Job Description 2019 - EMEA Regional Vice Chair (RVC)
As defined in the Democrats Abroad Charter:
Section 6.3 (Duties of Regional Vice Chairs)
The Regional Vice Chairs shall, under the direction of the International Chair, promote cooperation among the Country Committees in the respective Regions and implement any Regional programs or plans adopted by the Regional Committees, provided such programs or plans have been approved by the International Chair in consultation with the Executive Committee.
Section 6.4 (Regional Meetings and Communication)
Members of Democrats Abroad residing in a Region may meet by appropriate means of communication to consider matters relating to that Region. The Regional Vice Chair shall preside over such Regional meetings…
Supplementary information from past EMEA Regional Vice Chairs:
Will Bakker—2017-present
Merrill Oates—2013-2017
In practical terms, the Regional Vice Chair (RVC) has the following responsibilities:
1. Participate as one of the 8 voting members of the International Executive Committee (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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Assist in organizing the yearly DA International Meeting.
5. Work with existing Country Committees (CCs) to mediate and resolve issues within their committees, including election issues, membership queries, etc.
6. Track compliance status of CCs with Charter requirements and work with emerging and out-of-compliance committees to help bring them into compliance.
7. Communicate ExCom decisions, policies, and DA best practices to regional CC leaders.
8. Bring regional issues to the International ExCom for discussion and resolution.
9. 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.
10. Represent the views of DA members without CCs in the EMEA region at various levels of decision-making.
11. Recruit and manage volunteers -- typically called Deputy RVCs -- sufficient to fulfill all these duties and serve the needs of the region.
Shari Temple—2012-2013
During my time as RVC, I spent on average 6 hours per week on EMEA only activities and another average 6 hours per week on International ExCom issues. The role required personal costs for travel to the annual DA international meeting and regional meeting. The total costs for these two meetings was less than $5000 per year depending on the location, flight, lodging, and meeting costs. The RVC role included working with the committee countries within EMEA (30 at the time) as well as with members in non-committee countries within EMEA (> 80 countries). The ExCom part of the role included working with the 7 other members of the International ExCom to manage the overall organization.