PINA Seeks New Board Members

PINA, a 501c6 non-profit trade association in its 11th year of service to North America and Hawaii, is seeking diverse and qualified individuals to strengthen its 9-member volunteer board. You may think you are too busy for this role, yet you are who we need, because busy people get things done. Our board members serve communities at many levels, running businesses or non-profits, farming or gardening or building, mentoring youth, teaching children, writing for publication, and still find time to advance PINA’s ambitious goals. We understand the need for occasional time away, and recognize the shifting seasonal demands of board members spread out from Atlantic to Pacific and Gulf to Great Lakes. If you imagine you can carve out some hours each month to help us and others repair the world, please read on.

PINA’s mission is to provide integrated support for permaculture designers to address critical issues in land, community, and climate. We foster superior professional and community practice in permaculture design across No. America and Hawaii, bolstering permaculture’s reputation as a reliable source for solutions to global problems, and we develop programs with and in support of our members and practitioners that regenerate landscapes, heal communities, and cool the climate. We maintain standards for the PDC and administer a program offering six diploma specializations.

PINA operates two divisions: its Professional Association mobilizes talent by encouraging professional development and continuing education within the framework of permaculture training and community practice. Our diploma program recognizes excellence in permaculture design. The Regenerative Projects division creates employment and puts change on the ground. We research, identify, design, fund, partner for, and implement programs that enable our members and other skilled practitioners to repair the world.

Our projects are designed to leverage limited resources and deep ecological understanding into powerful change. We have built small earthworks that rehydrate landscapes, developed improved protocols for excess fuels reduction/pyrolysis and biochar distribution to mitigate wildfire risk and restore forest health. We have worked across the continent funding appropriate building technology manufacturing, community edible landscape plantings, youth climate activism, mutual aid edible streetscaping, and First Nations community gardens. PINA documentary videos on earthworking, fire ecology restoration, permaculture introduction to indigenous communities in Guatemala, and webinars on mutual aid, and on forest restoration, have been viewed by hundreds of thousands. We plan much more, as we aim to meet the perilous environmental and social challenges of our times.

Successful board candidates will have completed a Permaculture Design Course (PDC), and should be prepared to contribute member dues, along with service of ~6-8 hours per month via board and committee meetings, communications, and consultations with staff. The board also meets in even-numbered years for a planning retreat. The next occasion will be in 2024; support for travel is provided on a Fair Share basis.

The board is responsible for governance of the organization, setting policy and objectives, funding operations, and for hiring and supervising the Executive Director who leads the staff. Directors serve for three-year terms, and may be re-elected. Facilitation of the 10 annual board meetings (monthly except December and one summer month) rotates between directors. New board members will be allowed several months of adjustment before being asked to join the rotation. PINA’s officers are elected at the annual meeting for one-year terms.

The board is also responsible for securing resources to accomplish our mission. PINA has a Philanthropy Coordinator who, together with the Executive Director, does most focused fundraising, but referrals, connections, suggestions, and contributions from board members are expected to aid these efforts.

PINA’s staff of four is growing, and will reach six persons by the end of 2023. All staff are presently part-time. Three are employees, the remainder serving or projected to serve as contractors for an initial period in their roles.

PINA has administrative offices in the Pittsburgh, PA region, and its directors hail from across the USA and Canada. Three regional hubs, in the Northeast, Great Lakes region, and the Colorado mountains help PINA to administer its diploma program, and offer services to their permaculture communities. PINA has other organizational members and affiliations with colleges and universities, as well as educational, food system, and community empowerment charities, plus student clubs and other trade associations.

Our board has maintained gender, geographic, and age balance for its entire existence, and we seek to add representation from more communities across North America. Successful candidates will have a good range of life and work experience, bring some unique qualities, skills, or background to PINA, and be well connected in their community and professional networks.

Background and leadership in non-profit management, business, education, government service, agriculture, or community development, and skills in fundraising, law, accounting, information technology, communications, and more would be especially helpful. We would welcome younger members whose life circumstances permit them the time and attention for voluntary service to a large and profound cause. PINA may be able to direct compensatory resources to support community work or projects that directors have to turn away from as they turn toward PINA. Most board members are not compensated for their service, but reasonable expenses may be met, and service on special assignments and projects may also be paid. Candidates who can help the PINA board strengthen connection with First Nations and communities of color would be welcome, and may be supported by stipends to advance our mission to serve all of North America.

Thank you for all the good work you do!

Feel inspired to contribute to PINA’s board? Please send a brief letter of interest and CV or resume to info@pina.in