The Board’s Work: Revisiting the Food Co-op’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws

by Monica le Roux, Board Treasurer

As many of you know, in 2018-2019 the Food Co-op board led a process to refresh and revisit our Mission and Values statements. In 2019-2020, we have been undertaking a similar process with our Articles of Incorporation and our Bylaws. Our Articles of Incorporation are our organization’s contract with the State of Washington, and our Bylaws are our contract with our member-owners, and both play a valuable role in shaping our how our organization acts and what it does. As such, it is extremely important that these documents be a model of clarity, brevity, and transparency.

Our process for revision of the Bylaws has thus far involved consultation with an expert on co-operative bylaws and the creation of a new working draft. This draft is currently being extensively reviewed to make sure it is in accordance with our state’s laws and our co-op’s needs. Our Articles of Incorporation are also being reviewed with the same questions in mind.

The next step in our process (and a chance for you to get involved!) is a series of forums where member-owners and stakeholders can ask questions and give feedback. The final steps (most likely in August and September) will be a vote of the board of directors to approve the new Bylaws and, if any changes are deemed necessary to the Articles, a vote of the membership to approve those changes (as is required by state law). Dates and more information on these events will be posted on the Board’s board in the store in the next few weeks.

If you have questions or would like to participate in our upcoming forums, please contact the board through boardassistant@foodcoop.coop. And if you’d like to learn more about how the board does its work, we welcome you to attend our online board meeting on the first Tuesday of every month, starting at 5:30pm. Please contact the board assistant for help with attending our board meeting remotely.

Thank you for your interest!