The Mankind Project Florida Area Blog is officially launched! Use this blog to post comments, updates, events, etc. Be sure to use one of the most closely matched categories, to keep your post searchable and relevant.
INCREDIBLE! There are So Many great activities going on across the world and across Florida in MKP. I could write a dozen pages but few would read them. So I opt to have a 2 page summary in order to communicate the path forward and engage more warriors to step up for the many opportunities. MKPUSA NATIONALLY: The West (NorCal, etc.) is on fire with enrollment for NWTAs with several per year and enrollment on 3 NWTAs ongoing simultaneously and the NWTAs becoming filled weeks out. AND men hearing about NWTAs from Oprah, Facebook, or other online info and signing up! Annual Membership donations have become the primary source of income for many MKP Areas, allowing some communities to lose money on some events and trainings in order to offer scholarships and have more men become initiated and take personal growth trainings. $30K-$55K per year! The Young Warrior Training Adventure was recognized this year by MKP International as a new, separate training that resonates better with younger initiates and younger staff stepping into more powerful positions. 2014 began with only a few MKP Centers having gone through unification into Areas under the MKPUSA nonprofit and ended with 30 unified Areas and just 4 not yet completing it. Several areas are currently consolidating into larger areas (multiple states) since it allows for stronger programs, constituency groups, less burn out, less duplication of effort and other benefits. Finally, MKPUSA has instituted an entirely new form of governance. I have pasted a page description of this new nonprofit model at the end of this email. Florida Area MKP: Changing Mission, Structure and Governance: A few years ago as Treasurer for FL MKP, I helped set up our nonprofit FL MKP corporation. I then led the effort to get FL MKP recognized in 2013 as a Full Training Center (highest level for Centers). In 2014, it was with joy and some nostalgia that I officially dissolved the Florida MKP Center (now FL Area MKP); dissolved the Florida Community Coordination Council (FCCC) to be replaced with the Florida Area Stewardship Council; and dissolved the FL MKP Inc. nonprofit on Dec. 22nd as we completed unification back under MKPUSA.
As Area Administrator for FL Area MKP in 2014, I worked with the Florida Leaderbody worked to bring more trainings than ever to Florida in 2015: 2 NWTAs; 1 YWTA; Multicultural Issues and Isms; Multicultural Access to Allies; GUTs weekend intensive; GUTs one day workshop; ST-1 (for NWTA staff proficiency) and likely a Leadership Training in the Fall. The dates were sent out to Florida Warriors by Jeffrey Weisberg. Florida has a Young Warrior Training Adventure scheduled for next month (Feb. 5-8) and needs everyone to help by inviting men TODAY to this training. A surge in enrollment is needed and would likely result in a surge of energy for all Florida communities. A cancellation would impede growth and dampen many spirits. Membership in MKPUSA by FL warriors is very low. Myself and a few others have been calling active and inactive warriors and engaging them in conversation about the exciting new focus of MKP on local communities and I groups. At the end we ask if they are willing to raise their hands and support the FL MKP communities. This role of inviting men to membership will need to transition to each local community that is recognized. At the national level, I have these same conversations with men that have thousands or tens of thousands of dollars they are willing to give. With our new vision and mission in place, there is no reason that FL MKP Area could not bring in $6000-12,000 this year in membership. This money is shared 50-50 with MKPUSA and FL MKP. More energetic men asking men to become members could raise the monies that would allow for MANY things to happen in 2015, beyond scholarships! The new Florida Area Stewardship Council has had a few conference call meetings in 2014 and the next one will be Jan. 12, 2015 at 9 pm. Men in communities across Florida have been reaching out to warriors to ask if men wish to be part of that local community, separate from being in I groups. Picnics, social outings, charity events, sporting events together wearing MKP shirts, and hundreds of other community building events are being planned and taking place across the USA in MKP communities. There are Emerging Communities (1-9 warriors); Developing Communities (10-39 warriors) and Sustaining Communities (40+ warriors). Florida will likely stand up 9-12 communities this year. Jupiter, Tallahassee and other small communities are encouraged to become Emerging Communities. "Central Florida" (Orlando) was the first community to submit forms with names and to be recognized as a FL local community. Several other communities are in the process of officially being recognized.
It is my hope that the new Council will elect a leader from the community leaders assembled, to be the FL Area Steward. This will allow me to hand off the remaining duties I hold as Center Director for an Area. This will be my last email from the mantle of FL MKP Leader, a post to be assumed by the new FL Area Steward. It has been very hard, but rewarding work these past 2 years. Before signing off, I want to cover the issue of multicultural awareness. The Florida Leaderbody voted unanimously to institute mandatory I&I (or equivalent multi-cultural training) for men staffing FL NWTAs starting in Jan. 2017. Around Christmastime there were over 30 posts responding to that new requirement. It was messy, it brought awareness, and it was BEAUTIFUL. The FL Leaderbody will schedule a community call during January to discuss this requirement. There was a question raised in emails on whether this was being imposed to solve problems that might but have not happened. Let me assure you, there have been many incidents on FL NWTAs and in our FL community that have hurt many men. Many have left us for this reason. One of our NWTAs stopped for over an hour as men had a discussion to again feel safe regarding an incident. There are several men that identify as having "Undesired Same Sexual Attraction" that have told me that they do not feel safe on our NWTAs. This is HARD WORK. It is MESSY. and I LOVE it. While I have heard some men share that their I&I training was great and others that it was mediocre, I had as powerful of a transformation on it as I did for my NWTA. I went to Kansas City and those taking the course were half women and half men. The men and women were separated to discuss several life situations and report back. The men reported back with amazing, exciting possibilities for the scenarios. The women presented that the situations described were very unsafe for them and dealt more with making them safe for them than in Pie-in-the-sky envisioning of the men. These were powerful and self-aware women, many running companies or groups. The men on the training were floored. No amount of "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" prepared myself and others for this new awareness to a blindness we had for half of the world's population! My interactions with women and women's groups has changed completely since my I&I and the conversations are so much the richer for it! My ability to support others from Target groups was also greatly increased by "Access to Allies."
Enrique Roman is leading enrollment and so please enroll this week. We are looking for ways that men from I groups and from across FL might be able to contribute to defray the costs for men with limited financial means. These trainings typically cost $225-$300, half what other similar trainings cost. We often have a free location and a MOS team that keeps these costs minimum. The travel and stipend of the 2 outside leaders is the primary cost of this training. If enrollment is high (25-30 men), it is likely that the costs could be decreased since the costs are sunk costs that do not scale with the number of men taking the training. Grateful and Blessed, Dave Roelant, Beneficent Swan,
Brothers, Much is happening and as your FL Steward, I wanted to provide you with this update.
Your Florida Stewardship Council meet face to face in September and accomplished a lot. (Thanks Frank Faine for providing the meeting location and a cook with excellent dishes!)
The organizational structure of FL MKP was discussed and a final org chart was created and sent out to you via Florida Talk.
Lee Berman is stepping down on Dec. 31st from 2+ years of service as our Treasurer and 2 men have stepped up to be considered for the position. Please thank Lee for his long service. I am very grateful.
An anonymous donor has bequeathed $45,000 to FL MKP for a paid administrator ($15K/year for 3 years) and we will hire our first paid staff member before the end of this year. Since FL MKP is not a legal entity, MKPUSA will hire this FL Area Administrator for us. See the open ad at the end of this email.
Allan Swett stepped down as Elder Body chair after several years and Pat Noon and Carl Schaub stepped up to be the new co-chairs. Thank Alan also for his years of service. Also thank Pat and Carl for stepping up.
Our October 22-25 NWTA is nearly full AND if 4 more invited men register, we have a co-leader on the bubble that is waiting to step on staff and so KEEP INVITING men and offering them the gift of initiation, transformation and healing.
December 11-13, 2015 in Gainesville, we will be having the excellent MKP Leadership Training: The Blessings and Burdens of Leadership. True Servant Leadership. Scott Ostrom is the admin training and we have 2 of the best full Leaders in MKP leading it. The price will be $295 per person.
Trainings for next year include the following:
May 19-22, 2016, a NWTA joint with GA MKP at Camp Daniel Morgan 30 minutes east of Atlanta. Our own Mariano Guas will be the full Leader on that NWTA. It is hoped that half of the staff and MOS will come from Florida. Put it on your calendars now.
September 15-18, 2016. FL MKP sponsor a Gay-Bi-Trans-Questioning Gateway NWTA. We already have strong support from leadership and warriors from GA (SE USA MKP), the Greater Carolinas MKP, and MKPUSA. The staff will be 80%+ men from this sexual orientation target group. Put it on your calendars and apply to staff early since staffing will fill up quickly.
Nov. 10-13, 2016. FL MKP will offer a traditional NWTA at Camp Good Counsel. This will be our first return to this site since the kitchen building burnt down and was rebuilt. Put this on your calendar.
Finally, FL MKP will be offering the other MKPUSA Leadership training, The Container of Leadership in 2016. Weekend date and location have not been set at this time, likely during the summer.
The FL Area Stewardship Council is currently discussing new by-laws, procedures and guidelines for operations in this new MKP structure for serving local I groups and local communities. It is expected we will have these in place as we start the new year.
Mike Wolf and Chris Boser are leading our website and social media. There are Facebook and twitter accounts already up and running. Expect a news item from Chris Boser, FL Outreach Coordinator soon on these.
Finally, there are open positions for Community Representatives on the FL Stewardship Council from Tampa/St Pete and the Jacksonville Communities. Please contact Jeff Navarre about the Tampa/St Pete position and Carl Schaub for the Jacksonville position. To be TRULY effective we need ALL Communities represented and working together. I will send out next week a job description for being Community Rep. There are several responsibilities such as engaging with New Brothers after their NWTA to ensure they get connected to an I Group and to a PIT. The Rep is encouraged to have other warriors from their community to step up and take charge. Good communications skills and skill at inviting local warriors to step up are 2 key skills.
The Mankind Project Florida Area Blog is officially launched! Use this blog to post comments, updates, events, etc. Be sure to use one of the most closely matched categories, to keep your post searchable and relevant.
ReplyDeleteINCREDIBLE! There are So Many great activities going on across the world and across Florida in MKP. I could write a dozen pages but few would read them. So I opt to have a 2 page summary in order to communicate the path forward and engage more warriors to step up for the many opportunities.
DeleteMKPUSA NATIONALLY:
The West (NorCal, etc.) is on fire with enrollment for NWTAs with several per year and enrollment on 3 NWTAs ongoing simultaneously and the NWTAs becoming filled weeks out. AND men hearing about NWTAs from Oprah, Facebook, or other online info and signing up!
Annual Membership donations have become the primary source of income for many MKP Areas, allowing some communities to lose money on some events and trainings in order to offer scholarships and have more men become initiated and take personal growth trainings. $30K-$55K per year!
The Young Warrior Training Adventure was recognized this year by MKP International as a new, separate training that resonates better with younger initiates and younger staff stepping into more powerful positions.
2014 began with only a few MKP Centers having gone through unification into Areas under the MKPUSA nonprofit and ended with 30 unified Areas and just 4 not yet completing it. Several areas are currently consolidating into larger areas (multiple states) since it allows for stronger programs, constituency groups, less burn out, less duplication of effort and other benefits.
Finally, MKPUSA has instituted an entirely new form of governance. I have pasted a page description of this new nonprofit model at the end of this email.
Florida Area MKP:
Changing Mission, Structure and Governance: A few years ago as Treasurer for FL MKP, I helped set up our nonprofit FL MKP corporation. I then led the effort to get FL MKP recognized in 2013 as a Full Training Center (highest level for Centers). In 2014, it was with joy and some nostalgia that I officially dissolved the Florida MKP Center (now FL Area MKP); dissolved the Florida Community Coordination Council (FCCC) to be replaced with the Florida Area Stewardship Council; and dissolved the FL MKP Inc. nonprofit on Dec. 22nd as we completed unification back under MKPUSA.
As Area Administrator for FL Area MKP in 2014, I worked with the Florida Leaderbody worked to bring more trainings than ever to Florida in 2015: 2 NWTAs; 1 YWTA; Multicultural Issues and Isms; Multicultural Access to Allies; GUTs weekend intensive; GUTs one day workshop; ST-1 (for NWTA staff proficiency) and likely a Leadership Training in the Fall. The dates were sent out to Florida Warriors by Jeffrey Weisberg.
DeleteFlorida has a Young Warrior Training Adventure scheduled for next month (Feb. 5-8) and needs everyone to help by inviting men TODAY to this training. A surge in enrollment is needed and would likely result in a surge of energy for all Florida communities. A cancellation would impede growth and dampen many spirits.
Membership in MKPUSA by FL warriors is very low. Myself and a few others have been calling active and inactive warriors and engaging them in conversation about the exciting new focus of MKP on local communities and I groups. At the end we ask if they are willing to raise their hands and support the FL MKP communities. This role of inviting men to membership will need to transition to each local community that is recognized. At the national level, I have these same conversations with men that have thousands or tens of thousands of dollars they are willing to give. With our new vision and mission in place, there is no reason that FL MKP Area could not bring in $6000-12,000 this year in membership. This money is shared 50-50 with MKPUSA and FL MKP. More energetic men asking men to become members could raise the monies that would allow for MANY things to happen in 2015, beyond scholarships!
The new Florida Area Stewardship Council has had a few conference call meetings in 2014 and the next one will be Jan. 12, 2015 at 9 pm. Men in communities across Florida have been reaching out to warriors to ask if men wish to be part of that local community, separate from being in I groups. Picnics, social outings, charity events, sporting events together wearing MKP shirts, and hundreds of other community building events are being planned and taking place across the USA in MKP communities. There are Emerging Communities (1-9 warriors); Developing Communities (10-39 warriors) and Sustaining Communities (40+ warriors). Florida will likely stand up 9-12 communities this year. Jupiter, Tallahassee and other small communities are encouraged to become Emerging Communities.
"Central Florida" (Orlando) was the first community to submit forms with names and to be recognized as a FL local community. Several other communities are in the process of officially being recognized.
It is my hope that the new Council will elect a leader from the community leaders assembled, to be the FL Area Steward. This will allow me to hand off the remaining duties I hold as Center Director for an Area.
DeleteThis will be my last email from the mantle of FL MKP Leader, a post to be assumed by the new FL Area Steward. It has been very hard, but rewarding work these past 2 years. Before signing off, I want to cover the issue of multicultural awareness.
The Florida Leaderbody voted unanimously to institute mandatory I&I (or equivalent multi-cultural training) for men staffing FL NWTAs starting in Jan. 2017.
Around Christmastime there were over 30 posts responding to that new requirement. It was messy, it brought awareness, and it was BEAUTIFUL.
The FL Leaderbody will schedule a community call during January to discuss this requirement.
There was a question raised in emails on whether this was being imposed to solve problems that might but have not happened.
Let me assure you, there have been many incidents on FL NWTAs and in our FL community that have hurt many men. Many have left us for this reason. One of our NWTAs stopped for over an hour as men had a discussion to again feel safe regarding an incident. There are several men that identify as having "Undesired Same Sexual Attraction" that have told me that they do not feel safe on our NWTAs. This is HARD WORK. It is MESSY. and I LOVE it.
While I have heard some men share that their I&I training was great and others that it was mediocre, I had as powerful of a transformation on it as I did for my NWTA. I went to Kansas City and those taking the course were half women and half men. The men and women were separated to discuss several life situations and report back. The men reported back with amazing, exciting possibilities for the scenarios. The women presented that the situations described were very unsafe for them and dealt more with making them safe for them than in Pie-in-the-sky envisioning of the men. These were powerful and self-aware women, many running companies or groups. The men on the training were floored. No amount of "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" prepared myself and others for this new awareness to a blindness we had for half of the world's population! My interactions with women and women's groups has changed completely since my I&I and the conversations are so much the richer for it! My ability to support others from Target groups was also greatly increased by "Access to Allies."
Enrique Roman is leading enrollment and so please enroll this week.
DeleteWe are looking for ways that men from I groups and from across FL might be able to contribute to defray the costs for men with limited financial means. These trainings typically cost $225-$300, half what other similar trainings cost. We often have a free location and a MOS team that keeps these costs minimum. The travel and stipend of the 2 outside leaders is the primary cost of this training. If enrollment is high (25-30 men), it is likely that the costs could be decreased since the costs are sunk costs that do not scale with the number of men taking the training.
Grateful and Blessed,
Dave Roelant, Beneficent Swan,
Brothers,
ReplyDeleteMuch is happening and as your FL Steward, I wanted to provide you with this update.
Your Florida Stewardship Council meet face to face in September and accomplished a lot.
(Thanks Frank Faine for providing the meeting location and a cook with excellent dishes!)
The organizational structure of FL MKP was discussed and a final org chart was created and sent out to you via Florida Talk.
Lee Berman is stepping down on Dec. 31st from 2+ years of service as our Treasurer and 2 men have stepped up to be considered for the position. Please thank Lee for his long service. I am very grateful.
An anonymous donor has bequeathed $45,000 to FL MKP for a paid administrator ($15K/year for 3 years) and we will hire our first paid staff member before the end of this year. Since FL MKP is not a legal entity, MKPUSA will hire this FL Area Administrator for us. See the open ad at the end of this email.
Allan Swett stepped down as Elder Body chair after several years and Pat Noon and Carl Schaub stepped up to be the new co-chairs. Thank Alan also for his years of service. Also thank Pat and Carl for stepping up.
Our October 22-25 NWTA is nearly full AND if 4 more invited men register, we have a co-leader on the bubble that is waiting to step on staff and so KEEP INVITING men and offering them the gift of initiation, transformation and healing.
December 11-13, 2015 in Gainesville, we will be having the excellent MKP Leadership Training: The Blessings and Burdens of Leadership. True Servant Leadership. Scott Ostrom is the admin training and we have 2 of the best full Leaders in MKP leading it. The price will be $295 per person.
Trainings for next year include the following:
May 19-22, 2016, a NWTA joint with GA MKP at Camp Daniel Morgan 30 minutes east of Atlanta. Our own Mariano Guas will be the full Leader on that NWTA. It is hoped that half of the staff and MOS will come from Florida. Put it on your calendars now.
September 15-18, 2016. FL MKP sponsor a Gay-Bi-Trans-Questioning Gateway NWTA. We already have strong support from leadership and warriors from GA (SE USA MKP), the Greater Carolinas MKP, and MKPUSA.
The staff will be 80%+ men from this sexual orientation target group. Put it on your calendars and apply to staff early since staffing will fill up quickly.
Nov. 10-13, 2016. FL MKP will offer a traditional NWTA at Camp Good Counsel. This will be our first return to this site since the kitchen building burnt down and was rebuilt. Put this on your calendar.
Finally, FL MKP will be offering the other MKPUSA Leadership training, The Container of Leadership in 2016. Weekend date and location have not been set at this time, likely during the summer.
The FL Area Stewardship Council is currently discussing new by-laws, procedures and guidelines for operations in this new MKP structure for serving local I groups and local communities. It is expected we will have these in place as we start the new year.
Mike Wolf and Chris Boser are leading our website and social media. There are Facebook and twitter accounts already up and running. Expect a news item from Chris Boser, FL Outreach Coordinator soon on these.
Finally, there are open positions for Community Representatives on the FL Stewardship Council from Tampa/St Pete and the Jacksonville Communities.
Please contact Jeff Navarre about the Tampa/St Pete position and Carl Schaub for the Jacksonville position.
To be TRULY effective we need ALL Communities represented and working together.
I will send out next week a job description for being Community Rep.
There are several responsibilities such as engaging with New Brothers after their NWTA to ensure they get connected to an I Group and to a PIT. The Rep is encouraged to have other warriors from their community to step up and take charge. Good communications skills and skill at inviting local warriors to step up are 2 key skills.
In Service, Dave Roelant, Swan