The William Way LGBT Community Center’s board held elections at its Jan. 22 annual meeting at 1315 Spruce St.
Board members in attendance included secretary Eric Ashton, treasurer Ann Butchart, Al Besse, Emilie Carr, Ted Greenberg, Stephanie Gross, Leon King, David Michelson, Moira Mulroney, Matt O’Malley and Jeff Sotland.
The four open board positions were filled by re-elected board members Greenberg and Mulroney, and new members Adam Hymans and Laurie Ward.
Gross and Sotland were elected co-chairs during a closed board meeting before the annual meeting, replacing Carr and Michelson.
Chris Bartlett, the center’s executive director, reported that membership has grown by 143 people and seven new Cornerstone members since July.
Bartlett also said a resource development committee and a marketing committee have begun meeting, with the latter creating a new color scheme for the center’s promotional materials and a new newsletter design that is less text-heavy.
Bartlett described the center’s Senior Housing Project as a “key issue.” and said the board will decide if it’s moving forward on the project at end of February.
Bartlett said that, this year, the center will focus on contacting donors to thank them for contributions, reaching out to new organizations to increase occupancy rates, working with The Attic Youth Center to raise awareness among youth about the center, increasing physical accessibility and improving visibility of the center.
Bartlett also noted the center’s goals for 2011 include increasing membership by 200 regular members and 10 cornerstones, as well as undertaking a facility audit to evaluate building needs.
Director of center services Candice Thompson presented the program report and said the quarterly archive exhibit in 2010 brought in thousands of visitors. The center also doubled the number of oral histories collected in 2010 and hosted 20 gay-straight alliances.
Thompson said the center’s programming goals for 2011 include hosting more GSAs, training with more senior service providers, organizing archive exhibits for specific organizations and starting an online catalog for the center’s library, art collection and archive.
Regarding finances, Butchart reported the center had an actual revenue of $593,419 for fiscal year 2010 and a projected revenue of $662,496 for 2011. Expenses for 2010 were reported at $585,277; expected expenses for 2011 were reported at $662,496. It was also reported that 85 percent of the center’s revenue, which is attributed as coming from the building, events, individual donations, grants, programs and other miscellaneous sources, went to programming. Individual donations make up approximately one-fifth of all funding for the center.
The center spent $19,326 on capital improvements for fiscal 2010, which ended Sept. 30. The improvements included the installation of the first-floor bathroom, enhancements to the AIDSFund space and upgrades to the fire exit system, computer servers and PCs.
Board meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month, excluding August and December.
The next public board meeting is scheduled for March 22. Public board meetings will also be held on July 26 and Nov. 22.
For more information, visit www.waygay.org.