Recently, in her Monday blog, Diahan  Southard reflected on leadership   by relating how she followed her sister to get to an unknown location.   Thanks to GPS, I hadn’t followed someone through traffic in years. That is, until I found myself trailing my sister through Seattle the old-fashioned way.   Not far into our drive, we got stuck behind a slow truck in the right lane. But my sister couldn’t pass without risking losing me, so I had to make the first move, change lanes, and then let her slide in ahead.   The rest of the way to our destination I thought about the seeming incongruity of this situation. I didn’t know where I was going, so I was following someone else. But then to get there most efficiently, I had to be willing to go first. I had to step out and actually make a space for my leader to lead. [1]   This is a profound way to view leadership, especially for someone who is...

Greetings, all.    Some years ago, we met at a fun Special Meeting at the Black Diamond Library to adopt new Bylaws for the South King County Genealogical Society. These were the result of months of hard work, reading, writing, and consulting with others about how to help our Society work more smoothly. For the most part, we've been happy with the outcome, although virtual meetings have no Black Diamond Bakery cookies 🍪. Updated  Revised Code of Washington The State of Washington updated the section of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) governing non-profits a couple of years ago, and our bylaws have not yet fully incorporated these updates.   While reviewing our governing documents, we have also come up with changes we think will make it easier to recruit leadership  and streamline the way things work for all Members . First, the Board has now adopted a few small changes in the Standing Rules , and new policies about conflicts of interest and records re...

Sankofa bird; public domain image. "The “Sankofa” is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana, generally depicted as a bird with its head turned backward taking an egg from its back. It expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress."  https://sankofa.org/about   Looking Back; Looking Forward Thoughtful week here. For many reasons, I've been looking back—and forward, and thinking deeply about both.  My term as president of the South King County Genealogical Society ends May 2025. If you are considering stepping up to ask the membership to entrust you with that responsibility, please contact me or another Board member for help to prepare you. Read about the duties of the President here .  Term Limits According to our Bylaws  Section 5.4.3: "No President or Vice President shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office." I want to choose how...

https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/ Takeaways from the National Genealogical Society 2022 Conference NGS2022GEN Souvenirs This past week, I attended the NGS 2022 Conference, the first in-person event since 2019. Because everyone was vaccinated and masking was universal, I was comfortable attending. After hearing Andre Kearns' [1] keynote at the NGS Banquet Friday night, I am so proud to be an NGS Member, both personally and as Delegate for our Society. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee [2] which Kearns chairs is doing the work necessary to come to terms with the exclusionary past of the NGS, and to begin instead to tell a far more complete story of our families' and nation's past. His story about searching his son's lineage back to 1619 and a free man of color was inspiring.  If Kearns could find those scarce, precious documents and prove that case, then there is hope for all of us researchers. If Harvard and Georgetown Universities can confront their p...