Dear SFWA members: I’m running for the position of President.

Dear SFWA members:

I’m running for the position of President. For four years, I was privileged to work with an extremely active and committed board, first as Secretary of SFWA and then as Vice President. I stepped down because I believe that new voices are vital to a service organization such as SFWA. But there are still things that I want to see accomplished, particularly trying to find affordable health care options for our members. I feel that after seven years off the board, the time is right to run again.

I believe that SFWA is an important organization and that volunteering for it is a way that we can each help to pay it forward by making the field stronger.  As a group, we can improve things within the industry in ways that individuals cannot, but we are dependent on our volunteers. We are dependent on you. I would very much like to help SFWA move forward so that it can continue to inform, support, promote, defend and advocate for our members.

Besides health care, what else am I interested in accomplishing?

• New opportunities to help our members diversify their income streams
• Strengthening the Nebula Conference as a professional development conference
• Protecting our rights for free speech
• Outreach to underserved and underrepresented writers in the SFF community
• Taking full advantage of our 501c3 status to apply for grants that will allow SFWA to be a more active and useful organization for our members

For those of you that I have not yet met, here is a little about me personally.

• I have been an Active member of SFWA since 2007 and served on the board from 2008-2012 as both secretary and vice-president
• In addition to my Board duties, I also supervised the team which built the website, sourced the membership management software, and researched options for health insurance.
• I was the 2008 Campbell Award Winner for Best New Writer, won three Hugo awards, and the RT award for Best Fantasy Novel.
• Besides writing, I am a professional puppeteer and voice actor and have worked in the arts for the last twenty-five years. I served on the Board of Directors and as the Vice President of UNIMA-USA, the American branch of the international puppetry organization.
• This background has given me experience in how effective non-profits function, as well as grant-writing and volunteer management.

Thank you for your consideration.