We are pleased to call for nominations of candidates for the position of Regional Vice Chair (RVC) for Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region. The election for this position will take place online at the EMEA Regional Meeting on Sunday, May 16th as part of the Democrats Abroad (DA) Global Meeting. One vote is allocated to each DA country committee in EMEA and will be cast by country committee chairs and vice chairs.
Democrats Abroad has 3 RVCs, one for each of its 3 regions.
Each RVC has the following responsibilities:
- Serve as one of eight members of the International Executive Committee of the Democrats Abroad (ExCom), with meetings held by conference call nearly every week (up to 2 hours). These calls are held during the afternoon in Europe so that all 3 global regions can participate.
- Serve a two-year term, but not more than two consecutive terms.
- Organize and lead monthly regional calls (avg 1.5 hours) to encourage, inform, and create community amongst regional Country Committee leaders. These calls are generally held in the evening of the first Wednesday of each month.
- Organize and lead in-person 2-3 day regional meeting, every year or two. RVC responsibilities include, but are not limited to: creating an agenda, organizing leaders to fulfill it; working with the local country leaders who host the gathering to organize accommodation, conference space, entertainment, etc; and leading the event. Please note that travel costs are the responsibility of the RVC.
- Assist in organizing the yearly DA International Meeting.
- Work with existing Country Committees (CCs) to mediate and resolve issues within their committees, including election issues, membership queries, etc.
- Track compliance status of CCs with Charter requirements and work with emerging and out-of-compliance committees to help bring them into compliance.
- Communicate ExCom decisions, policies, and DA best practices to regional CC leaders.
- Bring regional issues to the International ExCom for discussion and resolution.
- Help groups of DA members in countries without a CC to contribute to DA's mission, ranging from short-term GOTV efforts to long-term precincts for areas without a population or resources sufficient to sustain a CC.
- Represent the views of DA members without CCs in the EMEA region at various levels of decision-making.
- Recruit and manage volunteers -- typically called Deputy RVCs -- sufficient to fulfill all these duties and serve the needs of the region.
The requirements to serve as EMEA RVC are:
- Be a citizen of the United States.
- Be a member of DA for at least 6 months prior to the election, i.e. joined before December 16, 2020.
- Be a resident in the EMEA region.
- Due to the extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of the EMEA region who are temporarily residing outside of their country of residence due to the pandemic may still run for EMEA RVC. There must be an intent to return to the EMEA region following the lifting of travel restrictions.
- Adhere to the principles of the Democratic Party of the United States.
Additionally, experience serving on a country committee, global caucus committee, or other equivalent leadership experience within DA is encouraged but not required. We particularly encourage candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds to stand for office.
Both self nominations and nominations of others are welcome.
Please submit nominations via the nomination form at this link no later than Tuesday, March 30th 11:59:59 p.m. (Central European Summer Time). Each candidate will also be asked to complete a questionnaire and provide a candidate statement which will be posted on the DA website.
Nominations from the floor are also possible at the election meeting on May 16th. All candidates will be given time to make a short speech.
A list of candidates will be posted on the DA website on April 5th. Candidate profiles will be posted starting April 12 th. There will be an online townhall and Q&A on May 5th that will be recorded and posted online.
Please direct any questions to [email protected].
On behalf of the 2021 EMEA Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC),
Chesney McKinley Severance (Denmark)
Dave Brauer (Japan)
Gil Carbajal (Spain)
Lee Ann Sandler (Israel)