Galaxe Pride At Work: Charter

Galaxe Pride At Work Charter

Revised June 16, 1999

Mission Statement

Galaxe Pride At Work is a formal organization for Xerox employees who are or who support gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered persons. Galaxe Pride At Work's mission is to offer support and visibility within Xerox and beyond to its members, and to provide an official point of contact between its membership and Xerox Corporation, as well as with other gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender organizations external to Xerox.

Founding Principles

Open Membership: Galaxe Pride At Work is open to all Xerox employees, without regard to employment status, handicap, race, color, religious belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, or veteran's status.
Structural Concept: Galaxe Pride At Work is primarily conceived to be a vehicle for the synthesization and communication of the opinions and concerns of its members, not as a traditional “governing body.”
Self-Direction: Galaxe Pride At Work is a democratic organization. The membership of Galaxe Pride At Work hold the sole authority to determine its direction, to choose its representatives and liaisons, and to determine its position on social, political, or employee issues.

Goals

To provide a support network for lesbian, bisexual, and gay people at Xerox.
To serve as a liaison between the Galaxe Pride At Work membership and Xerox Corporation, and other organizations outside of Xerox.
To work with Xerox Corporation to recognize and address the needs and concerns of its bisexual, gay, and lesbian employees, and to support the development and implementation of Xerox policies and procedures pertaining to the value of a diverse work force.

Service Board

Galaxe Pride At Work is administered and facilitated by a Service Board, consisting of:

A Chairperson
A Membership Chair
A Communications Chair
An Education Chair
A Conference and Events Chair
A Facilitator
A Secretary
A Treasurer

The Service Board is elected by the Galaxe Pride At Work membership to represent Galaxe Pride At Work and its official positions. Service Board terms are one year in length. Service Board members may serve consecutive terms. Members of the Service Board are accountable to the Galaxe Pride At Work membership for their activities and communications. If the Galaxe Pride At Work membership feels that any member of the Service Board has failed to perform satisfactorily, that member may be removed from office by a 3/5 majority vote of no confidence by the membership.

Roles:

Chairperson

To act as the corporate liaison;
To facilitate the well-being and continued growth of the organization;
To initiate special elections that may be required in the event an officeholder is unable to complete his or her term.

Membership Chair

To maintain member relations, grow the membership, and maintain accurate membership records.
To conduct membership polls and elections to the Service Board

Communications Chair

To increase the awareness of Galaxe Pride At Work members through various media such as the newsletter and the website;
To communicate the positions of Galaxe Pride At Work in media releases, public contacts, and diversity awareness activities;· To work to increase the awareness of the organization, both inside and outside of Xerox;
To maintain the DL membership.

Education Chair

To increase Xerox and external communities' understanding of the needs and concerns of gay and lesbian employees (e.g. diversity training);
To enhance professional development and mentoring of the membership;
To serve as a contact for Galaxe Pride At Work members seeking information and clarification on Xerox Corporation's Non-Discrimination Policies regarding sexual orientation.

Conference and Events Chair

To coordinate all aspects of national Galaxe Pride At Work conferences;
To encourage and facilitate events bringing Galaxe Pride At Work members together.

Facilitator

To select an appropriate voting process for polling the membership and reaching group consensus.
To insure compliance with Xerox Internet/E-mail Policy
To facilitate group interaction using the Leadership Through Quality tools and to ensure the appropriate and professional comportment of all participants, including in electronic communications.
Special Requirements:

Facilitators must remain neutral and objective. They may not defend any particular position in their role as facilitator, nor influence any group decision through their facilitation.

Secretary

To maintain accurate records of Galaxe Pride At Work activities, policies, and decisions;
To conduct correspondence with external gay, lesbian, and bisexual organizations;
To maintain archives of Galaxe Pride At Work correspondence and activities, both internal and external;
To record, and distribute to the Galaxe Pride At Work membership, minutes of Galaxe Pride At Work Service Board meetings;
To ensure recording and distribution of minutes from ad hoc committee meetings.

Treasurer

To annually develop a budget for the organization, and coordinate requests for funds from Xerox Corporation;
To collect, pay out, and be responsible for any Galaxe Pride At Work moneys as directed by the Service Board;
To maintain accurate records of Galaxe Pride At Work finances.

Conducting Business

Any Galaxe Pride At Work member may introduce a proposal, subject to a vote of approval of the membership, that empowers a Service Board member or other member to conduct Galaxe Pride At Work business. This may include, but is not limited to, the deciding of Galaxe Pride At Work policies or official positions, the selection of special committees, instructions to Spokespersons, the election or removal of Service Board members, and any financial affairs the membership may deem necessary.

Voting

Voting rights are accorded all full Galaxe Pride At Work members. For an election of Service Board members, the Facilitator will distribute, collect and tally electronic and hardcopy ballots. For routine polling of the membership (e.g. voting on Galaxe Pride At Work platform issues), the Facilitators will select and administer the most appropriate method to reach consensus or majority opinion.

Special Committees

Ad Hoc committees, answering to the Galaxe Pride At Work membership, may be formed to work on specific projects, such as developing proposals for membership vote, or organizing special membership activities. Ad Hoc committees are subject to all normal provisions of the Charter, including communications and conducting business.

Membership

Individuals can register themselves as members of Galaxe Pride At Work (necessary for voting) by contacting the Secretary through electronic or hardcopy mail. Every January the Membership Chair will confirm that the membership listing is current. There are two levels of membership, Full Member and Associate Member:

Full Members are dues paying members with voting privileges and all other privileges as are or will be established.
Associate Members do not pay dues but are entitled to participate in all discussions, and other privileges at established costs.

Dues are determined annually by the Galaxe Pride At Work Service Board, and when modified, must be approved by majority vote of the membership.

Chapters

Galaxe Pride At Work members are empowered, and encouraged, to create local organizations within the boundaries of the Galaxe Pride At Work charter.

Election of Service Board Members

Nominees: Any member may run for any office of Galaxe Pride At Work.
Voting:

Voting may be either with paper ballot or by electronic mail (verified by user address). A registered member may only vote once by either means.
When voting is in progress for Xerox Employee specific issues, non-employees will not be eligible to participate in this process.

Election:

The election process will take two weeks and will be determined by a majority.
In the case of a “tie” (equal number of votes for two or more candidates) a 'runoff' election will be run immediately following with the candidates tied with the greatest number of votes.

Amendments

Any member, committee, or chapter may propose amendments to this Charter. A vote on such amendment proposals will be conducted by the Galaxe Pride At Work Facilitator. A simple majority is sufficient for adoption.

changes made for this revision:

by membership vote, name changed from 'GALAXe' to 'Galaxe Pride At Work'
by membership vote, Service Board terms changed from August-July to January-December. In order to accommodate this change, Service Board members elected in August 1999 will serve from August 1999 to December 2000.