My Story
This portrait was taken by my good friend, and well known film photographer, Pete Rezac. Both of us were in Atlanta for meetings, on what I knew would be my last trip to PPA HQ. Pete and I were both pretty upset about what had transpired over the last 3 days and were feeling really low. But at our core, we are photographers, and we know how to make ourselves feel better. Pete loaded up the 120 into the Hasselblad and we set out photographing the amazing world renowned architecture of John Portman one final time. By the time we worked through the 120 roll, our spirits were lifted because we are photographers and the camera does magic for both of us.
Dear PPA member,
Let’s get right to the question everyone wants to know: What did Allison do to get removed from the Board of Directors? It’s a fair question and one I have spent many hours trying to figure out. It makes sense that such a drastic measure from the PPA board must have been a reaction to something equally drastic I must have done. We are taught in Newton’s 3rd law that: every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. I have many theories about why my presence is an issue on the board. But the reality is they are all incomplete stories I made up in my head in order to make sense of this whirlwind experience. Ultimately, the action & reactions just doesn’t add up to give me a logical explanation.
The following timeline is what I experienced during the period of October 7- November 25, 2024. The official PPA statement was released Monday, December 9th and includes meeting minutes and makes board policy visible to councilors. I encourage councilors to familiarize themselves with all the documents. Without thorough understanding of the documents of PPA, including Parliamentary Law, it’s challenging to be informed of all the issues facing the very fabric of the PPA identity.
Timeline of events:
October 7-8, 2024: VOTE 1
Board meeting- in-person Board meeting at HQ Atlanta
Meeting: Monday starts @ 1pm - recess at 5:40 ish
Tuesday 9:10am (ish)- 10:40am
Total board meeting time over 2 days = 6 hours
(generally meetings go until 3pm on the second day. Flights are booked after 5pm on 2nd day of meetings.)
Monday October 7th:
Paper ballots distributed for election
The Chair is responsible for conducting the election
Monday night Pete and Allison scouted Atlanta locations for 2025 board portrait and returned to hotel. Cris Duncan joins in to work on committee assignments.
Tuesday morning election results announced:
Allison Watkins elected President by acclamation
(no other candidate for President)
Pete Rezac Elected Vice President by acclamation
(no other candidate for vice President)
Makayla Harris Elected Treasurer
Meeting was adjourned at 10:40 am with no rush and with plenty of time to fix any mistakes. No one had any reason to leave the meeting thinking that a binding election didn’t happen. Most of us sat in HQ for hours, passing the unused time, until our evening flights.
October 14: The Chair uses Whatsapp to schedule a board meeting for November 4th. The Whatsapp group chat is only to be used for unofficial conversations to communicate when meeting for dinner and sharing Lyft/ Uber rides etc. We are trained to keep all official board issues and communication on the PPA Outlook email system. See attached WhatsApp exchange below
October 15: PPA executive assistant uses the WhatsApp group chat to ask board members for information about ImagingUSA app. See Attached WhatsApp exchange below
October 15: Allison types into Whatsapp- “Just a reminder that WhatsApp is for casual banter and not official board business. Keep that on the email.” See attached WhatsApp exchange below
October 22: I receive a phone call from the chair, stating that she has a letter signed by 10 board members saying they have concerns about my leadership on the Executive Board and want a conversation. This is the first time I have heard any of this information and it comes as a complete shock. I ask what are the concerns. It is pointed out that my WhatsApp comment was taken offensively. I was also informed that board members were upset that I didn’t join in dinner and karaoke on Monday night, October 7th. I eagerly ask for the letter so I can have more information. I am told I would have the letter the following day.
October 23: (about 24 hours after above conversation): I receive the attached letter below
Observations on the letter:
1- The letter gives me no reason as to WHY these board members feel the way they do about me.
2- The letter states they want to have a conversation about my leadership.
3- The letter says each person would be willing to talk with me privately at my convenience.
October 24 - November 1st:
Allison calls all but 2 of the Board members that added their names to the letter to try and understand why they have concerns about leadership.
Here is the list of concerns:
1- Offended by the WhatsApp comment- Phaneedra Gudapati
2- Didn’t come to dinner and karaoke, Drifting away from group- Larry Lourcey
3- Not productive and have “no value”- Mark Campbell, Makayla Harris
4- Didn’t like that I had an alternate view point- Kira Derryberry
5- Doesn’t like the dynamic between Mark & I- Shawon Davis
6- Said she was distracted when Chair read the letter to her- Terri Baskin
7- Doesn’t like dynamic between Mark & I- Diana Robles
Additional information gathered:
1- The letter was created after my conversation with the chair.
2- No other board member saw the letter before it being sent to me.
3- The chair reached out individually to board members to add their names to the letter and read them the letter over the phone.
4- Several members admitted to adding their name because a conversation can’t hurt.
November 4, 2024 VOTE 2
In person Executive committee meeting at HQ 9am- 12:30pm
1pm -Hybrid meeting with whole Board to have a “Leadership discussion”
No advanced notice that an election was happening
No advanced notice that the lawyer had been consulted
No advanced notice that the first election was flawed
(It’s important to ask WHO made the mistakes in first election)
Allison not allowed to participate in discussion, asked to leave the room
Election process does not follow board policy or parliamentary law for elections.
Allison wins election again by acclamation but that motion is then not approved.
Pete is elected Vice President
Makayla is elected Treasurer
Allison challenges the election results on the ground of negligence.
“Standard code of Parliamentary procedure” 2nd edition page 299 &300,
board policy section 1.2
Meeting to be continued after consulting with lawyer.
November 11, 2024
Executive committee and CEO/ CFO meet with lawyer
Lawyer determines that vote 2 is invalid and a 3rd election must take place.
November 19, 2024
Incorrect and incomplete Meeting minutes are placed in the vault concerning Vote 2
No reference listing that vote 2 was deemed invalid
November 25 VOTE 3
Online meeting with election results in:
Mark Campbell to continue as President
Makayla Harris to be Vice President
Larry Lourcey as Treasurer
Motion made to remove Allison & Pete from Nominating Committee and reconvene Nom-Com to ultimately change original Nom-Com outcome
Board decided to remove meeting minutes posted on November 19
So there you have it, all the anticlimactic reasons behind being voted out. I was removed from the board for making a comment on WhatsApp about following proper procedure. Or maybe I was removed because I didn’t attend dinner and Karaoke and instead worked on my assigned tasks. I guess it also could have been because I had a dissenting opinion during a discussion in the board room. I’m sure it is a combination of all three.
But one thing was made very clear to me from all my research. For all the talking ABOUT me, no one ever talked TO me. My perspectives on brave conversations comes from Brene Brown, and it involve talking to the person to work through conflict, not behind their back. During my phone call where I was informed board members wanted a conversation about my leadership, I eagerly looked forward to listening, understanding and correcting whatever I was doing that would cause them such concern. The reason I called my fellow board members was to gain understanding about their perspective. I have never been asked for my perspective or had any brave conversations that would have resulted in productive resolution. Just like all of you, I was awaiting PPA’s statement to try and understand why I was removed.
I was surprised after reading the letter released by the chair on Monday, December 9 because it held some inaccuracies. The chair states that she gave the board the option to pass the necessary motion to finalize vote 1. The chair never brought this option as a solution to the board. The board was never informed prior to November 4th, in our meeting, that vote 1 wasn’t finalized. You may ask who is in charge of facilitating these elections correctly during our board meetings. It is the chairs responsibility to conduct the meetings in accordance to board policy, bylaws and parliamentary law.
What has become apparent during this experience is that the board is not interested in following any proper procedures. The reason it took 3 elections to remove me from becoming the next PPA President is because the current board refuses to follow board policy and parliamentary law. The Board selectively follows the rules only when it serves their agenda. This flexibility used in following the rules doesn’t align with my personal standards of integrity. So maybe that is the real reason I was removed.
Thank you for caring about PPA as much as you do and seeking understanding. I have been loving PPA for 25 years. I tell you my story not because I am trying to save myself, the board has ended my leadership journey. I am hoping you will save PPA from itself. The very foundation of the non-profit, member association we all love is hinging on council and members rising to make the course correction necessary for us to continue loving PPA. I will be in the council meeting, just like the rest of you, hoping and praying for this organization to avoid hitting the iceberg ahead. It’s in councils hands now.
Sincerely,
Allison English Watkins
These 2 images are my images Pete let me create inside the world famous Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Something magical happens when a photographer looks through the lens of a camera, they escape reality and see the world as they wish it was.