadership team was formed from a call for volunteers via the usna-women email group. Voting for the SIG Officers was open to all alumnae. Officers were elected for a two year term.
In late 2018, a call was made via the usna-women email group and via the USNA Women’s SIG Facebook page for volunteers to fill the leadership positions. Everyone who volunteered was offered a position on the leadership team. Voting for the SIG Officers was open to all alumnae. Officers were elected for a two year term.
As we approach the expiration of the second two year period, it is time for the Women’s SIG to review and revise the Charter to ensure a more diverse and inclusive leadership team. Our Charter is posted on the Women’s SIG Facebook page.
The SIG leadership team is establishing two committees to help improve the selection of the next leadership team.
1) Charter / Bylaws Review Committee – a committee of no more than 10 members to propose a new Charter and/or bylaws. The committee should be a diverse cross section of SIG members headed by a current SIG board member. The current leadership team will ultimately approve a revised Charter and Bylaws and will submit the Bylaws to the Alumni Association Board of Trustees.
1) Nominating Committee – a committee of no more than 10 members to propose / vet candidates for elected positions as described by the new Charter/Bylaws. The committee should be a diverse cross section of SIG members headed by a current SIG board member. The current leadership team will ultimately approve the slate for elections.
Additionally, the SIG leadership team has approved establishing a committee to propose and vet highly qualified candidates for the Distinguished Graduate Award program and draft nomination packages for submission via Alumni Association procedures. The committee should have no more than 10 members and should be a diverse cross section of SIG members headed by a current SIG board member.
You must be a member of the Women’s SIG to be selected for one of the committees or serve on the leadership team. See the information below to become a member.
To allow for maximum participation, committee members will be assigned to serve on one committee. Committee members will be selected in such a way as to distribute volunteers to form diverse and inclusive groups representing the diversity of alumna. No selection process will ever meet the expectations of every single member, but the SIG leadership team will strive to be as fair, open, and transparent as possible.
If you are interested in participating in any of the three committees, please use the following link to submit your information to via Google Forms. Input must be received by July 19th to be considered.
Barbette Lowndes ‘80
President, USNA Women’s SIG
HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER
1) Simply go to our Facebook page and request to become a member. Our membership chair, Holly Johnson, will do a quick vetting to see if there is a logical connection to the Naval Academy Alumni Association and then add you to the member database.
USNA Women SIG https://www.facebook.com/ groups/1451325081552796/
2) If you are not a Facebook user, you can simply email Holly Johnson at
holly_johnson@juno.com and let her know you want to join.
