The following are excerpts from letters written by  Noel Pryde, member of the Board of Trustees of FFI from Australia and his criteria for selecting a new FFI President. He also explains how Susan Smith is qualified to be our president. They are reprinted with his permission. 

[Noel:]

As well as explaining my decision to vote for Susie Smith  I have identified personal views on issues that I believe are of great importance to our organisation.  I am prepared to make them public. 

I am at present writing up the report on the election and nomination procedures for the Board of Trustees ...  It is most important that members understand why we have appointed Susie Smith to the position of President.  The unanimous vote was in private by e-mail but I do think most Board members voted for her for reasons similar to mine.

The vote for President was carried out by a telephone hook up meeting followed by a vote by e-mail.  The written decision allowed Board members to look at the paper materials we had received prior to the meeting and to check particulars through Board and a network of contacts.

The Board members were then able to make their votes in private by a written vote.  It was a unanimous vote.

[Noel’s criteria:]

I believe our new President should have a strong background in the FF organisation. The higher the profile the better.  However a potential candidate would need to possess an understanding of the club system on which the organisation is so dependent and on the values which have been developed over the years of policy evolvement.

Chip Carter's family name was a big plus for him and it did activate his family to overtly support the FF organisation. 

The President's responsibility is, "...to serve as the spokesman for the corporation and to lead and promote new initiatives and programs." (By-Laws)

The President "...leads and directs fund raising activities for the Corporation."  (By-Laws)

While the Board has stressed that it does not want FFI dependent on large annual donations to balance its budget it does see donations as essential to the funding of new programmes.

[Noel responds with his comments on his criteria as they apply to Susie:]

2.

Susie is the daughter of the founder of the organisation.  As a school girl she was on the first exchange to Newcastle on Tyne so she would have had a second to none grounding in the basic elements and evolving operations.

She worked for eight years for the FFI in a full time professional capacity.  She was a Vice President, Director of Operations, Director of Bridge Builders, Regional Representative and Exchange Coordinator.  She has participated in and organised a host of exchanges, festivals and international and regional conferences.

Few if any could match that wealth of experience for one so young.

One of our problems over the last 3/4 years has been the great turnover in staff.  Very few staff have been with FFI for more than 2/3 years.  While it is understandable that junior staff move on to other positions the loss of senior staff with a long term knowledge of the organisation has had a debilitating effect on the service provided to members. 

I for one was looking for someone who understood the value of the club system which to me has been set aside, if not pushed aside, for many innovations which are costly but which in reality work against the bases of FFI bread and butter club exchanges and club membership maintenance and development. 

I believe that many clubs must be refurbished, because over the years membership has become older without the replacement of new members, particularly those from the 45/fifties age group who are so important to the long term viability of FFI.  

All of our research tells us that new club members travel on exchanges. If a club does not consistently attract new membership, club exchange numbers will be down.  At low cost, our Field Representative volunteers can advise clubs on the attraction and maintenance of membership numbers and the recruitment of exchange ambassadors.   

I also know that when clubs visit clubs in other countries these exchanges encourage return exchanges from those clubs.  One of our greatest problems is the lack of inbound exchanges to US clubs.  In its workshops in December 2001 the Board identified the need for an increase in the number of European clubs as a most necessary initiative.  The club survey also strongly supported this with 49% of clubs also making similar suggestions.  Twenty new European clubs would provide not only attractive destinations but also 20 European clubs making outbound exchanges of 2/3 phases.

Also, in category 2, I spoke of the Presidential requirement of effective written and verbal skills.  The President's responsibility is "...to serve as spokesman for the corporation and to lead new initiatives and programs." (By-Laws)

Susie Smith is extremely well educated in a wide rage of academic studies.  Since leaving FFI she has completed advanced post graduate studies in cross cultural psychology.  This background will be invaluable to her in her interaction with the variety of different cultures within the Friendship Force.

I have been assured by international and American contacts that her verbal skills are excellent.  I have had three e-mails from her since her appointment.  She is a fine writer and showed great responsiveness and psychological balance in her replies to me. Prior to your latest e-mail I forwarded to her our previous correspondence.  

While I did not wish to rain on her parade I did wish her to know that as well as the "dozens of phone calls, e-mails of support, suggestions, insights and more" that there are well meaning, concerned and positive club leaders, who would have questions put to them from club members, who question Susie's appointment.

When Susie takes up her duties in the new year I am sure she will be communicating with the total FFI organisation at earliest possible moment.

The President, "...leads and directs fund raising activities for the Corporation."  (By-Laws)

As I said in my previous letter, fund raising for new programmes is an essential part of the President's role.  Therefore I wanted the President to have professional practical experience as a fund raiser.  I did not want someone whom it was hoped would, through their personal contacts, be an effective fund raiser.

Also, during the Dallas Conference and in personal correspondence and general correspondence to the Board of Trustees, since Dallas, I have had a number of representations from club members volunteering to organise and participate in regional fund raising enterprises.  These offers have come from people who have a professional background in these matters.  For these enterprises to be successful they would have to be coordinated by a professional fund raiser at the Atlanta office. 

The viability of such a system of financial volunteers, similar to the Field Representatives who assist in the development of club management and exchange skills, could only be coordinated and evaluated by a very senior FFI manager with professional fundraising experience.

For the past two years Susie Smith has worked as a professional fundraiser for the Yosemite Fund, a San Francisco based non-profit organisation,  which raises approximately $4 million annually to benefit Yosemite National Park.  Susie has held the position of Administrative and Executive Affairs Manager.

"I believe our new President should have strong management skills because it is essential that the President is responsible for, ‘...all strategic direction and major policy opinions.' "  (By-Laws)

This is the category in which Susie's credentials were less clear cut for me.  I took into consideration the reservations club members had and undoubtedly there may have been others of the same opinion.  At the same time I have had excellent reports from other people some of whom previously worked with Susie.

Former Atlanta staff members and Australian contacts who had worked with Susie when she visited Australia in 1996 for the Australian Conference gave a glowing report on her personal relations skills.

If these differing evaluations of Susie's management capabilities were the only evidence I had available to me this category would have presented me with a lot of grey issues on which to make my decisions.

[Noel explains reservations about leadership abilities:]   I expect that these reservations would have been during the period of her Vice Presidency at Atlanta. What I did consider too was the circumstances of that period.  Susie was working directly with her parent who was the President of Friendship Force at that time.  It is a well appreciated fact that working for one's parent has a particular downside.  Caught between the parent's work authority and trying to maintain your own work relationships with the staff below, often takes skills which would test the most experienced manager.

If Susie had stayed in her position in FFI and looked to take over the Presidency of FFI after her Father's departure in 1999 I would have questioned such an appointment.  However Susie showed initiative to increase her education and get management experience away from Atlanta.

While attending graduate school she worked as an Administrative Manager for World Without War Council and as a Crisis Specialist for Managed Health Network.  Both of these are non-profit organisations.

Finally for the last two years Susie has been the Administrative and Executive Affairs Manager of the Yosemite Fund.   

I admire Susie's initiatives to seek experiences away from FFI.  Those five years have allowed her to develop further skills and experiences.  These recent experiences in fund raising, administration and cross cultural interaction will be invaluable in her role at FFI.

In making my decision on Category 1, I have come to the conclusion that the five years on the West Coast have matured Susie as a manager. This with her experience and knowledge of our organisation will fit her well to undertake the most difficult tasks ahead. 

[We hope that these comments shed some light on our new president, Susie Smith. We welcome her and offer our assistance as we can in leading Friendship Force in an effective manner.]

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