[Foundation-l] Travel policy

[Ray Saintonge]

Dan Rosenthal wrote:

>Because Dependent care is not the responsibility of the foundation's  
>expenses. There is a reason why other boards do not do this. If one  
>is volunteering one's time as a board member, the volunteer is making  
>a decision for themselves to give up that time. They must weigh that  
>decision carefully against their own personal needs.
>
We are not other boards. Our scope is not limited to a city, state, or 
even national level.  No-one is suggesting compensation for lost work 
time.  Some volunteers do have extraordinary expenses that need to be 
compensated in exchange for accepting greater responsibilities.  As long 
as we did not have an executive director the president had to take on 
far more responsibility than she otherwise would have, but I don't see 
her asking to be compensated for that.

Developed countries are now putting more emphasis on the importance of 
good child care.  This affects mostly (but not exclusively) women. More 
and more employers in these countries are being required to provide for 
this.  Volunteer boards also need to look carefully at this.  If highly 
skilled people, who have left the workforce to become good parents, 
become involved (because babies are not known for their ability to 
provide intellectual stimulation) we do well to accept the value of 
those skills.  Compensating those people for extraordinary expenses in 
the pursuit of our benefits is a very cost-effective expenditure.

>If I were a board member, for instance, it would be incredibly  
>unreasonable for me to ask for reimbursement for boarding, care, and  
>feeding of my cats while I was gone. It was my decision to get the  
>cats, and the assumption of responsibility is my own. Similarly, the  
>decision to be on the board would also be my own, and therefore the  
>foundation would not be beholden to the care of my cats.
>
Thomas was at Wikimania in Boston as the youngest person to have 
attended both Wikimanias, and I can assure you that he is not a cat.  I 
must have missed the clause in the policy that provided for pet care.

>It's the same thing with dependents... if you cannot afford to keep  
>care of them in the execution of ones duties, then do not sit on the  
>board.
>
Welcome to the 19th century, and the barefoot, pregnant and in the 
kitchen model of board governance.. 

Ec