SCB is grateful to its members for participating in the vote to approve the recommended bylaws changes to enable a new era for SCB as a global collaborative network.
Members of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) voted on March 9, 2023 to approve revisions to the Society’s bylaws in a Special Members Meeting. The vote established the new governance structure necessary for SCB to move forward on Vision 2026. SCB President Tony Lynam introduced the motion to revise the bylaws, which followed a one-month feedback period for members to share comments and questions about the proposed revisions.
“Thanks to members who attended the Special Members Meeting and voted in favor of the new SCB bylaws,” said SCB President Tony Lynam. “This is a historic step for our Society in that having the new bylaws in place enables the implementation of Vision 2026, including establishment of the Programs and Regional Council, the Global Network Board, and the new membership structure. We are now ready to realize our transition to a truly global collaborative network.”
The unanimous vote in favor of adopting the revised bylaws at the Special Members Meeting demonstrates that the process to bring forth the changes was truly collaborative and a representation of the Society at large.
Over the last three years, SCB members, groups, staff, and committees have collaborated to design a governance structure that empowers SCB groups, addresses historic power inequities in leadership and decision-making, increases the Society’s problem solving capacity, and makes SCB a more equitable network with greater diversity of people, voices, and disciplines.
With the revised bylaws in place, SCB has started to operationalize its global network governance structure and business model. Over the next several months, we will be working toward nominating new members to the Global Network Board, formalizing the Programs Council and implementing the new Associate Member Category.
“The vote to change our bylaws is a key step in moving forward on Vision 2026 and such an exciting landmark,” said SCB President-elect Vanessa Adams. “The new structure empowers us to deliver meaningful programmatic and regional benefits to our members. I can’t wait to work with the new global network board to achieve this.”, said SCB President-elect VA
We look forward to communicating next steps in the process. If you have any questions about what this means specifically for you as a member, please reach out to membership@conbio.org.