Steering Committee Meeting – AGENDA
Sunday, August 10, 2025
8:00 pm EDT
I Setup and Background – 10 min
Facilitator: Darryl! Moch
Steering Committee Roll Call:
1. Arshia Papari (co-chair) –
2. Cassandra Lems(co-chair) –
3. Craig Cayetano (co-chair) –
4. Charles Ostdiek(co-chair) –
5. Justin Paglino (co-chair) –
6.
Tamar Yager (co-chair)
7. Wissam Charafeddine (co-chair)
8. Holly Hart (secretary) –
9. Bob Stuller (interim treasurer) –
10. Mark Elbourno (incoming treasurer) –
Outgoing members may also be joining the call.
Observers are asked to remain muted and refrain from using the chat function. If someone wishes to speak to an agenda item, please send a request to secretary@gp.org.
Establish Quorum (9 current members, quorum is 5)
ANNOUNCEMENTS, if any – an FYI, please consider how much time will be needed for these items
ITEMS marked FYI are included for informational purposes, unless discussion is requested.
Approve Agenda (changes require majority, new items require ⅔ approval)
REQUEST to ADD from Mark – two proposals:
Treasurer Plan Proposal
Expanded Infrastructure Proposal
REQUEST to ADD from Howard Switzer, Banking & Monetary Reform Committee or GPUS co-sponsorship of Torrens U (Australia) Forum
II. New/Current Business – Orientation – 45 min (Holly, Craig, Cassandra, Justin, Charles)
SC bylaws, Rules & Procedures; Internal Committee Procedures
Responses & Online Decision Process (48/48)
Media – press release protocol (Holly)
Draft; Final Draft; Call for (at east) 3 SC approvals, 1 platform
Google Drive (Holly)
Committee Liaisons (Co-chairs) – see below
Proposal Process
Voting Page (Holly, quick review w/ screenshare)
Voting Program
Contacts
Other parts of database (not used)
Admin page for floor managers
III. Treasurer Report 10 – 15 min (Bob, Mark)
IV. New/Current Business – 5 min
1. Online Decisions – FYI (Holly)
A. Endorse Emergency March to Stop Starving Gaza; thePeople’s Forum
Proposed, Holly; Seconded, Wissam. CONSENSUS
GPUS has endorsed previous People’s Forum events.
Holly has signed the endorsement and forwarded letter to GPNY.
B. Bonus for staff (David and Athena) for work done for the ANM
V. Standing Business/Old Business – 10 – 15 min
1. Request from Fundraising/Media Committees – Digital media coordinator
See ADDENDUM A
Media Committee was to send job ad to Holly to post to NC list and send to web manager to post on gp.org and Idea List.
2. FYI – GPUS sign on to this letter (Cassandra)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TUrsyvWSSL7dn-ZhI-2-T8bmG06wtfiHWRnXsU8tbmc/viewform?ts=685c7328&edit_requested=true which is New York centric, but NYPIRG is inviting national organizations to sign on as well. Deadline to sign on is August 1.
UPDATE; Cassandra signed on for GPUS. No further update needed.
3. FYI – Endorsement of The Make Billionaires Pay March. (Craig)
Endorsing The Make Billionaires Pay March means your organization supports the mobilization demands (listed below) and will encourage people to take action with us. When we publicly launch in August your organization will be listed as an endorser. The Make Billionaires Pay March is being convened by: The Women’s March, 350.org, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), and Climate Defenders. See ADDEDNDUM B
Craig signed the endorsement form. Any news on upcoming meetings, organizing?
4. FYI – Onboarding new Fundraiser (Cassandra, Bob)
Charles? Or someone? Made sure she has a contract – nothing further needed?
5. FYI – Elections Tabulation Committee (Cassandra, Holly)
Ballot keys and votes have been compiled and shared on “natlcomvotes.” The manual tabulation will take place Tuesday, August 12, 6 pm EDT. Zoom info forthcoming.
Just FYI, Known “Issues” include possibility of generating double ballots (has never resulted in change of an election outcome); disappearing data on voting page, although all continues to be stored – somewhere – in the background and webmail; Tabulation breakdown remains intact.
Propose following up with developer find out the cost for updating/bug fixes. Approved on last call, want to confirm.
Holly is contacting the developer to go over needed fixes and potential cost.
6. FYI – Potential meeting with members of SC and YES Caucus.
All SC or some, as interested/willing
Holly was to contact YES. WIll require GPUS Zoom account.
7. Reminder, follow-up: Open Media and Good Party Request for Party Chairs’ responses. Cassandra was interested in responding. There is no set timeline,but sooner rather than later is probably better
Any update –
VI. Reports 15 min
Co-chairs should review and select committees they want to serve as liaisons. The following list of Co-chairs and committees will be updated.
Co-chairs, please review liaison spreadsheet and edit, as needed
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c2gpFv7aivHl29B5Dx-6hixVsA5QUY9I1c6wpz0f2Ko/edit?gid=1854246226#gid=1854246226
Cassandra would like someone else to be liaison for the ETC. This committee will not be active after the ETC report until the following year, so there will not be much further involvement needed, unless there is interest in having an ETC for other ranked choice elections (CCC, for instance).
Tamar suggested that liaisons for caucuses be added.
1. Guest Committee(s) : Invited: None this week. Stay tuned. Interest in setting up a regular calendar; Holly and Justin are following up; Holly to set up calendar or add to Liaison assignment spreadsheet.
2. Staff (Justin)
3. Secretary (Holly) -
Ongoing General “Housekeeping” Information/Requests: Delegates 101; NEW: Committee Co-chairs Basics. Following with Committee one-on-ones, to the degree possible. Policy/ies on security, storage and access.
TBA:
4. Craig: Media, Merch, PCSC, Outreach
–
5. Cassandra: ANMCom, ETC, FundCom,
Credentials –
6. Joseph: IC, CCC, Green Pages, GPAX
–
7. Alfred: AC
–
8. Darryl!: DRC, BRPP, Platcom
-
9. Charles: FinCom, Animal Rights, GCCC BMRC
-
10. Justin: BAC, EcoAction ; Staff Supervisor
-
VII. Voting Queue – 5-10 min (Holly) !! Clarification of Dates and Timelines !!
Received for the Queue
-
A. Proposal to Authorize International Collaboration (Creating a Taskforce to Study European Greens Platform Tools in Efforts to Upgrade, Modernize, and Streamline GPUS Platform Tools
SPONSOR: Green Party of Michigan
CONTACT: Wissam Charaffedine
B. Proposal to Establish a Youth Accessibility & Procedure Reform Working Group
SPONSOR: Green Party of Michigan
CONTACT: Wissam Charafeddine
C. Proposal to Modernize the Branding and Social Media Strategy of the Green Party of the United States
SPONSOR: Green Party of Michigan
CONTACT: Wissam Charafeddine
2. In the Queue —
Discussion
Voting
#1264 – Format – location for 2026 Annual National MeetingAnnual National Meeting Committee 2025-7-13 Format/location for 2026 Annual National Meeting
Sponsors: Annual National Meeting Committee
Voting from August 4 – 11, 2025
Floor Manager: Joseph Naham
Ranked choice vote
Completed
#1261 – Election of 2025 Elections Tabulation Committee – ETC
Ranked choice vote
Elected: Samuel Chance, Donna Pullin
#1254 – 2025 Election – Steering Committee Co-chairs
Ranked choice vote
Elected: Arshia Papari, Craig Cayetano, Tamar Yager,, Wissam Charafeddine,
#1259 – 2025 Election – GPUS Secretary
Ranked choice vote
Elected: Holly Hart
#1263 – 2025 Special Election – GPUS Treasurer
Ranked choice vote
Elected: Mark Elbourno
VIII. Executive Session
10-15 min. ?? Are any of these needed?
1. Staff union contract – FINISHED – ??
2. Compensation question.
TOTAL TIME – 2 hrs.
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ADDENDUM A
Request for Digital Media Coordinator
Proposal for a New Role: Digital Media Coordinator
Background: Since the departure of prior staff, all GPUS social media posting has been handled by the all-volunteer Media committee, which meets monthly. The all-volunteer Fundraising Committee also meets monthly. The Merchandise Committee currently does not meet monthly, and works mainly in support of the Fundraising Committee, generating coupon codes to the GPUS store. A unified digital media strategy across social media, fundraising, and merchandise promotion would help the Party grow and prosper.
Proposal: Create a part-time position, initially temporary, for a Digital Media Coordinator. The goal is to improve messaging, consistency, and strategy for social media posting and engagement, while also boosting fundraising and volunteer engagement.
Fair hiring method: A fair and open hiring process, with the job posted on a public lefty jobs site like Idealist for at least 3 weeks or longer, until a group of at least 3 highly qualified candidates are identified.
Draft Job Proposal:
Payscale: $20/hour, part time up to 16 hours/week, trial period of 3 months
Duties:
• Digital posting: social media posts across all major platforms following guidelines from the Steering Committee, Media Committee, Fundraising Committee, and Merchandise Committee
• Digital monitoring: Monitor social media hot topics and interactions, monitor social direct messages, reply/engage based on committee guidelines, refer high-profile interactions or conflicts to key committee members or volunteers
• Regularly solicit donations to GPUS via digital channels
• Able to: research topics and generate script ideas, write and edit scripts, create and edit videos able to train and lead a team of volunteers working on these tasks.
• Book GPUS surrogates (candidates, state and national party leaders, key volunteers) as guests on podcasts, youtube shows, and other alternative media. Comfortable with also representing the party on the above.
• Coordinate with the Media Committee on messaging
Experience:
• Minimum 3 years in a role as lead social media content creator for a political advocacy organization or campaign
• Comfortable reading a script for voiceover or to camera for social media content
• Experience leading volunteers
• Experience with graphic design and video creation
• Experience working remotely for a distributed team
• Experience working independently
Application Process:
• In your cover letter, please specify the top 4 social media platforms you feel most comfortable with, and explain why you’d like to work for the Green Party.
• Please submit links to at least 3 social media accounts that demonstrate your work.
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ADDEDNUM B
Draft Overview
Make Billionaires Pay
Day of Action – September 20, 2025
**Working Draft**
On September 20th, we are rising up for our people and our planet. Will you join us?
Context:
As the United States braces for extreme heat, wildfires, and hurricanes, the Trump administration just rammed through a mega-bill defunding our communities to give handouts to billionaires. They’re dismantling our democracy, attacking immigrants, and feeding the war profiteers. The attacks on our people are directly tied to the attacks on our planet. The billionaire fascists are hoarding resources and leaving working class communities across the globe to face the impacts of the extreme weather and rising seas.
Among Trump’s billionaire buddies, a handful of Big Oil & Gas executives are raking in profits while the rest of us pay the price of rising costs, toxic pollution, and worsening climate disasters.
All across the world, authoritarian regimes are on the rise but people are fighting back. We are uniting across the world to demand a better future for our communities and for all living beings.
Demands:
• Shut down billionaires. Fund our future.
• Shut down fascists. Protect migrants and the global majority.
• Shut down polluters. Defend Mother Earth.
Strategy:
On September 20th world leaders will be gathering in New York City for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week. This is a critical moment for us to show the world we are revolting against Trump and the Billionaire Class.
We’re calling for people across the US to join the non-violent resistance by hosting a march in their community or joining the march in New York City.
Simultaneous actions will happen around the world as part of the international mobilizations for climate justice entitled “Draw the Line” (convened by 350.org, Demand Climate Justice, Climate Action Network and War on Want).
Endorsement:
Sign up to endorse the Make Billionaires Pay mobilization here! Endorsing the Make Billionaires Pay mobilization means your organization supports the demands listed above and will encourage people to take action with us. When we publicly launch in August your organization will be listed as an endorser. The Make Billionaires Pay mobilization is being convened by: The Women’s March, 350.org, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), and Climate Defenders.