Roles & responsibilities

Membership

As a member-run organization, we believe that advocating for radical democracy requires modeling it in our own organization. Therefore, our members are the driving force behind all that we do. To be considered a member of Suffolk County Democratic Socialists of America, an individual must broadly identify as a socialist and a resident of Suffolk County, NY.

To be a Member in Good Standing, a member must have submitted their information online or through mail to the national organization, and have their dues paid in full*.

Members in Good Standing can hold co-chair positions in Committees and Working Groups or officer positions on Steering Committee - and the combination of co-chairs and Steering Committee officers are what we call SCDSA Leadership.

Members in Good Standing can also vote in chapter elections for those positions as well as any other SCDSA statements or support actions Leadership asks membership to weigh in on.

*Dues are determined on a sliding scale based on income, and no member will be turned away due to an inability to pay. If you believe you will have any difficulty paying dues, please check out the dues waiver form.

SCDSA Leadership

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee (SC) -- when at full capacity can be up to six- or seven-person committee, plus representatives from any affiliated branches and YDSA chapters -- facilitates the daily operations and functioning of the chapter. On a full SC positions are two Co-Chairs (one of whom cannot self-identify as male), a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Membership Coordinator, and one or two Organizers (as capacity allows).

If the chapter is not able to fill all the positions of SC the key roles to have in SC are the Treasurer, Secretary, and a Membership Coordinator.

The SC is elected for a term of one year every September, is subject to recall by the membership, and (if at full capacity) is required to have at least three non-male members. The SC are also granted the power to nominate ad-hoc members to the SC who shall be confirmed by the general membership (or dissolved if vote does not pass).

The general expectations of the SC members are to support and participate in meetings related to the general activities of the chapter (including both internal Leadership meetings and other chapter meetings), provide mentorship to rank and file members and develop new leaders (organize yourself out of your role!) SC members are highly encouraged to participate in the activities of the working groups and other committees.

Leadership meetings are open to Steering Committee members and Committee and Working Group co-chairs, others (not directly in SCDSA Leadership) can attend by invite if agreed on ahead of the meeting date by a majority of SCDSA Leadership.

In addition to positions on SC, any Member in Good Standing* may be a leader in the chapter by being elected to chair/co-chair a SCDSA Working Group or Committee.

SC and Cm/WG chairs combined make up what is called SCDSA Leadership.

(While SC may have additional administrative access and tasks, chapter leadership decisions should be discussed and decided on by as many chapter leaders as possible, as well as shared with general members for decisions requiring a vote)

*If you are unsure of your membership status, please email (membership.suffolkdsa@protonmail.com)

If you need to familiarize yourself with the active Committees and Working Groups of SCDSA please consult the Org Chart.

Committees

Committees (Cm) are defined as bodies that support the basic functioning of the chapter. Committee leadership shall be elected by the members of SCDSA or their respective Committee (as deemed appropriate), with the exception of the Communication Committee, Finance Committee, and the Membership & Outreach Committee which are chaired by the Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Coordinator respectively. (in the case of the Membership And Outreach Cm - it is suggested to have an additional co-chair responsible for the external *outreach* aspect of the Membership And Outreach Cm).

Working Groups

Working Groups (WG) are bodies that support the political goals of Suffolk County DSA. Working Groups can be proposed by any member and will be approved if the proposed working group has the support of at least two other members.

*If Leadership is at full capacity* Every Working Group should be assigned an Organizer or another member of Steering Committee who will ensure that the Working Group has the support it needs from Steering and is operating effectively.

Branches and YDSA

Location-based branches and YDSA chapters in Suffolk County may affiliate with Suffolk County DSA; every affiliated branch and YDSA chapter shall (as their own capacity allows) have a representative on SCDSA’s Steering Committee.

Stony Brook University YDSA

The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) are the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The Stony Brook University YDSA chapter was founded during the 2017 Spring Semester. Our purpose is to spread our commitment to social, economic, and environmental justice across campus as well as foster a sense of community. We are a unity of undergraduates and graduates that reject private profit, exploitation of labor, race and gender discrimination, environmental destruction, and violence in defense of the status quo.

WG and Cm Co-chairs should be in communication with and also have report-backs with Steering SC at least monthly; we leave it to the co-chairs to decide who attends these but would love if all leadership can make these meetings.

General report-backs for Cm and WG (which can just be your typed up meeting notes!) should be put into the appropriate area of the SCDSA Drive (if you need access to the Drive, let someone on SC know; if you do not see an appropriate folder to put your reports in let the Secretary know and they will make one).

• 1. • • To keep things organized and accessible we have a folder for Meeting Spreadsheets for all WG/Cm to put their meeting agendas/notes.

         • • These spreadsheets can also help you keep track of meeting roles (such as the meeting facilitator and note-taker); you should try to switch co-chairs who facilitate and note-take as much as possible and whenever you can solicit those in the meeting to step up as STACK moderator and/or time-keeper roles when possible in your meetings to get more folks engaged!

       • The contents of a report-back do not need to be overly extensive or of any certain length, but should include: any activities lead or participated in on behalf of the chapter (such as: representing Suffolk DSA at an event, talking to a community leader, etc, any correspondence or participation in coalition work.)

       • Here is a BLANK SCDSA Agenda Template to use in your meetings if you need one; make a copy and feel free to modify as needed. *You don't need to use this template but we do highly suggest you have an agenda that works for you/your Cm/WG and leaves room for action items to assign*

• WG/Cm co-chairs are responsible for calling and holding regular meetings and keeping fellow SCDSA Leadership folks appraised of any relevant actions and information. The WG/Cm co-chairs are responsible for updating their own shared calendars with any cancelled events, and (for digital meetings) making sure meeting links/agendas/physical location (and any specific directions) are shared when necessary, and in a timely fashion.

  1. • Co-chairs should add events to their own SCDSA Google calendars, which are linked to the main Suffolk DSA Calendar, or they can also use the Calendar Submission Form to add their events.

       • Helpful advice can be found on the Events & Meetings page.

         • And "How to Hold & Facilitate A Meeting" and "How to Plan An Action" pages have even more additional info.

• Please don't hesitate to reach out to your fellow comrades in SCDSA Leadership -- we want to help support each other, so let us know how!

Communication

The Communications Committee is chaired by the Chapter’s elected Steering Committee Secretary, who is tasked with developing internal/external chapter communications workflows and policy. Committee members should be representatives from other subgroups in the chapter. Communications work is organized into these categories: Internal/External, Graphics, and Press relations.

To help facilitate external Comms work -- such as emailing our general or membership list or posting on any/all of the chapter social media accounts -- all requests should go directly through the Comms Request Form, and any events should be added to the Suffolk DSA calendar (either directly through the relevant Cm/WG's leadership or via the Calendar Submission Form).

If you are interested in using your communications skills to support the chapter, please reach out for more information about how to get involved!

• Email: SuffolkCountyDSA@gmail.com with the subject line "COMMUNICATIONS CM"

HERE you will find the Secretary overview document (with more details on specific roles/responsibilities). This is a living document and as such was thought to be better served as an external link from this manual at this time.

Community & Culture

• • We plan fun social events so we can build camaraderie with each other. In our experience, we are more likely to work well together, whether in a meeting or in the streets, if we know each other. This committee plans roughly two social events a month: one that is family friendly, and another that is more adult oriented (typically a pub night). Join us if you are outgoing and enjoy planning events!

Finance

• • We track, store, and collect socialist cash to kick out capitalist trash. The finance committee is chaired by the Socialist Cash Chief (Treasurer) of the chapter. Our biggest responsibility is fund-raising. Our job is to, like communist Tuscan Truffle Hogs, sniff out where socialist cash might be hiding so that we can add it to our class-war chest. After raising it, we look after said cash in the chapter bank account, budgets, and all that monetary jazz. We are also in charge of maintaining and setting up our tax status. Join us if you have a knack for raising/spending money, numbers, or spreadsheets.

  • Please also see the Fiscal Policy for more detailed use of chapter funds.

Membership & Outreach

• • The Membership & Outreach Committee is chaired by the Membership Coordinator on Steering Committee, who maintains the internal workings of the chapter's digital membership database as well as tracking attendance from meetings. The Committee should ideally have one (or two) additional co-chair(s) responsible for the Outreach (external) portion of the committee; this includes things like tabling at events, as well as implementing the Member Mobilizer System which is a tool for building an active and participatory membership. The system is meant to deploy members as internal ‘mobilizers’ who connect other members to resources and pathways to action. Members who want to become outreach mobilizers can help us build participatory democratic structures within SCDSA.

HERE you will find the Membership Coordinator overview document (with more details on specific roles/responsibilities). This is a living document and as such was thought to be better served as an external link from this manual at this time.

Political Education

• • The Political Education Committee organizes and manages educational events for chapter membership as well as the broader community. The co-chairs will schedule and preside over meetings of the political education committee, internal and external political education events, and act as a liaison between the political education committee and chapter leadership. In addition, the chairs will ensure that topics for all political education events are selected through a democratic process by members of the local chapter. Political education events will include discussion groups, distribution of literature, film screenings, speaker presentations, and other events directed towards refining the praxis of the chapter.

Fostering An Internal Mutual Aid Network

SCDSA MAWG approaches internal mutual aid with an eye towards fostering group cohesion and creating social safety nets for all comrades in our organization in order to better equip ourselves for our chapter’s work. We do this with the goal of identifying and meeting both the specific needs of the chapter at large and of members individually.

External Mutual Aid Projects

(working in coordination with specific chapter Cm/WG projects and/or support for existing community efforts)

At its core this working group believes that external mutual aid projects are guided not only by a desire to relieve the material pressures of a capitalist system but also help inspire people to imagine and create radical alternatives for a new social, economic, and political reality. External mutual aid projects spring forth not only from a critique of capitalism, but also a vision of a world beyond capitalism. We promote the idea that it is the responsibility of the community to ensure the wellbeing of each of its members.