The Cooperative will have nine Stewards [otherwise known as Board Members, but we refer to them as Stewards]. People’s Spotlight Stewards have been appointed for a 1-year term or until 01/01/24. The Stewards of People’s Spotlight: [insert graphic with photos and descriptions of each person]

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Steward Appointment

Stewards have been appointed by the cooperative founding members in order to set People’s Spotlight up for success. The Stewards were selected based on several principles: 1. You are known and have proven to exercise care, loyalty, and good faith in your actions. 2. You are reliable, responsible, and a strategic thinker. 3. You are well-known and/or have had a large impact on the theatre community. 4. You have experience with successfully governing large-scale projects and communities. In January 2024, People’s Spotlight will hold their first-ever Steward Appointment voting period for members to self-elect and Stewards to re-submit their interest to run for the opening Steward seats. There will be 9 Stewards in total. The process will be fair, just, and outlined by the Stewards with a proposal to the community prior to January 2024.

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Steward Responsibilities

There are some more mundane aspects to becoming a Steward that, while important, should not detract from the creativity and authority you wield as a Board Member. The first is a basic Fiduciary Duty. As a Steward, you have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the LCA and its members. This means that you must exercise care, loyalty, and good faith in all your actions. Simply put, we cannot use the People’s Spotlight LCA in a way that would harm the members for our own gain. We are forming this cooperative to effectively create a “hivemind” of brilliant people interested in the next steps for theater and other forms of creative expression. The Stewards are responsible for nurturing that hivemind and harnessing its energy to successfully carry out the mission of People’s Spotlight.
  • Have oversight on cooperative success (operational, financial,managerial)
    • Develop and implement strategic plans including goal-setting,directional, and creative processes
    • Appoint necessary roles and committees to perform day-to-daytasks/operations (ie. CEO, etc)
  • Oversee and manage diligent financial operations (strategic andday-to-day)
    • Monitor budgets and develop processes for financial decisionmaking
  • Participate actively in governance
    • Establish and carry out the proposal and governance process
    • Act accordingly on passed proposals
    • Ensure the LCA operates in compliance with its articles oforganization and bylaws
  • Ensure the safety and fair treatment of People’s Spotlight members
    • Act in the best interest of the members
    • Establish necessary protocols to ensure members are adhering tobylaws, articles, and cooperative codes of conduct

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Steward Benefits

To be a Steward is to be an integral piece of the success of this cooperative. The role of a Steward serves a peer-to-peer collaborative function while also providing the necessary oversight and guidance needed to move People’s Spotlight forward. The Stewards will not only ensure the financial success and execution of productions but will also be a driving force to build a sense of community and mutual support among members. Community Leadership Serving as a Steward will provide opportunities to meet and collaborate with other professionals in your field whom you may not have interacted with in any other setting, which can lead to valuable connections, collaborations, and insights that you wouldn’t find anywhere outside of the People’s Spotlight. We are aiming to form a counterculture in theater, and hopefully do well and do good. Serving in a novel structure like the People’s Spotlight LCA, and taking the ride to wherever it leads, is going to be an incredibly interesting journey. Shared Ownership As a member of the LCA, you have shared ownership in the business and are entitled to a share of the profits. The goal of the LCA model is to share the benefits of ownership. Dividends from an LCA are referred to as Patronage, which is tied to the contributions members make. By making a significant contribution as both a Steward and member, you will be entitled to the appropriate proportion of dividends. You may also be entitled to a stipend depending on the financial position of the cooperative. This process will be outlined here.

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Steward Termination

In January 2024, People’s Spotlight will hold their first-ever Steward Appointment voting period for members to self-elect and Stewards to re-submit their interest to run for the opening Steward seats. There will be 9 Stewards in total. The process will be fair, just, and outlined by the Stewards with a proposal to the community prior to January 2024. Removal On consensus, Stewards can elect to remove a member of the board. The process of removal will be fair, just, and outlined by the Stewards. Reasons for removal may be:
  • Non-contribution and lack of meaningful participation in Stewardactivity
  • A lack of commitment to Steward responsibilities
  • A violation of the Code of Conduct
  • A violation of the member terms and agreements
Replacement At any point, a Steward can elect to leave their Stewardship position given 30 days notice to the Steward board using a process identified by the Stewards.