Oregon NOW Bylaws – Oregon NOW

Approved at 28 September 2024 Annual Meeting

Article I. Name

The name of the organization shall be Oregon NOW.

Article II. Purpose

NOW’s purpose is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men. This purpose includes, but is not limited to, bodily autonomy, equal rights and responsibilities in all aspects of citizenship, public service, employment, education, and family life, and it includes freedom from discrimination because of race, ethnic origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or parenthood.

Article II(a). Intersectionality

The Chapter is committed to the inclusion of diverse voices and experiences, and to that end commits to affirmatively act to achieve a diverse membership and leadership. All members of the Board shall embody and perform their duties using an intersectional analysis that enables each of us to recognize the fact that perceived group membership can make people vulnerable to various forms of bias and because we are simultaneously members of many groups our complex identities can shape the specific way we each experience that bias. As a result, an intersectional approach goes beyond conventional analysis in order to focus our attention on injuries that we otherwise might not recognize. Intersectionality is thus a critical lens for bringing awareness and capacity to the social justice movement in order to expand and deepen its interventions in order to capture the interactive effects of race, ethnicity, gender, identity, sexuality, socio-economic status, age, etc. All members are to be inclusive of other members and support NOW’s priorities as outlined by National NOW’s Core Issues in order to participate in the NOW organization. NOW’s priorities are: reproductive rights and justice, economic justice, ending violence against women, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, and Constitutional equality.

Article III. Membership

Any person who subscribes to its purpose and who is a member of National NOW may be a member of the Oregon Chapter of NOW. A new member may join National NOW and the chapter simultaneously upon payment of dues.

Article IV. Policy

The Chapter shall be bound by the National NOW bylaws and policy.

Article V. Meetings

The Chapter shall hold at least four membership meetings each year. One of these meetings, designated the annual meeting, shall be the meeting at which election of officers shall take place. All members must receive at least 30 days notice of the annual meeting at which elections will be held.

Article VI. Dues

Section 1.

Annual members’ dues shall be $40.00 or as changed by the state organization by a majority vote of those members present at the annual meeting. Reduced dues are available on a sliding scale beginning at $10.00. Dues shall correspond to those set by National NOW and any change in dues by National NOW shall take precedence.

Section 2.

The fiscal year shall be January 1 to December 31.

Article VII. Officers/Board

Section 1.

The Officers shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary and a Treasurer, and such other Officers and Board members as may be determined by the Board.

Section 2.

The Officers and Board shall be elected at the annual meeting. The time and date of the annual meeting shall be set by the board with the goal of it being sometime during the months of September, October, November or December.

Section 3. Titles and Duties

A. President. There shall be a President. The President shall be the principal spokesperson and chief executive and financial officer of the organization, shall call the meetings of the Board, the Executive Committee, and shall preside at these meetings.

B. Vice President. There shall be a Vice President. The Vice President shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the President, be custodian of the records, and perform such other duties as may be delegated by the President and Board. In case of a vacancy in the office of the President, the Vice President can assume the office of the President if elected by a majority of the Board. If the Vice President is unable or unwilling to assume the office of President, the Board shall select an interim president until an election is held.

C. Secretary. There shall be a Secretary. The Secretary shall take and retain the minutes of both Board and Chapter meetings and attend to general Chapter correspondence.

D. Treasurer. There shall be a Treasurer. The Treasurer shall receive all funds of the Chapter and shall deposit them in such bank as may be designated by the Board, and shall disburse the funds in accordance with the budget or Board directed, and shall make regular written reports to the Board.

E. There may be up to 6 at-large Board members who shall be voting members of the Board.

F. Each member chapter shall be entitled to appoint 1 delegate to the Board. The chapter board delegate shall be a voting member of the Board and is responsible for presenting chapter views to the state board and communicating board decisions to his/her/their chapter. A local chapter delegate must be a member in good standing of an Oregon NOW local chapter who has been elected or appointed by that member local chapter in accordance with that chapter’s own procedures for nominating and electing or appointing board delegates. If a local chapter does not have a procedure for choosing a delegate to the Oregon NOW Board, then, by default the President of the local chapter shall be designated by the Oregon NOW Board as the delegate.

G. Qualifications and terms of office.

1. All Officers and Board members shall have been members of NOW for at least 90 days prior to election unless otherwise waived by the Board.
2. In the event of the vacancy in any office other than President, or vacancy in any other Board position the remaining Officers/ Board members may appoint any member of Oregon NOW to fill the vacancy who has been an Oregon NOW member for at least 90 days. Approval of the new Board member shall be by at least a 2/3 vote of the remaining Officers/Board members.
3. In the case of Officers appointed to fill a vacancy, their partial terms shall not be considered in determining the term limitation.
4. No person may hold two Officer positions concurrently, except that one person may hold the offices of secretary and treasurer simultaneously.
5. Newly elected Officers shall take Office 30 days after election results are finalized.
6. The term of office for all officers shall be 2 years. Terms shall be staggered such that the President, Treasurer, and at-large Board members in positions 2, 4, and 6 will be elected in even-numbered years. The Vice-President, Secretary, and at-large Board members in positions 1, 3, and 5 will be elected in odd-numbered years. Officers shall serve no more than two (2) consecutive two-year terms in the same office, but may then serve two more consecutive two-year terms in a different office. In the case of Officers appointed to fill a vacancy, their partial term shall not be considered in determining the term limitation. There shall be no limit on the number of terms a chapter delegate or at-large board member may serve.

Article VIII. Committees

Standing Committees

The board shall have the power to create standing committees. Committee chairs and committee members are appointed by the President of Oregon NOW, with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors, for a one-year term. Standing committees may include but are not limited to: Mobilizing, Policy, Membership/fundraising, Events, Elections/endorsements, and Issue Committees. It is expected that each State Board Member will serve on at least one standing committee. All standing committee chairs and committee members shall be members of Oregon NOW.

Ad Hoc Committees

The Board shall have the power to create committees for specific purposes and dissolve them when those purposes have been fulfilled. Ad hoc committee chairs and committee members are appointed by the President of Oregon NOW, with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors. All ad hoc committee chairs and committee members shall be members of Oregon NOW.

Article IX. Nominations

The Oregon NOW Board shall approve an election committee at least 90 days prior to the annual meeting. The election committee shall solicit nominations for offices from the entire membership by posting notice on the Oregon NOW website and/or Facebook page beginning at least 60 days prior to the annual meeting. At least 30 days prior to the annual meeting the names of the nominees and a candidate statement up to 300 words, shall be published on the Oregon NOW website and/or Facebook page. This publication shall include the date, time, and location of the annual meeting. The Oregon NOW Board may decide to conduct the annual meeting virtually or in person. Nominations may be made from the floor during the annual meeting.

Article X. Elections

The election of officers shall take place every year at the annual meeting. Officers and Board members must be elected by a majority vote. All members of Oregon NOW who have been a member for more than 90 days, are eligible to vote and all members must be notified at least 30 days in advance of the election. Elections shall be conducted by the Elections Committee. Elections may be conducted in person and/or electronically.

Article XI. Grievance Procedure

A. FILING THE GRIEVANCE

All grievances brought to the Oregon NOW Board shall be in writing. Grievances shall be filed by certified mail and email with the Oregon NOW Executive Committee (Oregon NOW Officers). A copy of the grievance shall be sent by certified mail by the grievant to the party or parties against whom the grievance is filed at the same time that the grievances filed with the Oregon NOW Executive Committee. From this point onwards, all communications shall be conducted by email. All parties shall provide and keep on file with the Oregon NOW Executive Committee a valid email address during the entire Grievance procedure. Failure to do so will be considered a default by the party in question and may be considered as a factor in the final decision reached regarding the grievance. Grievances shall contain a statement setting forth the nature and basis of the grievance, specifying who or what unit(s) of Oregon NOW have violated what specific policy, procedure, bylaw, or regulation of NOW, Oregon NOW, or its various sub-unit(s); the remedy requested; and shall indicate whether, if applicable, the manner in which all available remedies at the local level have been exhausted. The grievant shall request specific actions as potential remedies. All local remedies if available shall be exhausted before invoking this article unless good cause is shown why the grieving party has not done so. Grievances shall be submitted within one year from the date of the incident or the time that the member involved first knew or should have known of the incident or within 90 days from the date that all attempts at local resolution were exhausted.

B. ACCEPTANCE OF THE GRIEVANCE BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee shall determine within 30 days after the date of receipt whether the grievance meets the requirements set forth in this document. A decision by the Executive Committee not to invoke the grievance procedure for failure to meet these requirements may be appealed to the full Oregon NOW Board. If a member of the Executive Committee (an Oregon NOW Officer) is involved in a grievance, that grievance will go to the full Oregon NOW Board in executive session (without the presence of the Officer(s) involved in the grievance) to determine if the grievance meets the requirements set forth in this paragraph. If any part of the grievance is accepted, within 14 days thereafter the Executive Committee shall serve copies of the grievance by email upon the local chapter officer(s) or individual member(s) about which the grievance complains, advising them that the grievance has been accepted. The grieving party or parties and the party or parties against whom the grievance is brought shall be current members of Oregon NOW at all times during the grievance procedure. Should the membership of any party or parties expire at any time during the grievance process, that party shall no longer have standing to utilize the grievance process nor shall any further steps of the grievance process be necessary with regard to the non-member party.

C. FORMATION OF GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE

Upon receipt of a grievance which meets the requirements set forth in Article XI Sections A and B, a Grievance Committee consisting of 3 members in good standing of Oregon NOW who have been members in good standing for at least 1 year (365 days) prior to the grievance having been filed shall be constituted. At least 1 member of the committee must be an Oregon Now Board Member who is not an Officer. The Grievance Committee shall have full authority to hear and resolve the grievance. Once selected, the members shall have continuing authority to serve on the committee, notwithstanding the end of their terms on the Oregon Board. Each party (“side”) to the grievance shall select one member who does not represent them and/or a member of his/her/their local chapter to serve as a member of the Grievance Committee within fourteen days of notification by the Executive Committee. If the grieving party fails to select a member, their grievance will be dismissed. If the party being grieved against fails to select a member, the Executive Committee of the Oregon NOW Board shall select a member. The two members selected by the parties are not to function as representatives of the parties by whom they are selected, but as impartial members of the Committee. The two members shall select the third member within fourteen days of being notified of their selection as Committee members. If the Committee members are unable to reach agreement as to a third member, the Oregon NOW Executive Committee may select the third member, either by drawing lots or by other appropriate means. If/when necessitated by a vacancy, a new member may be chosen using the procedures described herein. A vacancy may be declared by two members of the Grievance Committee or by the Executive Committee or its successor if a member is unable to or fails to participate in the grievance process as outlined. Oregon NOW Members shall disqualify themselves from the Committee should they feel they have a conflict of interest. The selecting party has an additional three days to select a replacement should a member who has already been selected disqualify her/himself. The Executive Committee shall email notice to all parties that a Grievance Committee has been selected, within seven days of the selection of the third committee member. All of the deadlines for action within this grievance procedure may be waived or extended by agreement of the parties. The deadlines may also be waived by vote of the Grievance Committee. Any such waiver shall be communicated to the Committee members, to all parties, and to the Oregon NOW Board.

D. GRIEVANCE MEDIATION AND HEARINGS

The Committee shall select a Chair from its members within seven days of the selection of the third committee member. The Chair shall notify all parties of the following steps which shall be followed. The Committee may choose to conduct all meetings/hearings by videoconference. All meetings and videoconferences shall be recorded. All correspondence between the Committee and parties shall be in writing and documented in case they need to be reviewed at a later date.

1. The Chair of the Grievance Committee will meet with the parties involved in person or by other appropriate means to determine if the grievance can be mediated and then attempt to mediate it. The Chair shall complete the mediation attempt no later than thirty days following notification that the grievance has been accepted. If no agreement can be reached by the Grievance Chair and the parties involved, the Grievance Committee will proceed with a hearing.
2. The Grievance Committee shall after consultation with the parties set the site/platform and date/time and conduct a hearing on the grievance at the earliest practical date. The Grievance Committee shall act to set a date for the hearing no later than sixty and no earlier than thirty days after the end of the attempted mediation period. The hearing shall be held in a manner/place acceptable to the parties to the grievance. If a date, method and/or site cannot be agreed upon by the parties, then the committee will notify the parties of three (3) dates/methods/sites and will then choose the date and method/site based on the response by the parties. If after these procedures have been followed, a party refuses to accept the chosen date or method/site, the committee may deem the party to have defaulted on the grievance. The parties shall be given notice of the date and method/site of the hearing at least thirty days prior to the hearing date. Changes in the hearing date may be granted by the Grievance Committee for good cause shown. Each party shall bear its own expenses. Any NOW member may attend a grievance hearing as an observer, but unless called by a party as a witness, may not make any comments.
3. All parties may submit additional documents and other materials via email. These documents and materials shall be sent by the submitting parties to each member of the Committee, each party, and the Executive Committee. Documents and other materials submitted fewer than fourteen days prior to the hearing (or not submitted to the Committee, each party, and the Executive Committee) may be excluded from the grievance proceedings at the discretion of the Grievance Committee.
4. The Grievance Committee shall notify all parties if additional documents, materials, or clarification are needed. A request for additional materials by the Grievance Committee may be made prior to and/or at the hearing. This material shall then be submitted to the Committee, each party, and the Executive Committee within fourteen days of notification by the Grievance Committee.
5. Each party is responsible for presenting its own case. The failure of any party to provide evidence or testimony under its control, as requested by the committee, may be considered as a factor by the Grievance Committee in reaching its determination.
6. The Grievance Committee shall issue a decision in writing, within thirty days of the hearing or within thirty days of the expiration of the two-week notification for submission of additional materials, whichever is later. The decision shall be mailed to each party and the Executive Committee.
7. A party or parties may appeal a decision of the Oregon NOW Grievance Committee to National NOW. The National NOW Grievance Procedure adopted in 2022 states: “Grievances shall be submitted … within ninety days from the date that all attempts at local resolution were exhausted.”
8. Grievance committee decisions shall be made available to the Oregon NOW Board and shall be retained on file with the Board for the use of future grievance committees.

E. AMENDMENTS

This procedure can only be amended by a 3/5 vote of the Oregon NOW Board after thirty days’ notice of the proposed change.

Article XII. Affirmative Action and Diversity Outreach

The Oregon NOW Chapter will set specific and realistic goals for membership, participation, and leadership of a diversity that reflects the community and our issue work.

Article XIII. Amendments

These bylaws may be amended by a 2/3 vote at any meeting of the Chapter provided:

The proposed amendment has been submitted to the president 60 days in advance of the meeting.
The proposed amendment has been posted to the Chapter website at least 30 days in advance of the meeting.

Article XIV. Dissolution

The Chapter may be dissolved upon a 2/3 vote of its members present and voting, after advance notice of no less than 30 days to every member that dissolution of the chapter will be considered at that meeting. Upon dissolution of the Chapter, the board and officers shall, after paying or making provisions for payment of all liabilities of the Chapter, remit all remaining assets to National NOW or any local Chapter of NOW.