(Because of recent controversy surrounding the Winslow St. Fund, I have taken it upon myself to do an exhaustive historical background study of the situation. I have one of the best collections of files, board meetings, and significant letters, that pertain to IFGE. My findings are based on these documents and interviews with, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, Yvonne Cook, Laura Caldwell and Laura Skaer.)
The time line starts at Fantasia Fair, in 1989. There is informal discussion between Merissa and some of the Fair's attendees. Fundraising for IFGE becomes a topic of discussion. Interested individuals decide to meet and talk fund raising. Joni Chrissman met Merrisa during this weekend for the first time. She was basically told to put together a Fundraising Committee, and summit ideas to the Board. This information is confirmed by a letter written to Merissa from Joni in May of 1990. The board meets in Pittsburgh at the Be All, and appoints a Fundraising Ad Hoc Task Force.
The fall Executive Directors Committee meeting was held in Privincetown on 10/20/90. Joni Chrissman, as the chair of the Ad Hoc Fundraising Task Force was asked to address the Committee. She describes the three days of meetings, outlining the goals, and speaks about the different committee members and the jobs they are each taking on. She says the committee feels we should start a separate fund for large contributions, and it was agreed upon, that they liked Merissa's name suggestion of "The Winslow Street Fund". Dana Houston and Jane Fee (as Marketing Chair) steps into the conversation. Dana says, "It is important to clarify that ........the Winslow Street Fund will be an entity within IFGE, like the Christine Jorgensen Fund."
At the 2/24/91 IFGE Executive Directors Meeting in San Antonio, Laura (Skaer)Smiley (speaking for Joni), explains in detail a report issued by the Ad Hoc Fundraising Committee. Their goal was to kick off the fundraising by presenting this report to the public at a luncheon during the Convention in Denver. This report was later outlined in Tapestry #58 on pages 53 & 54. (If you read this, remember, Tapestry condensed an 11 page report into 2.) The report specifically states, that "The Winslow Street Fund is a permanent endowment fund. The income from the fund will enable IFGE to meet its current and long term financial needs." Wendi Pierce asked who will manage the fund. Laura states, "It will be coordinated by the Finance Committee. One of the things we're going to present to the Board in Denver is a motion to make the members of this fund raising committee be the initial trustees of the Winslow Street Fund."
For your information, the original Task Force was comprised of Dana Lynn Houston, Laura Smiley (Skaer), Michelle Miles, Catherine Ashley, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, Yvonne Cook, and Joni Chrissman. They were assisted on occasion by Jane Fee and Kerri Reader from the Marketing Committee.
On March 22, 1991, a letter is sent by Joni Chrissman, as the Chair of the Committee, to the directors, along with the eleven page "Special Report" on the IFGE and Winslow Street Fund. Again, the report clearly stated that, "The income from the fund will enable IFGE to meet its current and long term financial needs."
No place does it ever state that the funds may be used or will be used for anything but the purpose of maintaining IFGE. The word community is used in certain phrases, but remember, the forming of IFGE was a community effort, and the spoken word of the community, was IFGE. Not until other groups started forming did it become a "us and them" situation.
At the Board meeting on April 14, 1991, the first report is from the Treasurer. Discussion moves to fundraising, and Laura Skaer brings up the need of a full blown audit. After much discussion and no conclusions, Wendi tables the discussion and refers it to the Finance Committee to have it resolved at the June Executive Committee meeting.
Later, Laura again takes the floor, as the spokesman for the Fundraising Committee. She starts off stating that the committee members besides herself, are now Joni Chrissman, Chair, Michelle Miles, and Dana Houston. Catherine Ashley has resigned. There were other names mentioned in the report, of people who were working with the committee. They were Jane Fee, Dawn Law, Kerri Reader, Wilma Young, Abby Sapen, and Chris Howey. The report was very lengthily describing the fundraising plan, and at the end there was Applause. I assume this means the report was excepted by the board, even thought it is never officially voted on. It's important to note, that there is no mention of any motions or request from the Committee stating who would actually be the Trustees of the Winslow Street Fund.
Please note that up to this point, Winslow Street is still a sinking fund for IFGE, but many of the original committee members have changed, and with new members comes new ideas. The vision of the original planners of Winslow Street is becoming vague, and the committee is slowly redirecting the purpose of being.
At the 10/22/91 meeting in Provincetown, Laura Smiley replaces Joni Chrissman as chair of the Fundraising Committee, and is now in the driver's seat.
By the time we reach the October 3, 1992 meeting in Atlanta, Laura Skaer gives a report on the Winslow Street Fund where she states (for the first time), that the independence of the Fund Trustees and the perception of the same by the overall community is vital. The Trustees need to be independent of the Board.......the head office and its officers and the Fund must be recognized as a community fund. (Because Merissa and Yvonne is out of the "fundraising loop", they are not present to remind this committee that IFGE is the community's organization, and part of their directive is to watch and maintain community funds.) She then proceeds to gives guidelines for grants and talks about investment of the Funds. Continuing, she proposes the Chair of the Fund Raising Committee will automatically be a member of the Winslow Street Fund Board of Trustees, and will recommend to the IFGE Board the appointment of the other trustees. These trustees in turn will elect their own chairperson. This was voted on and received unanimous approval of the twelve attending board members.
Right after this meeting, Laura Skaer started to loose interest, and dropped out of IFGE within the next year. I reviewed the next two years worth of minutes (except the spring meeting in 1993), and I could not find where the Chair if the Fundraising Committee ever actually brought to the board, a list of candidates for Winslow Street Trustees for approval. I also have not missed a meeting since the winter of 1993 and I do not recall ever voting on that issue.
I have came to the conclusion that the Trustees of the Winslow Street Fund, with the possible exception of one individual, did not commit any wrong doing, nor did they in anyway jeopardize the trust behooved to them by IFGE or their constituents. On the contrary, not only did they act responsibly, but I feel they should be commended for their actions. They took a stand and made a controversial decision that pulled IFGE from a possible bankruptcy situation. They acted within the guidelines of the spirit of the original Ad Hoc Committee that formed the Fund in the early 1990s.
They used the community's money to help the community. IFGE is, and always will be the community's main source for gender education, and IFGE is the community's effort to do something for itself.
Over the years the Winslow Street Fund has been very well managed. Grants have been given to many new gender ventures that have started a ripple effect, returning benefits many fold to the community. Monies have been wisely invested generating high return that added to the Fund's balance. Let's face it. The Winslow Street Fund is Laura and Abby's baby. No one else watches their child like a mother. They have nurtured, fed, and watched over it since almost it's beginning. No one else in this community is better suited to be called a Trustee of Winslow Street.
There has been some outcries from the usual IFGE critics, demanding resignation and such, but we should not let their opinions cloud our decision making process. In a time where everyone is merging and combining efforts, why would we even consider splitting off one the few success stories of the gender community. We all know the Winslow Street Fund has only been a success because IFGE has kept it under it's umbrella all these years. What real purpose could it serve to remove it now, except to quiet a few vocal fans, most that have never even given to the Fund.
-- Linda Buten
February, 1998