Martha wants to know how our Central Texas Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies
coalition is set up.  Actually, rather formally and deliberately.  We have
found that the better organized we are the less time we waste.
We have non-profit status, a tax id, file annual reports, elect officers,
maintain a website, etc.  We have a large mailing list, but I'd say the core
of individuals who do most of the work constitutes about 12-15.  Our
legislative committee has 7 core members (2 of whom only work on these
projects and seldom attend general meetings.)  Probably 4 of general members
(who attend meetings and work on projects) are attending as reps of their
organizations/instititutions.  These folks are obviously getting paid during
the meetings, but the rest of us attend as volunteers.  Our members are
varied:  RNs, moms, LLL Leaders, LCs, an LD, Health Dept. reps, Milk Bank
rep, attachment parenting group rep, doulas.  Our legislative comm. chair is
a lawyer. We have 2 retired health dept. people who were very senior and
know a lot about how the 'system' works.  WIC sends a rep. who is very
helpful.

We keep our meetings organized.  Our president prepares an agenda and we
stick pretty closely to it.  Frankly, I don't appreciate it when meetings
turn into a "support group" or a gripe session.  I have too much other work
to do to spend valuable meeting time on something that doesn't further an
action agenda.   Our meetings last about 1.5- 2hrs once a month.  We have
sub-committees that may also meet.  We do a lot of work by email -- passing
documents back and forth writing and editing drafts (of reports, letters to
individuals, press releases, articles, bill proposals, etc).  We have
occasional lunches where we brainstorm, and any time any of us are together,
we run ideas past one another for future projects.  We keep notes of these
ideas so we don't forget.

We set annual goals and strategies, and we evaluate our success/failure to
reach them in our annual report.  We collect dues ($15 I think) and try to
do some fund-raisers.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
LactNews Press
www.lactnews.com
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