Compass’ Management Committee (MC) meets around four times each year with members of the MC making decisions, staff attending to report back and advise, and everyone taking part in discussions. We’ve worked hard at encouraging women to be meaningfully involved in Compass and this quarter’s meeting was made up of seven women and two men. Part of the afternoon’s discussion was around further improving the inclusivity of MC, especially ethnicity. MC made commitments to take action on power and privilege internally through the MC elections this summer.
Reflections were shared on the Annual Gathering; it was generally felt to be a successful and useful day. We will hold a vote about the location of next year’s gathering and will run at least one significant event outside of London this year. Staff will continue to consider how to best organise the annual gathering and what activities best sit with our internal democratic processes.
The organisation’s finances are healthy with a small surplus projected for this financial year (15/16) and plans are underway to improve budgeting procedures and financial planning.
Staff updated on the current projects including Good London and Good Europe, with large events coming up on April 9th and 23rd respectively. Watch out for a new report later this month on our ongoing work around social security. Our basic income research will also be published in the coming months. We’re thinking deeply about how we make change in the world.
The main focus of the meeting was strategy. MC talked through the comments and feedback the draft strategy document received online and in person at the Annual Gathering. Sue Goss and Neal Lawson will revise the document by the end of March to be send out again as the final version. Thought will also be given to having different versions for different audiences. One of the clear messages we heard from the Annual Gathering was that the language isn’t accessible to everyone.
With the next financial year about to start, the meeting turned to what projects staff could fundraise for. Big plans are already underway around poverty and how to create change. We also discussed furthering our education work and the possibility of a campaign around basic income.