Dear Members,
Thank you for your patience over the past few months. It has been a roller coaster year, to say the least, particularly since autumn. We appreciate that many have raised concerns and spoke up—this organization is made of and serves the membership, and it is your voices that will help to facilitate transition and healing.
Running a membership-based nonprofit requires that decisions are made to protect the solvency of the organization and as much as possible with fairness to every member. This goal of fairness to every member may be the most important and the most difficult to achieve.
There is no doubt that when trying to strike the balance we make mistakes and can get it wrong. Regardless of the good intent from any board member or staff member, there are strong feelings of hurt, anger, and resentment about the process and communications over the past year. We deeply regret any pain or sense of injustice felt as a result of decisions that were made, and we continue to look for feedback and objective, constructive guidance on anything that should be revisited or rectified. To that end, we are pulling together an ad-hoc committee to review the actions taken and recommend any corrective next steps.
Specifically for the 2024 Symposium team, there were to be seven AHG staff and contractors, along with at least five on-site work traders, bringing the total to twelve people actively preparing to run the event. Amid the disaster, two of our core staff and some volunteers were in the hardest hit region and cut off from communication. The remaining seven team members came together to pull off an outstanding virtual event—especially our Symposium Coordinator, IT Coordinator, and Marketing and Work Study Coordinator. On behalf of all our membership we want to reiterate our tremendous gratitude to that diligent crew of paid staff and volunteers for their heroic efforts and commitment to AHG.
We understand that for some members, confidence, trust, and relationships within the AHG have been shattered by this past year, but we hope that instead of deserting this multi-decade old organization devoted to supporting herbalism, herbal education, and clinical herbalism that you will help us do and be better. There are many opportunities to get involved and contribute to a culture that reflects our mission. The AHG is you, our members, and we welcome you to take an active role in watching and supporting the organization.
After extensive discussion and review, we have compiled our additional findings in an outline form. If you would still like more details, please contact the office for a link.
Thank you for your engagement and continued support.