Division Bylaws
2025 Proposed Amendments to Division Bylaws
Current Phase of Bylaws Amendment Process
The Division has initiated the process of amending our governing bylaws. On April 18, 2025, the Executive Committee of APA's Women & Planning Division approved a schedule for reviewing, receiving comment on, and considering amending the Division's Bylaws. We are currently in the fifth phase of this process: Member vote to adopt proposed Bylaws.
Current Division members in good standing Votes may cast their vote beginning August 1 through August 15.
2025 Amendments: Purpose & Need
Amendments are proposed to help WPD meet the following requirements and objectives:
- Comply with APA model bylaws and review requirements.
- Right-size Division’s leadership structure and approach in response to significant membership growth over the last 10 years.
- Position Executive Committee members as “team leads,” rather than individual agents responsible for all duties and responsibilities.
- Provide the Executive Committee with the support, capacity, and people-power required to fulfill the Division’s Mission and successfully carry out the Annual Work Plan.
- Resolve critical capacity, resource, and service gaps experienced by the Division’s elected leaders, volunteers, and members.
- Formalize and implement a succession strategy strengthening the Division’s leadership pipeline.
- Mitigate the difficulty of recruiting and retaining volunteer leaders by expanding leadership roles and mixing elected and appointed positions.
- Lower volunteers barriers to entry by providing more opportunities with less formal commitment.
| Required Revisions | Discretionary Revisions |
|---|---|
| Standardize language, offices, and rulemaking. | Establish a standing FAICP Nomination Committee led by the Vice-Chair. |
| Differentiate required “Officers” (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past Chair) from the Division’s discretionary elected and appointed leadership positions. | Establish a standing Sponsorship Committee led by the Vice-Chair. |
| Update titles of two required officers (Secretary and Treasurer in lieu of Director of Administration and Director of Finance) | Establish a standing Communications Committee. |
| Restructure requirements related to the Division’s non-officer leadership positions. | Establish a standing Resources & Programs Committee. |
| Formalize the Division’s standing committees. (Note that the Division can still establish ad hoc committees, as needed.) | Establish a standing “Girls Who Plan” Career Exploration & Youth Engagement Subcommittee of the Resources & Programs Committee. |
| Establish a standing Nomination Committee to oversee Division elections. | Establish a standing Members & Partners Committee. |
| Establish a standing Students & Emerging Professionals Subcommittee of the Members & Partners Committee. | |
| Allow the Annual Business Meeting to be conducted virtually. |