Governance

TTEIC is supported by a Governance Circle, a core organizing group of 7 or  9 people who support and coordinate the work of TTEIC. This group strives to be representative of the Tri-Town community. Members of the Governance Circle will model and support the embodiment of TTEIC values and principles in both their work with the TTEIC and in the broader community. Governance Circle members serve for 3 years, and may serve for 2 consecutive terms if agreed upon by the Governance Circle. Members of the Governance Circle will prepare for their role by reading and reflecting on orientation materials, and commit to significant “inner work” of ongoing personal learning and reflection throughout their term in addition to ongoing engagement with the “outer work” through TTEIC projects and Governance Circle community action. We are all on this journey and are contributing individually - both in terms of the personal learning and reflection and through the ways in which we contribute to outward focused activity and action. 

The purpose of the Governance Circle is to: 

  • Engage with the Community Group and the priority projects to envision and enable new goals and opportunities to emerge for TTEIC inner and outer work;

  • Coordinate efforts across the Community Group, ensuring that all project work supports the core principles, vision and goals of TTEIC

  • Create transparent processes that engage with the Community Group to identify and select priority projects annually; 

  • Engage in periodic reflection of programmatic activities to ensure ongoing evaluation and learning in order for the TTEIC as a whole to integrate lessons and insights into its practices & priorities;

  • Support proactive and responsive accountability, repair and conflict transformation within the TTEIC as a whole and between TTEIC and the tri-town community;

  • Determine how to meaningfully build inclusive engagement with the local BIPOC community; 

  • Identify and communicate big picture vision, direction and goals of the TTEIC, engaging broad voices, including local BIPOC folks, in that planning;

  • Provide support to the on-the-ground “outer” work of the TTEIC Community Group and individuals, including facilitating education, skill-building, logistics, relationships, and ongoing well-being of the Coalition members;

  • Provide support for the “inner work” of education and reflection with the Community Group and Governing Circle members;

  • Promote transparency of TTEIC processes and activities;

  • Develop and facilitate a process of orientation, on-boarding and off-boarding the Community Group members  and the Governance Circle itself, including reading material, mentorship, tracking terms and nominating Governance Circle members.

Expectations of Governance Circle Member

  • A commitment to doing inner and outer work

  • A commitment to engaging with the on-boarding material  

  • Humility 

  • Curiosity, openness to learning and reflection, openness to model these qualities  in a genuine and authentic way


TTEIC Community

In addition to the Governance Circle, TTEIC is composed of a diverse group of Freeport, Pownal, and Durham community members who are engaging in the local work of anti-racism. Community members are invited to participate in monthly “inner work” sessions, where lived experiences of racism and other oppressive systems are explored in a safe, nonjudgmental space through reading, discussion, and reflection.

The TTEIC Community is also a way for Freeport, Pownal, and Durham citizens who are interested or engaged in anti-racism work to connect and build relationships. For example, members of the Freeport the Racial and Social Equity Committee, the Freeport Housing Trust, the RSU-5 Diversity Committee, the Freeport Climate Action Network, Freeport Arts and Culture Alliance, and Freeport Community Services, can all participate in TTEIC Community Gatherings to nurture and support the work of building a safe, just and inclusive community for all.

TTEIC Project Teams

The active work of dismantling structural racism in our communities happens through the TTEIC Project Teams. Each project is led by a TTEIC community member after consideration with the Governance Circle. Projects are often action-oriented but also include “inner work” of project team members, who are asked to read and reflect together alongside their “outer work” of changing policies and practices. Each project may have its own leader(s), form, and style, but project teams commit to ongoing communication and connection with the Governance Circle to ensure alignment of values and practices and facilitate learning across project teams and the Governance Circle. Projects might be educational, focused on learning about policies at a community institution, focused on supporting BIPOC requests within or beyond our communities, or about other actions. They emerge from the needs of our community members—particularly the BIPOC community—opportunities to work across institutions and groups to build relationships, and the ideas and interests of the TTEIC community.