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AEU Weekly Update: November 2, 2023 Dear Members, Reimagining the Board of Directors Working Culture A newly-configured and greatly-expanded AEU Board of Directors presents us with an opportunity to imagine a different way of working together. The Assembly changed the Board’s membership from about a dozen elected Directors to about two dozen representative Directors. It’s no secret that Board relationships have been challenged in the past year as we’ve considered what a future together might look like. While this year’s Assembly proposals may have been new, the challenge of working together is not. For our Board to be working and functional, we must transform the culture of the Board by rebuilding trust and repairing working relationships. New working guidelines adopted by the 2023-24 Board of Directors support healthier relationships. These guidelines are informed by JEDI — Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Justice refers to an individual, collective, and systematic reparative process that leads to access without constraints.
Equity is a process that ensures all people have the opportunity to contribute, develop, and grow despite historical, structural, legislative, racial, and socio-economic inequities.
Diversity refers to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual identity/expression, familial status, age, disability, and socio-economic status
Inclusion is valuing, respecting, and encouraging the full participation of each individual in the life and leadership of the organization.

As an organization and Board of Directors, we have agreed to adopt these guiding principles and pledge that they will be reflected in our vision, mission, strategic planning, programming, governance, and board composition. Our commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion extends to our staff, members, and the programs we develop and support. As an organization and Board of Directors, we have agreed to adopt these guiding principles and pledge that they will be reflected in our vision, mission, strategic planning, programming, governance, and board composition. Our commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion extends to our staff, members, and the programs we develop and support. You can read more about JEDI here.

Featured Board Member of the Week Each week, we will introduce a new Board member so you can get to know them and connect with our new leadership.

Please meet Louise Jett (she/her), the new Board Director representing the National Leaders Council (NLC) and a member of the Ethical Society of St. Louis. A lifelong learner and an educator at heart, Louise teaches as a full-time faculty member at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois. She is also the coordinator of the Graphic and Web Design programs. Louise works in communication roles at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, the Westchester Community for Ethical Culture, and the Secular Student Alliance. She is also an American Ethical Union Leader-in-Training. Louise enjoys great conversations, creating digital illustrations, reading, listening to podcasts, playing video games, and spending time with her family. While all flavors of Humanism affirm that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape their own lives, Louise views Ethical Humanism as clear about the essential role that ethical principles play in human relationships. The more she became involved with Ethical Culture and the American Ethical Union, the more she saw the potential transformational impact we could collectively make. Louise says she had always tried to behave in a way that elicited the best in others and herself. Ethical Humanism just gives her the words to express how she has always felt in her heart. Our core values speak to her strong desire for social justice, and she wants to be a part of the ethical action that will make the world a more fair and equitable place for all people. Louise sees the American Ethical Union as an organization that can light the way as we transform our culture into one that embraces ethics and honors the dignity and worth of every person. Louise is fun-loving, kind, intellectual, and a deep thinker. She considers herself to have a good balance of the head and the heart. She brings to the AEU Board her skills in relationship-building, communicating, and innovating. Louise thinks outside the box and often bucks tradition, and she also brings marketing, photography, graphic design, and web development experience. Louise attended the multi-Society gathering this summer between the Ethical Society Mid Rivers, the Chicago Ethical Humanist Circle, and the Ethical Society of St. Louis. She loved the gathering and the fact that they were thinking locally, regionally, and nationally. She says it was a blast, but you don’t have to take her word for it, check out these awesome photos from the event.

In community, Khandra, Jé, Liz, and Anya Reach us at PresidentandVP@aeu.org.