Sisters Of The Road bids farewell to Executive Director Monica Beemer

(July 17, 2013) – Sisters Of The Road is saying goodbye to Executive Director Monica Beemer and hello to collective management. Monica’s last day as staff at Sisters Of The Road will beAugust 30th, 2013. A party in honor of Monica and in celebration of Sisters’ collective will be held Saturday, August 10th, 2013 from 5-7:30pm in Sisters Of The Road’s Cafe (133 NW 6th Avenue, Portland).    Monica has been a Director at Sisters Of The Road since joining the staff in 2001, and Executive Director since 2005. For the past twelve years, Monica has given her heart, voice and time to Sisters and its community, and has helped bring financial stability even through the recent recession.    As a representative of Sisters, Monica has spent much time and energy in movements to end poverty and homelessness. She is the Co-Chair, with Marian Baker Kramer, of The U.S. Assembly to End Poverty; is a founding board member of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), and was formerly on the national Coordinating Council of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).    Monica has also received many accolades for her amazing work at Sisters. In 2010, she was awarded the Red Dress Society’s Humanitarian Angel Award. In 2009 she won the Extraordinary Executive Director of the Year Light A Fire Award from Portland Magazine. Monica has also been featured in articles in Yes! Magazine and the Portland Business Journal.   In the past several years, Monica has supported other staff at Sisters in learning and developing a collective management structure, effectively writing herself out of a job. Teams at Sisters have been collectively managing themselves for around two years, and the cross-organizational Admin Team has taken on general oversight and coordination of the organization’s planning and budget. Any co-manager at Sisters can join the Admin Team for a 2 year term.    Sisters is now ready to take the final step of eliminating the executive director position. Collectivity will return the 33-year-old nonprofit to its roots—for many of its early years, Sisters was run as a collective. Collectivity supports opportunities for all staff to learn greater skills and have broader involvement in decision-making and visionary work. Collectivity will also allow Sisters to work towards dismantling oppression by valuing different life experiences and identities equally, in contrast to hierarchy which often perpetuates cycles of privilege and oppression.    Monica leaves behind an organization with solid financials and management. Says Monica, “The staff…are managing Sisters in a very effective and dependable way.  It is some of the best management I have seen at any organization. The participation, investment and learning at all levels are profound. We are really excited about what is happening within management at Sisters.”     Sisters’ staff invites the Portland community to join them in celebrating this exciting transition on Saturday, August 10th from 5pm-7:30pm in Sisters’ Cafe (133 NW 6th Avenue, Portland). Entertainment will include Mic and Jana Crenshaw and Leapin’ Louie Lichtenstein.