Thank you so much for your comment here, and please accept my apologies for the belated response!
I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. I can definitely sympathize with depression intersecting with org work, and I'm deeply sad that there were not better support systems in place for you. That sort of lack of mentorship and definition is something we're definitely aware of and working on now, but that doesn't retroactively fix the many negative or outright terrible experiences people have had.
That said though, the change is slow. As you're no doubt familiar, there's this constant feeling of things being on fire and needing immediate attention, which makes longer-term issues seem less urgent and easier to leave by the wayside. Of course, that's one hell of an optical illusion. These long-term structural issues are, in my opinion, the most on fire. Conflagration city!
It's not completely possible to set aside everything else and work on this, but it's been an explicit focus for me and other Board members this year to keep this issue in the forefront, check in regularly, drag up action items as often as we can, and work all year on defining roles and responsibilities. The latter in particular has, I think, been showing a lot of progress: pretty much every time we're run across a role or task lately, there have been cries of "document this! explain it!", and many of us are encouraging the same attitude in the committees we liaise. This is not the same as building solid mentoring and support structures, but I think it's an important step: lack of clearly set out job descriptions, expectations, and avenues for recourse are one of the things killing us right now. And we're definitely working on it.
Thank you again for commenting, and I hope you can feel better soon! Please let me know if there's any more information you'd like to ask about. If you're interested in sharing specifics about your experience, please feel free to message me and talk — it really helps to hear from people for whom the system didn't work so that we can improve it. No obligation at all, of course, but the offer is there if you're interested! Be well, and be welcome back if ever you want to return!
no subject
I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. I can definitely sympathize with depression intersecting with org work, and I'm deeply sad that there were not better support systems in place for you. That sort of lack of mentorship and definition is something we're definitely aware of and working on now, but that doesn't retroactively fix the many negative or outright terrible experiences people have had.
That said though, the change is slow. As you're no doubt familiar, there's this constant feeling of things being on fire and needing immediate attention, which makes longer-term issues seem less urgent and easier to leave by the wayside. Of course, that's one hell of an optical illusion. These long-term structural issues are, in my opinion, the most on fire. Conflagration city!
It's not completely possible to set aside everything else and work on this, but it's been an explicit focus for me and other Board members this year to keep this issue in the forefront, check in regularly, drag up action items as often as we can, and work all year on defining roles and responsibilities. The latter in particular has, I think, been showing a lot of progress: pretty much every time we're run across a role or task lately, there have been cries of "document this! explain it!", and many of us are encouraging the same attitude in the committees we liaise. This is not the same as building solid mentoring and support structures, but I think it's an important step: lack of clearly set out job descriptions, expectations, and avenues for recourse are one of the things killing us right now. And we're definitely working on it.
Thank you again for commenting, and I hope you can feel better soon! Please let me know if there's any more information you'd like to ask about. If you're interested in sharing specifics about your experience, please feel free to message me and talk — it really helps to hear from people for whom the system didn't work so that we can improve it. No obligation at all, of course, but the offer is there if you're interested! Be well, and be welcome back if ever you want to return!