Are We There Yet?
Bylaws Changes
A real milestone in the merger timeline was reached June 17, 2020, when the NGS Board approved amendments to its bylaws to include merger details agreed to between the organizations. These new bylaws are now attached to the official merger agreement which will be approved by the NGS and FGS boards and the FGS membership.
The big news is, of course, that the new bylaws allow for organizations to be members of NGS. “Organization” is used as an umbrella word to include any society, association, library, archive, institution, group, or entity. As described in our last blog, organization members will be able to network and provide feedback to the NGS board through a new “House of Delegates,” also established in the amended bylaws.
Another new change to the bylaws is the creation of a new officer position, Vice President for Society & Organization Management, to be added to the NGS Board and Executive Committee. This person will be charged with providing “effective representation of member organizations before the Board.” This officer must be a member in good standing of a local and/or state organization.
To further encourage representation of organization members, the new bylaws require appointment of the chair or chair-elect of the House of Delegates to the Nominations Committee.
These amendments were formulated through a collaborative process between the FGS and NGS boards, attorneys for each organization, and the Transition Oversight Team, with the goal of codifying a “new NGS” that will fully support this objective added to the bylaws: “To strengthen and grow genealogy societies, family history groups, family associations, and other genealogical organizations."
The merger is not quite official, but approval of amended bylaws is a big step in getting there!
A real milestone in the merger timeline was reached June 17, 2020, when the NGS Board approved amendments to its bylaws to include merger details agreed to between the organizations. These new bylaws are now attached to the official merger agreement which will be approved by the NGS and FGS boards and the FGS membership.
The big news is, of course, that the new bylaws allow for organizations to be members of NGS. “Organization” is used as an umbrella word to include any society, association, library, archive, institution, group, or entity. As described in our last blog, organization members will be able to network and provide feedback to the NGS board through a new “House of Delegates,” also established in the amended bylaws.
Another new change to the bylaws is the creation of a new officer position, Vice President for Society & Organization Management, to be added to the NGS Board and Executive Committee. This person will be charged with providing “effective representation of member organizations before the Board.” This officer must be a member in good standing of a local and/or state organization.
To further encourage representation of organization members, the new bylaws require appointment of the chair or chair-elect of the House of Delegates to the Nominations Committee.
These amendments were formulated through a collaborative process between the FGS and NGS boards, attorneys for each organization, and the Transition Oversight Team, with the goal of codifying a “new NGS” that will fully support this objective added to the bylaws: “To strengthen and grow genealogy societies, family history groups, family associations, and other genealogical organizations."
The merger is not quite official, but approval of amended bylaws is a big step in getting there!
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