In addition to regular monthly board meetings, the RDIA board has been meeting weekly since December to discuss vision, mission, and values of the organization. We started by reading our current mission aloud at the beginning of the October and November meetings, then asking ourselves whether this was enough to guide our actions. It wasn’t. We wanted more, so we dove in.

As you might guess from the values statement below, posting minutes has grown directly out of our desire to make operations of the association transparent.

We have completed our weekly meetings, and we will put adoption of the new vision, mission, and values on our March agenda. Following soon after that, we intend to ask all RDIA members to help us determine how our mission should translate into strategies and goals for the association.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board of Directors discussion of values and mission
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Present: Leah Carter, Dennis Frederick, Rachel Aube (admin), Shayla Boyd-Gill, Lori Taylor, Ann-Marie Speirs, Jennifer Liptrot, Mandi Meidlinger. Notes: Lori Taylor.

Meeting began 1:05PM ET.

Admin. Leah introduced Rachel Aube, who will be providing administrative services for us.

Values. We approved four values during last discussion. Only transparency value left.

TRANSPARENCY VALUE FINAL DRAFT: As members, we are committed to clear and transparent communication within our association. As board members, we will provide transparent communication to our members regarding decisions of the board and operations.

Mission. Cari drafted a mission statement as well. Dave asked that we add “opportunities.” No objections to a final draft.

MISSION FINAL DRAFT: The Real Diaper Industry Association strives to make reusable cloth diapers the primary choice for babies’ parents and caregivers while emphasizing responsibility and sustainability through a focus on people, planet, and profit. RDIA members work toward these goals by providing service and opportunities through business education, industry research, collaborative marketing, and group benefits.

Vote to adopt all final drafts of vision, mission, and values at the next board meeting. Starting in March, we will have shorter, one-hour meetings twice a month.

Meeting ended 1:50PM ET.

I am delighted to introduce RDIA’s newest team member, Rachel Aube. Rachel joins us as an independent contractor providing amazing administrative assistance to the board and the membership at large. It was a long and remarkably competitive hiring process. But Rachel’s passion, dedication and diversity stood strong, making her a great fit to RDIA during this time of young growth.

Rachel is from the Niagara region in Ontario, where she attended Brock University for Business and then moved west to the University of Victoria, where she earned her BA in Humanities and Social Anthropology. With her business and research background, she was recruited by a top US manufacturing company to work in logistics and import/export compliance, as a project manager. After a few years in the Midwest, Rachel met her husband and moved to Los Angeles, where she became the Operations Director of government funded supplemental educational company called Educational Partnerships. Directing programs in the urban Los Angeles area taught her the importance of diversity, agency and relevant community development and how these factors should be applied to business models. Planning, research and development, operations, process improvement and strategy are her strongest professional skills.

Rachel is also the mother of two boys, ages 2 and 3, who were both cloth diaper babies. She has always been an advocate of the cloth diapering, and promotes their awareness and environmental value at every opportunity. She is very excited and motivated to do this important work in a professional capacity, and looks forward to offering her assistance and expertise to the Board and the RDIA as a whole.

Leah Carter
Better for Babies
Chair, Real Diaper Industry Association

The RDIA board of directors has been meeting monthly since September 2008. Since December 2009, in addition to monthly meetings, the board has been holding shorter weekly discussions to develop vision, mission, and values for the organization.

Among the values that we have been discussing is a desire to have decision making of the organization be transparent for members. In that spirit of transparency, we have decided to publish minutes of all of our meetings.

If you have any questions, please contact any board member. Board members are listed on the website, and all members’ contact details are listed in the member directory.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, February 3, 2010
Conference Call

Present: Dave Milligan, Leah Carter, Dennis Frederick, Lori Taylor, Shirley Murdock, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Jennifer Liptrot, Judy Aagard, Ann-Marie Speirs. Facilitating: Leah Carter, Chair. Notes: Lori Taylor, Secretary.

Meeting called to order 1:05PM Eastern Time.

Policy Vote. Board approved Membership Policy Regarding Closing or Selling of a Business.

Vacant Position. Discussed appointment to vacant diaper service board seat.

Director Farewell. For departing board members, we will now give them an opportunity to send a farewell message to members through blog & newsletter.

Emeritus Advisory Board. Board will create an advisory group of retired board members.

Nominations for Board. Make board recruiting suggestions to Lori, Cari, or Leah.

Administrative Assistant. Hope to introduce new admin assistant to board and members next week.

Annual Meeting. General consensus: no early meetings Thursday, meetings through the day, lunch social, meetings Friday morning. Dates: Thursday and Friday, October 14-15.

Board retreat. Thurs & Friday, August 26-27 in Atlanta.

Member dues increase. The only feedback received was very positive.

Proposed bylaw changes to take to members. Three potential bylaw changes: manufacturers of disposable products, Jr Member category, clarification of board eligibility. Also discussed potentially adding one board member in retailer category. Needs more discussion.

Member Conference Calls. Conference calls will be planned collaboratively after mission discussions are finished.

Project Proposals. Due March 1^st. May see 2-3 proposals of the five projects.

Real Nappy Week. How RDIA could be involved and what materials we could provide.

Diaper Comparison Calculator. Because of unhealthy competition and programming complexity, we are going to pass on this project.

Discussion of Vision / Mission / Values. Tabled until next week. Slow, thoughtful progress has worked out very well.

Meeting adjourned 3:03PM Eastern Time.