Susan SK Kelly

(Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA)

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

OutReach. Education. Connection. CommUnity. Performing Arts in Action.

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

Member PMN for multiple years. Participate in Zoom Concerts. Provide Opening Peace Meditations. Collaborate with long time members & leaders. Encouraged youth participation through song & ASL sign language. Spread PMN Word/Music

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

Delegate for MD State Education Association (MSEA). SpecEd Liaison, Civil Rights & Work Family Committees. Autism BoD. Retired Advisory Council with MSEA. Program Coordinator School Based Services. Variety of positions MCCPTA Boards

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

Spread the JoyFullness of Creative Musical Endeavors in CommUnity. Enjoy collaborating and sharing ideas by working directly with others to achieve goals & outcomes to improve the mental health & wellbeing of others (self too) especially children, youth and their communities that support them.

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

Provide creative collaboration of ideas to build connections through a wider range of outreach opportunities with & for variety performing arts community’s.

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

Local Public Schools, Colleges & Universities in the DC/Baltimore areas. Performing Arts Educational Outreach Programs for Youth. Family members are deeply connected in the Musical Performing Arts Worlds.

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

Connecting Organizations/Creating Local & National Events/Calendar of Events

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

Managed Dept Budgets. PTSA Creative FUN Raising. Supported Grant Proposals

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

Use it lots for Social Justice Events/Posts. Current on almost all online platforms

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

Supported Grant Writing/FUNRaising Proposals

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

Know Educational Law/Special Needs Rights

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

SK Kelly is a certified Meditation & Yoga instructor who empowers hope filled peace & justice for myself and others. SpecEd certification PreK-12+

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

SK Kelly, is a Social Justice Literacy Peace Teacher & Educational Union Advocate in DC/Baltimore area Public Schools & Local Jails. She’s completed over 1,000 Hours of Yoga Teacher Training Certifications, incorporating Mindfulness, Meditation & Neuro Regulation Awareness. SK believes every human being has a right to shine their bright lights and share their unique gifts in a safe, supportive world which prioritizes creativity, health & wellness…

--------------------

Lucas Meyer

(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

I am not a musician myself, but I have made videos, done camera work, video editing, and run Zoom sessions to help choirs and musicians here in Vancouver and in PMN.  I have also helped various progressive organizations such as West Coast Labour Chorus [spouse, Susan Weber, is a member], Stop TMX (Environmental group), ACCESS TV (progressive TV show), Canadian Chinese Museum, the Vancouver Historical Society, etc.

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

I am not a musician, but do video and zoom sessions. I got involved with PMN through Susan’s choir (the Left Coast Labour Chorus), since then I have helped with Zoom Sessions and video work. I have helped out in several convergences and other PMN online functions.

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

When I was still working, I was on the Board of Directors of my Union and on my Union’s bargaining committee. Since then I was one of the main video editors at ACCESS TV and worked on their steering committee.

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

I want to continue helping PMN with Zoom sessions and other technical stuff.  However, I also want to help promote PMN world wide.  PMN is a progressive organization. I see the Trump/MAGA movement as threat to progressives and others within the US. It appears to me that progressives in the US could use some outside help.  However, Trump and MAGA are also creating some serious bad blood between the US and other countries. So outside connections and outside help may be drying up right when you need it.  Though I am not traveling to the US while Trump is in power, I would like to help PMN from outside the US in any way that I can. I can help with Zoom sessions and video. I would also like to advocate on behalf of PMN with people in other countries. As a foreigner myself, I may have an advantage...

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

1. Help support PMN through Zoom Sessions, OBS, video work.

2. Advocate on PMN’s behalf with people from Canada, the UK and other countries.

3. Help progressives in trouble in the US. My wife and I have a spare bedroom.

If a PMN member or some other progressive person that PMN knows about needs help, we can perhaps help them get out of the country quickly if necessary.

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

I have strong connections with Susan’s choir and other choirs and musicians in the Vancouver area. I am also involved with progressive parties such as the Federal NDP, the Green Party, Coalition of Progressive Electors, etc. And I have help numerous progress organizations, such as Stop TMX, the Chinese Canadian Museum, etc.

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

1. I could help increase membership in PMN by calling up other Canadians and other people around the world and encourage them to get involved with PMN.

2. I could perhaps help develop new ways of doing things on line.

3. I could liase with Choirs and Musicians in Vancouver, and perhaps organize local events.

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

I am not a finance guy.

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

I could call up other Canadians and other people around the world and encourage them to get involved with PMN. As being an old school guy, I would probably do the outreach by phone or email, but I could also use social media.

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

I could help organize benefit concerts.

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

Not a lawyer.

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

Planning, testing and rehearsing technical stuff: People often don’t plan, test or rehearse technical things or don’t know how. Then technical things go wrong during the performance. I can create technical plans and help organize and run technical tests and rehearsals. This will help reduce problems during the actual performances.

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

I would like to help.  If you want me to help on the steering committee, I would be delighted to do so.  However, if you don’t need my help on the committee that is fine too, I can help with Zoom sessions, organizing technical rehearsals, prompting PMN in other countries or other things as needed.  Being Canadian, I am not traveling to the US while Trump is in power. So it would be understandable if PMN wanted people on the steering committee who could be available in person at various times. On the other hand, having an outsider’s point of view on the steering could be valuable.  So I will let you decide...

--------------------

Chris "Oledude" Owens

(New York, New York, USA)

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

I have been writing and performing music “for causes” since I was in college.  My themes have included peace/opposition to war, equality/opposition to socio-economic inequality and inequities, human and civil rights.

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

I joined PMN in 1984 and attended every gathering through 1991.  I was married in 1990 and went on a PMN hiatus until after my second son was born, when I started to attend NY-based gatherings on an intermittent basis.  I re-connected more fully with PMN in 2019 and have been active since then.  During this past calendar year I was involved to a much greater degree and volunteered to join the Interim Management Team and fill a Steering Committee vacancy.

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

I served as a Trustee and then Chair of the Trustees for the non-profit Weeksville Heritage Foundation (Brooklyn, NY) during a difficult transition covering 1993 to 2003.  I was an officer of the non-profit Central Brooklyn Martin Luther King Commission (Brooklyn, NY) from 2013 through 2018.  I was a founding Board member of the Brooklyn Scholars Charter School, serving for four years (and as Board Treasurer).   I was the Executive Director of Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) from 2007 through 2010 and Interim Executive Director for the non-profit Advocates for Justice (NY, NY) from 2011 to 2013.  Most recently, I managed a 14-month leadership transition as Interim Executive Director for the Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub in Putnam County, NY and am a member of Interim Executive Solutions.

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

PMN is a special and important non-profit organization in a particularly difficult position during these wild times:  we provide a very intangible set of benefits to a very small number of people.  The competition for attention and resources that we always faced have only intensified during Trumpocracy 2.  As PMN’s leadership, SC members need to be more than well-meaning and committed; we need to be pushing changes and working harder to excite and mobilize current members while engaging new ones.  This was hard enough when we had a paid staff person.  As an all-volunteer organization, the challenge is even greater.

While we know that we can overcome and outlast the craziness of today, we must also embrace the reality that more experience with organizational management and technology is essential.  I want to help PMN make it through the storms. I have some relevant experience and I believe I can be of assistance through membership on the SC.

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

1.   To contribute to a meaningful Strategic Plan covering the next three to five years.

2.   To improve PMN membership engagement with PMN year-round.

3.   To improve PMN membership retention.

4.   To recruit at least 100 first-time PMN members within 24 months.

5.   To increase the ethnic, racial and age diversity of PMN’s membership.

6.   To increase PMN’s public profile as a “go to” organization for cultural connections and resources.

7.   To increase PMN’s industry profile as a “go to” organization for quality music pertaining to peace and social justice matters.

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

This is not my area of strength, though I do know some activists within the New York City area.  My network of non-PMN musicians is small, unfortunately.  I am working on changing that.  My life since 2019 has been more isolated in many ways (and not just because of COVID.)

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

As an IMT member, I am currently involved in this area primarily through my stewardship of the newsletter and work on the website (along with others).  I have proposed and will continue to propose ideas for increasing membership engagement through online events, in particular, as well as warm-weather outdoor events.

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

I am already involved with this area, to some extent, through IMT work.  I do not intend to sit on the relevant Standing Committee, however.

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

I am already involved with this area, to some extent, through IMT work.  I also have more direct (and painful) experience as someone who operated a “business” involved with social media work on behalf of singer-songwriters (including myself and Judy Gorman, amongst others).  I do not in any way present myself as an expert in this area.

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

I am not a grant writer, but I am a good grant proposal editor.  I am not a great “nuts and bolts” event organizer, but I ask good questions during the planning phases of events.  I am good at meeting with individuals and/or organizations with “major gift” potential; I did that sort of work with my other non-profits.

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

I am not an attorney.  I have, however, been exposed to business circumstances requiring input and I have worked with attorneys on non-profit matters.  Our current contracted attorney is someone I know and used to work with.

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

I am a quick study on many things technical.  I have experience building and operating databases.  I have done work on websites, some rudimentary graphics work for the Peoples’ Voice Cafe (NY), music production work on my own pieces as well as others, and very basic video production.

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

PMN is both a haven for peace-loving and socially-conscious artists like you and a launching pad for action.  Our Steering Committee is the heart.  Passion and the practical are chambers and PMN’s mission is being pumped to all.

No casual here!  Attending meetings and raising/giving money are the minimum responsibilities of an SC member.  If one can’t do those, then a better fit is serious volunteer – a critical artery.  PMN can make powerful changes over the next few years, but change must start today or our appeal to others – our health -- will diminish.  I have organizational experience.  Others will verify that I am someone who is present and active.  I will continue to be so and push my SC colleagues accordingly.  We can work better than we do now, love better than we do now, share more than we do now -- and we can make a greater impact.

--------------------

Rebecca Pomerantz **

(Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

--------------------

Erland Zygmuntowicz **

(New York, New York, USA)

What is your involvement in using music for progressive social change? (Focus on broad themes rather than specific projects.)

What is your history with Peoples Music Network so far – your experience at gatherings, collaborations, volunteer efforts, etc?

Do you have any experience serving in other organizations, especially as a member of a Steering Committee or a Board of Directors?

Why do you want to serve on the PMN Steering Committee?

What are your concrete goals in serving as a member of the PMN Steering Committee?

What connections with activists and musicians will you bring that can help PMN expand?

The PMN Steering Committee is especially seeking members with skills in the following areas. Below are the standing committees that Steering Committee members choose to take part in. Please note which committee would be your preference and what experience you have in these areas. “None” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but please consider mentioning areas where you have even moderate levels of skill.

Membership Engagement: Developing new ways for PMN to support our members in between gatherings, particularly online and through local events.

Finance: Advising on how funds are allocated, how money is managed, and how budgets are set in order to accomplish PMN’s mission. May involve applying past experience and/or curiosity to learn.

Social Media: Strengthening PMN’s networking and outreach capacity on social media platforms.

Fundraising: Writing grants, organizing benefit concerts and/or helping to inspire major gifts to support PMN’s work.

Legal: Advising the SC on legal concerns from setting contracts to navigating nonprofit tax law.

Other: Please tell us about other skills .

Please write a candidate statement about why PMN members should vote for you to serve on the steering committee. Feel free to excerpt from the responses above.  Candidate statements must be 150 words or less.

--------------------