Personal Safety Guidance from your Board of Trustees

The GreySheet community is a microcosm of the world and as such, it is vulnerable to the same challenges as any group of people. A recent incident has highlighted the need for our fellowship to consider the issue of safety for our members and consider policies and procedures to address inappropriate behavior both in and outside of GSA meetings and events.

We are guided by the First Tradition, “Our common welfare should come first, personal recovery depends upon GSA unity.” We also learn from the experience of Alcoholics Anonymous in addressing issues of safety, violence, and personal conduct (see links).

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services Board of Trustees recommends that all GreySheeters Anonymous intergroups and groups consider how they can promote appropriate behavior and safety for their members, both in and outside of meetings and events.

As a first step, the Board of Trustees recommends that all GreySheeters Anonymous groups consider including in their meeting formats a statement regarding appropriate behavior and safety. We recommend that the statement offer options for members who have questions or feel uncomfortable.

Possible Statement

Your personal safety is of utmost importance in our GreySheet community. If you feel threatened or uncomfortable with the behavior of another member in or outside of a meeting (including bullying, harassment or inappropriate conduct), please speak with your sponsor, a trusted servant of the meeting, or of the intergroup. Your safety is our first priority.

In the Fall of 2017, in response to a rising level of concern within the GreySheeters Anonymous fellowship about the increasingly extreme variations in interpretations of GreySheet abstinence, the GreySheeters Anonymous World Services Board of Trustees commissioned the GreySheet Committee. The Board of Trustees believed that these variations threatened the unity of our fellowship and therefore the foundation of our common solution.

The President of GreySheeters Anonymous World Services appointed the members of the committee. Each member had at least 20 years of back to back GreySheet abstinence and many got abstinent in the original Cambridge community.

The Board gave the GreySheet Committee the task of capturing in writing the oral tradition of the original Cambridge GreySheet community on which GreySheeters Anonymous is based. Specifically, the Board directed the GreySheet Committee to do three things:

1. Clarify the definition of GreySheet abstinence
2. Provide guidelines for sponsors to support this clarified definition
3. Make recommendations for how the clarification and guidelines might be used by GreySheeters Anonymous.

The GreySheet Committee met twice a month from January 2018 to July 2020. The committee identified areas on the GreySheet that might have led different members of our fellowship to different interpretations of GreySheet abstinence. The committee received questions and suggestions from the Board of Trustees and the fellowship. The board also provided the committee with a clarifications and guidelines document drafted in 2018 by the trustees of the Phone Bridge Intergroup and the Literature Committee. The committee produced a set of clarifying statements and guidelines each of which was approved with substantial unanimity.

In September 2019, the World Service Conference approved the following motion:

GreySheeters Anonymous World Services publish a Report on the Clarification of GreySheet Abstinence written by the GreySheet Committee.

The conference agreed that GreySheeters Anonymous World Services would distribute the report to the fellowship via their Group Service Representatives and Intergroup Service Representatives.

The GreySheet Committee submitted this report to the Board of Trustees in August 2020. The Board distributed this report to members of the fellowship by means of the ISRs and GSRs. The GreySheet Committee held an open Q&A for members about the report at the October 2020 Video Forum and published the answers to those questions.

In accordance with the GSA principle that the GreySheet food plan always comes with a sponsor, the report is not published on this website or elsewhere. It is meant for individual sponsors to use in guiding their sponsees. If you are a GreySheeter with 90 days of back-to-back abstinence and need a copy of the report to help you with sponsoring, please ask your own sponsor or your group's GSR to send you a copy.

See Why We Don't Change the GreySheet to learn why the GreySheet Committee did not discuss or propose any changes to the food plan itself.

The Nominating Committee is responsible for selecting prospective trustees to present to the fellowship and the Board for election at the World Service Conference. Up to 12 GSA members and 1 Class B Trustee may serve on the Board. Trustees serve three year terms in a staggered rotation to ensure smooth transitions. That means there are at least four available positions open each year.

Selection Process

1. Nominations may come from the prospective board member or another GreySheeter.
2. Within 30 days of receiving a suggestion, the Nominating Committee will ensure that the candidate is willing and eligible to accept a position on the Board before presenting the candidates to the Board.
3. In August, the Chair of the Nominating Committee will present to the GreySheeters Anonymous World Service Conference delegates the slate of candidates and and explain the reasons for recommending each.
4. The Board of Trustees officially elects the new Board. The WSC delegates vote to confirm this choice.
5. The accepted slate will join the Board at the its first meeting following the WSC.
6. The Nominating Committee maintains a list of interested candidates in case of any vacancy.

Trustee Qualifications & Duties

The following are the qualifications for becoming a trustee, and by submitting an application, the applicant agrees to follow them to the best of their abilities:

Class A Trustees (GSA Members)

• Be an active member of GSA who has at least five years of back-to-back abstinence. 
• Be committed to working the GSA Steps, Traditions and Concepts of GSA. Each of the 12 Board members has one Tradition and one Concept to know thoroughly.

Class B Trustees (Non Compulsive Eaters)

• Have the desire to serve on the GSAWS Board of Trustees to share your experience gained in business, health organizations, other 12-Step program World Service Boards.
• Have a working understanding of the GSA 12 Steps, Traditions and Concepts.

All Trustees

• Be committed to service as a way of life and be willing to grow through service and its challenges.
• Be available with the skills, time and organization to competently fulfill commitments to GreySheeter's Anonymous World Service Board of Trustees and the GSA World Service Conferences.
• Be a team player willing and able to work with others in recovery.
• Be willing to speak up in any discussion to give your opinions about what is being decided. Your thoughts may inspire someone else’s vote.
• Be ready to volunteer to handle some tasks and to do them promptly and competently as part of the BOT team.
• Demonstrate the flexibility and willingness to work with others when the group conscience is not your first choice.
• Have both the technology (telephone, computer, printer, Zoom and email) and communication skills (written, verbal, and temperament) to facilitate group process.
• Have the time to travel to any GreySheeters Anonymous WSC conference, expenses for which will be paid by GSAWS.

Expectations of Trustees

Trustees are expected to attend the following meetings

• Monthly Board meetings on Zoom (1.5 hours).
• Meetings for whatever committee you will be the liaison for (1 hour plus per month depending on the committee).
• The monthly or quarterly meeting of the intergroup you are the liaison for, to share updates from the Board to the fellowship.
• Quarterly Town Hall meetings on Zoom (2 hours).

These meetings are very interesting and part of the Board's commitment to regular communication with the fellowship, but they do take some time. Serving as a member of the GSAWS Board requires time and effort equivalent to a half-time job.

How to Apply

Anyone who meets the criteria and is interested in serving should contact the Nominating Committee (nominating@greysheet.org).  Third parties can nominate potential trustees, but please confirm that the person is willing and available to serve before you do so.

Applications should include

• Candidate’s full name and contact details
• Candidate’s abstinence date (except for Class B Trustees)
• Candidate’s service resume. Examples: Has started a meeting in a new community, served as GSR, secretary, treasurer or booker for live or phone meetings, helped to organize GreySheet events such as Round Ups or Retreats, maintained GreySheet phone list, moderated GreyNet, maintained GreySheet website, maintained GreySheet meeting list, led retreats.
• Candidate’s other skills or experience of value to the Board (particularly for officers). Examples: Has served on executive committee of other nonprofit boards, is an attorney, accountant or bookkeeper, has organized services such as a telephone hotline, maintained a website, written literature or created new organizations
• Any other relevant information about the candidate.