Having decided to check out the Washington 39th district Democratic party’s monthly meeting in Arlington, I volunteered on my first visit to be their Secretary/Treasurer, since no one else was willing to fill that vacancy. Why? How better to learn what they’re all about. ‘Follow the money’ and taking minutes at meetings give quick and nearly complete learning experiences, in addition to automatically becoming a member of their Board of Directors where I was involved in their decision-making. I stayed in that role for 3 years.
I then attended a meeting of the Puget Sound Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State to find out what they were all about, where I volunteered to be their Secretary/Treasurer because, once again, no one was willing to fill that vacancy. And again, I was immediately a member of their Board of Directors where I was involved in their decision-making. I stayed in that role for nearly 3 years.
I then attended a meeting of Group Health Cooperative’s Senior Caucus to find out what they were all about and, would you believe, they also had a vacancy that no one wanted to fill: Secretary/Treasurer. So, I volunteered to fill that role and be on their Board of Directors during the transition period of GHC’s purchase by Kaiser Permanente. I recently retired from that position after 5 years.
All three of these experiences were fascinating, allowed my meaningful involvement in social justice organizations and were so much fun!