Philadelphia Family Pride, a local nonprofit group for LGBTQ parents, prospective parents, grandparents and their children, expanded the board of directors for 2017 from 10 to 16 members at a meeting in late December. The new board was elected at the group’s annual New Year’s Day Brunch at Congregation Mishkan Shalom on January 2. The new board held its first meeting on January 29 and discussed goals and plans for the year.
Kelly Durand is in her second year as Board Chair. Vice-Chair Sandra Telep in her fourth year in that role
All of the 2016 board members carried over into 2017 including Gina Cline, who will now be the group’s Secretary, Sandy DiBerardino who will remain as Treasurer and commitee chairs Gregory Hedler (Membership) and Paula Estornell (Education and Advocacy). Other board members staying on will be in “Member at Large” slots, including Bryan Berchok, Gregory Yorgey-Girdy, Joel Nichols and Nijah Newton-Famous.
The board has six new members for this year: Phyllis Chamberlain, Events Planning Committee Chair, Terinae Holland, Fundraising Committee Chair and Members at Large Adam Podowitz-Thomas, Angel Brice, Ruby Augustus and Tariem Burroughs.
“With 100% retention from 2016 and more people interested in joining the board, we wanted to expand the number of board members. This will also allow PFP to hold more events and reach more LGBTQ parent communities in 2017,” commented Board Chair Kelly Durand.
For more information and a schedule of upcoming events, please visit www.phillyfamilypride.org and look for us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Philadelphia Family Pride’s annual membership meeting will take place as part of our January 2nd Potluck Brunch on Monday, Jan. 2nd, from 11am-2pm at Mishkan Shalom, located at 4101 Freeland Ave. in Philadelphia.

The annual meeting will consist of informal conversations about plans for 2017 and election of board members for the new year.
As required in our bylaws, this email serves as notice for the annual meeting as well as the seven day notice required before the board can vote to make the following changes to the bylaws.
In an effort to expand the amount of work PFP can take on, the current PFP board is proposing to amend the bylaws and expand the number of seats on the board of directors from the current 10 members to 16 members for 2017 and beyond.
All 10 board members from 2016 are interested in staying on for 2017. The returning board members are:
– Bryan Berchok
– Gina Cline
– Gregory Hedler
– Gregory Yorgey-Girdy
– Joel Nichols
– Kelly Durand
– Nijah Newton-Famous
– Paula Estornell
– Sandra Telep and
– Sandy DiBerardino
The new board members nominated for 2017 are:
– Adam Podowitz-Thomas
– Angel Brice
– Phyllis Chamberlain
– Ruby Augustus
– Tariem Burroughs and
– Terinae Holland
Note that while we are adding all six of the new board positions as “members at large” our plans are to pair people with committee chair positions to spread the responsibilities and knowledge of the organization.

Here are the details of the four proposed changes. (Find our current bylaws here.)

1. The last sentence of Article IV, Section 1 currently reads: “…The board shall have ten directors, directly elected in the following positions:”We propose changing that sentence to: “The board shall have sixteen directors, directly elected in the following positions:”

2. In the same section Article IV, Section 1, change “Member at Large (2)” to “Member at Large (8)”.
3. The last sentence of Article IV, Section 5 reads “Members at Large will be elected on a single ballot and all members will be eligible to vote for two candidates for that position. ”We propose changing that to read “…vote for eight candidates for that position.”

4. Article IV, Section 6 (Quorum) says that “At least five board members must be present for quorum to permit business transactions to take place and motions to pass.”We propose changing that to read “At least nine board members must be present for quorum…”
Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the Jan. 2nd brunch!Kelly
Kelly Durand
Chair, Board of Directors
Philadelphia Family Pride
kelly@phillyfamilypride.org

by Robin Matthews
(Sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things”):
Play dates at playgrounds, the conference in Philly;
A summertime picnic and New Year’s brunch when it’s chilly;
Camping with Pride and the fun that that brings --
These are my P-F-P favorite things.
Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein. My son has a little love affair going on with The Sound of Music so I kind of couldn’t help myself. But it is true – these are my PFP favorite things (well, except for the camping trip because I have never been on one, though I really want to and know that I would love it. You would too. Promise.)
When I joined Philadelphia Family Pride in 2008, the calendar was kind of spare. Frankly, there wasn’t much going on but I joined because as a pregnant queer mom who was sort of new to the area, it seemed like the thing to do. I have to be honest, though: I wasn’t very hopeful about the community I’d be able to build. I never imagined that five years later I’d find myself on the board with a dynamic group of people I’d call friends, planning an annual conference, a hugely well-attended annual summer picnic, repeated and successful play dates at Smith Playground, dinners out with other parents, ice skating outings, pottery-painting meet-ups, fall and spring hikes, mom and dad potlucks, trolley-riding in the Pride parade, and a zillion other exciting and fun outings.
PFP is where it’s at, you guys. And I’m not just saying that because of my current involvement. I’m saying it because it’s true and it surprised and delighted me. I have made good, close friends through PFP and can truly say that my life has been enriched because of it.
I’m excited to begin blogging for PFP in order to add to the sense of family and community I have seen grow around me in this organization. I expect this to be a space not only where we can relive the fun of events we’ve been at together, but also where we can talk openly about being queer families, raising (or wanting to raise) kids in Philadelphia. If you’d like to guest post on the blog and/or have an idea for a topic, please contact me at robin@phillyfamilypride.org. And in the meantime, stay tuned to this space. I’ve got lots to say.