Dear Reader,
With the semester back in full swing, Moda has been working hard and is excited to share the changes that have been discussed for the future regarding structure and collaboration. From reshaping leadership roles to publication processes and pitching, Moda has met weekly to discuss these important changes as a group. Along with the discussion of changes, they will be reflected in the bylaws that Moda is updating throughout the semester.
On March 7, Moda staff attended a second workshop with Social Justice Education. Moda explored power and privilege and learned about tools for social action planning that can be implemented going forward. Moda looks forward to an extended relationship with SJE in the future.
When it comes to leadership, Moda is rethinking and building up leadership from scratch in order to provide more opportunities for members and to ensure total accountability as a board. In order to do this, Moda members came together and decided on the formation of essential categories with heads and committees. These categories will include similar roles such as writing, creative, photography, graphics, social media, etc. but also new roles such as HR and Operations that go beyond the magazine content. The current responsibilities of the Editor in Chief will be divided among five directors in order to make Moda leadership more collaborative. From now on, Moda hopes that this new structure allows for more leadership opportunities and collaboration for every member while also ensuring the accessibility and accountability of future Editorial Boards.
Along with a new leadership structure, Moda decided to rethink the publication processes. In order to allow for more transition time education, Moda staff chose to slow content production going forward. There will be four issues a year -- two print issues and two online issues. Slowing production on monthly issues will allow Moda members to help train new members, show the processes used to create issues, and increase collaboration between teams. Members will also have a chance to collaborate on Minis and write for the Moda online section.
In addition to publication, the pitching process is equally as important. Moda’s main goal is to ensure that every member who has an idea will have the opportunity to pitch and have their voice heard within this creative process. In order to achieve this, the pitching process will take place over three meetings. The first meeting will be a mass brainstorm for the theme, ranging from concepts to words to article ideas and design styles. The second meeting will be presenting pitch presentations of those theme ideas to promote discussion and feedback from the full staff. Pitching will be open to every Moda member. The theme will be voted on after the second meeting by the entire staff. The third and final meeting will be brainstorming for the selected theme from the second meeting. Writing and creative will have the opportunity to work as groups and every member can claim a topic that they are passionate about writing about on a shared doc. This updated process was created to be more open and inclusive, so every member can have the chance to contribute.
Moda is continuing to meet weekly to discuss further changes in processes and positions for the rest of the semester. Topics Moda will discuss in the following weeks include diversity, equity, inclusion, education, outreach and recruitment. In the upcoming meetings, Moda will begin to implement the recommended changes in the creation of a Spring Print issue. Moda is excited to put these changes into action and to continue to be a part of this semester of change.
Warmly,
Jamie Randall, Newsletter Editor
