Elijah Sow at RID- terminated

[Jonathan Webb]

Please see the following link re: Elijah Sow and RID President Bryant.

Elijah Sow was terminated on Monday, 30 October. I was patiently waiting for an announcement from our president, but it appears that in typical authoritarian fashion there will be no explanation. Nevertheless, I have questions. 

https://youtu.be/zmj4J4HbRQc

Feel free to share as you deem fit.

Jonathan

Jonathan Webb, PhD

Facilitator, Writer, Activist, Educator, Mentor

CI & CT, NIC-Advanced

[Laurie Meyer]

Accomplice in Action.

Thank you.

I don't know Elijah or any of the back story.  Many of us don't, I suspect and it's important.

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[Dwight Godwin]

I know nothing about this either.  But then I have been done with RID since they fired Johnathan. 

That was a complete and total BS move on their part. 

I maintain my certification,  but other than that I want nothing to do with it. 

Dwight

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[Robert G. Lee]

Thank you Jonathan...this seems to be news to many of us!

Where was the announcement of Elijah's Sow's termination? I certainly didn't see an email from RID and there is nothing on the RID website (not even a place on the HQ Staff page listing the COO position as vacant). I also note that there are not published minutes from the October 2023 Board Meeting.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Robert G. Lee, CI/CT

[Jonathan Webb]

Hi there Robert-

There was not an announcement. As I understand it, as I have not had a direct conversation with the CEO about this, the president was encouraged to communicate with the members about this immediately. As a former president, I understand that these are difficult announcements- I've been there and done that. And of course there are many things that cannot be shared, from an HR law standpoint. However, the termination happened on Monday 30 October. It wasn't until Friday that I created and put out the vlog. If an announcement had come out I would have likely still said something, but an abbreviated something. To wait five business days and not communicate one iota to the membership about a staff member who many of the staff refer to as "the heart of RID HQ", is entirely problematic. And, it's a pattern.

I think it is also important to say, the COO answered directly to the CEO. To be undermined as a CEO is devastating. It is also disconcerting to the staff given that now it appears any position can be dissolved on a whim and the person who was filling the position immediately terminated- by decision of the board.

If one goes to the website as you did, Robert, they'll see there is no longer a COO position even listed. https://rid.org/about/#ourteam

Jonathan

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[Robert G. Lee]

Hi Jonathan - thanks so much for your quick reply and keeping us informed! I agree it is not being handled very well AT ALL!

I was wondering about the 2 questions you posted below the YouTube video:

My two favorite lines from President Bryant after the termination: 1. "We want to recognize that Mr. Elijah Sow has shown unwavering dedication to RID for over 15 years. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors." 2. "To ensure that our organization is equipped with the necessary tools and flexibility to succeed in this new direction, we are granting our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Star Grieser, full authority to restructure the organization as she sees fit."
 

Where were those from? Also, as you stated above, the COO answered to the CEO...so how did this all come about??

Again, thank you for helping to inform us when RID is so clearly not!!

Best

Robert

[jmil...@frii.com]

Is there transparency to show how much the RID business meeting cost?
Kinda off the point, but our Colorado RID conference is wrapping up and
I would like to see what their financials for the RID conference cost as
compared to our CRID Conference.
Thanks!
Jenny

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[Dwight Godwin]

I am 100% officially D-O-N-E with RID.

I will maintain my certification because I have to, but in my opinion this Star person has turned this organization into a complete and total mess.

Not that RID wasn't going down hill before, but this is completely unacceptable in my opinion. 

What we need is a Guild or a Union.  RID is no longer a Registry.  It has become toxic and is not at all serving the purpose or needs it was established for. 

Regrets for our profession (my profession of 30 years).

SMDH

Dwight D. Godwin, NIC

New Jersey (currently)

Technical engineering Interpreter

Generalist Interpreter

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[Jonathan Webb]

Hello Dwight-

I would agree. RID is problematic. My personal opinion is that we have seen RID be more problematic at times, and less at others. It seems the common denominator in all of that is the quality of the leadership, as elected by the membership. We currently have a board president who takes an authoritarian approach to leadership, which then negates the "member-driven" aspect of our association. 

I may be biased as I was the one who signed CEO Grieser's contract, but I think she has done excellent work keeping us moving forward despite the current president. From my understanding, CEO Grieser didn't know that the COO was being terminated, nor that the position was going to be dissolved. Apparently, this was a complete surprise to the entirety of the HQ staff. What I find dismaying about this is that the COO answered to the CEO. The Board is responsible for governance while the CEO and COO are responsible for operations. It was not within the purview of the president to terminate a HQs employee, especially given that the employee has a direct supervisor and the supervisor was not communicated with about this decision. It was a surprise.

Robert- thank you for your request. It took a little time to get the actual letter, for obvious reasons. It is now attached.

In terms of how it came about, and I apologize if there are minor details that are off as there has been a lot of communication around this with a variety of people (not the CEO) who know different parts... Basically, CEO was called into a last minute meeting and was ambushed by a small subsection of the board with the surprise information that they were dissolving the position and terminating Mr. Sow. Then approximately 30min later Mr. Sow was brought in and the president explained what was happening. He was told to gather his things, and then he was escorted out of the building. 

When asked why the COO position was being dissolved, they were told to "trust the process". When asked why Mr. Sow was being terminated and on what grounds, they were told to trust the process. When asked why Mr. Sow was being treated like a criminal, they were told it was just procedural.

Again, the letter sent to the staff is attached.

Jonathan

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[Stephanie Feyne]

This may not be an important question but I’m wondering if the Board had asked for guidance before making such a decision.

Was there a consultant? 

What actions prior to this were taken?

Seems a pretty big decision and it’s hard to believe it would come solely from the Board with no preparatory steps. 

But then, again, I might just be too naive. 

Thanks,

Stephanie 

Typos courtesy iPhone

On Nov 7, 2023, at 12:22 PM, Jonathan Webb <jona...@yourvolution.com> wrote:



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<email_rid_oct2023_ 2.pdf>

[Jonathan Webb]

Stephanie, as I understand it, the president and board actually went outside of RID's Human Resources and contacted a separate HR firm/consultant to do this. This was a major factor in being able to keep this from the CEO.

I think it would be worthwhile asking the Deaf Advisory Council, Diversity Council, and Council of Elders if they were consulted on this matter at all. Of course, I don't even know if these or any other standing councils or committees are actually up and running.... over the last two years.

And of course, there seems to be a very reasonable question to be asked around why membership dues/money would be used to retain an HR firm/consultant outside of the HR we already fund.

I trust the president is seeing all of these questions so that if he chooses to address what's happened, he can provide valid and honest answers to everyone's questions.

Jonathan

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[Jonathan Webb]

Hi there Jenny- RID is a member-driven non-profit 501c3. You should be able to request that information. I would say initial contact would be to Treasurer Kate O'Regan (trea...@RID.org), and Finance and Accounting Director Jennifer Apple.

I got on to grab Director Apple's email address, from the website, and found two things. First thing, you will need to probably use the contact form to get hold of Apple as I don't see the direct email there. And second, oddly enough, Elijah Sow's picture is now listed on the website again under the role of COO. Not sure what's happening there...

Best of luck. And, congratulations on the conference! I hope it was a tremendous success and further elevates our colleagues out there!

Jonathan 

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[jmil...@frii.com]

Thanks, it was SO good! We had great workshops, great networking, we
elected a full board, and with a cowpoke theme, everyone dressed up in
our Western gear! The best thing was that while 2 years ago we had 2-3
attendees at a DI forum for folks interested in becoming DIs, this year
we had SIXTEEN!
I have my faith in our local affiliates that's for sure, I hope that
"trickles up":).
Jenny

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[Eileen Forestal]

That’s fantastic to know. 

Eileen 

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Eileen Forestal, PhD RSC