Board Report – Chair
The Assembly will be held on the 18th of May from 2 pm to 7 pm UK time
Our OA Region 9 Assembly marked the end of my first year in the service position of Region 9 Chair. This was and still is an amazing journey for me. It is interesting, and powerful, it has its challenges and is not always smooth and easy, but I am grateful for every moment, because, among other things, this is a big part of my spiritual growth.
Our annual Assembly and Convention was a successful event. The participation was the largest ever and that gave everyone joy and hope. 35 participants form 17 countries, 4 region officers, our Trustee Liaison and 30 visitors from all around our region!
During the assembly we elected three new members of the board, five delegates for the World Service Business Conference 2025 and were able to fill other important service positions. This is impressive considering that one of the main problems our fellowship is facing in recent years is the lack of trusted servants.
In addition, during the assembly, members expressed the need for the creation of a Digital Committee. Thus, we now have yet another committee that is working to improve our website and all the means of communications we use.
Our region now has the largest number of trusted servants we ever had! Twenty members! Twenty-one with Emilia, our Trustee Liaison. This is amazing! With the help and support of the members who serve on our committees and with the new possibilities’ technology offers, we are now able to carry the message of recovery and collaboration better than ever before.
The Region 9 trusted servants meet every second month. It was not easy to find a day and time that would suit all twenty-one of us, but we have managed it quite well and our meetings are full of new ideas, and a lot of enthusiasm.
Moreover, we decided to also meet in the interim month just for fellowship, to talk and get to know each other, in order to keep in touch and develop better interpersonal relationships.
The Region 9 Board meets also every second month, the month between the trusted servants meeting. We also arrange extraordinary meetings every time it is necessary.
The board has also appointed an organizational parliamentarian for support and advice in order to address and organize some important issues. The Parliamentarian will advise the chair, the officers, committee Chairs and committee members on parliamentary procedures, aiding in the efficient operation of the Region.
Every one of the meetings I have had the opportunity to chair so far has been productive, in the spirit of our fellowship, and different views have been respectfully expressed, giving us the opportunity to work together in order to find the best solution for our region.
Each committee, each trusted servant is working on various projects that we are working on as you will see in the various reports. There is an abundance of projects and many new ideas.
As we have done for the past 3 years, this year we have again formed a committee with all the Region 9 service bodies delegates to the World Service Business Conference, the so-called the “Region 9 WSBC Team”. The purpose of this committee is to offer support and share experience, strength and hope to all delegates new and experienced for all aspects of the conference.
This year Region 9 will be represented with 28 delegates from 21 service bodies from 14 countries.
Our Region 9 World Service Business Conference Team has already met two times in order to prepare for the World Service Business Conference and will meet again before the conference, which is being held virtually, from 4 to 10 of May 2025.
In my capacity as Region 9 Chair, I am also a member of the Region Chairs Committee and the International Publications/Translations Committee. I am attending the committee meetings and working on the assignments that we undertake.
This is also something that gives me a lot of strength and hope as I share with my fellow chairs, ideas and solutions, common concerns and problems but above all support.
Our Region 9 Trustee Liaison and I meet regularly and share our thoughts about the various issues that need to be addressed. We have established a collaboration based on our commitment to our program and its spiritual principles, our shared love for our region and also based on trust and equality.
When necessary, I participate in some of the committee meetings. I am also helping Region 9 service bodies when asked about various issues by sharing my experience, strength, and hope, by answering questions, leading workshops, etc.
All in all, serving for Region 9 brings me a lot of joy and I am so grateful that my Higher Power led me to this service position.
With love for our fellowship and for our Region