JOY Newsletter - December 2019 No images? Click here DearThe last few months have seen JOY working on building our resilience and preparing for a year of change in 2020. On 20 October we held our Annual General Meeting at RMIT with many members in attendance. Our Annual Report was distributed to those present, and can be accessed online as well as our Financial Statements. JOY fare-welled former President Mel Rich and welcomed new Board members Pete Holmes and Helen Jentz. David (Macca) McCarthy and Mark Adams were elected to remain on the Board. On the same day we held a very well attended Broadcasters meeting to discuss how we can build a more unified JOY sound. The session was extremely positive with many ideas coming forward. We have already commenced cross promotions of programs, mentoring for new broadcasters, a review of our training course, and have created a new communication tool for all JOYsters to use to collaborate and keep in touch with each other. This month we launched our new summer grid which runs through to Sunday February 2. From a diversity and inclusion perspective some highlights of the grid include: The Gender Agenda focused on issues relevant to the trans and gender diverse communities We were busy raising those sorely needed funds through various events, campaigns and on-air activities. Broadcasters have been encouraging listeners to give a JOY membership for Christmas – a great and popular idea. We received donations from Salesforce, ISPT, our Chuffed campaign, Northside Bizarre and of course from our wonderful membership & listeners. Thank you all for thinking of JOY – we are truly grateful for your ongoing support! Similarly, work has continued in earnest to boost our income through sponsorship, special events and pride season partnerships with exciting activities planned for early in the New Year. More news to follow on this one including Mardi Gras, Midsumma, AFLW Pride Game and more! We have established a diversity and inclusion working group to look at how we at JOY practice inclusion in our organisation. The group will meet for the first time early next year to discuss how we best review our practices and policies to ensure we lead by example in embracing our entire LGBTIQA+ and allied community. If you would like to join in this group, please email me at ange.barry@joy.org.au A small group of JOYsters attended the CBAA Conference to see our talented volunteers collect some well-deserved awards. Congratulations to the JOY Mardi Gras team for winning the Best Special Event Broadcast, and Checkpoint for winning the Excellence in Innovative Programming Content category. Congratulations too to the teams behind Eurovision Top 100, Hooked, Saturday Magazine, The Bench and to Alex Dislakis, who were all finalists. Saturday 26 October was Intersex Awareness Day 2019, and JOY recognised this important event. We were reminded that there is a ‘hidden’ group within the wider LBGTIQA+ family - those whose biological sex characteristics at birth are not typically male or female. Intersex variations are natural biological characteristics and are not a gender identity in themselves. We learned challenges faced by intersex people include the lack of awareness in society, organisations and government; medical interventions where not medically necessary & the resulting stigma, physical and mental issues caused. Intersex Australians want the same rights as all other Australians - bodily autonomy, self-determination and legal recognition. At JOY we acknowledge and support the Darlington Statement – please take a moment to read this important, informative statement. JOY observed Transgender Awareness Week this year with a series of rotating informational CSAs, a trans and gender diverse special on Monday Breakfast, special programming during Trans POV and Transgender Warriors, and shows taking up the challenge to include trans and gender diverse musicians in their music line-up for the week. The feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positiveI An outside broadcast was conducted on 15th November at Sircuit in Collingwood to remember the second anniversary of the Yes vote. Congratulations to the team for organising this important event which brought our community together on this special day. JOY has now officially signed up to a tenancy at the Victorian Pride Centre. We have taken a subsidised lease for an initial term of 5 years, and will commence our project to relocate our studios in January. Using Victorian Government funding, we have appointed two new team roles to assist with the move and the development of JOY’s income streams under the banner JOY Nation. Aleajandra Galan will commence as Communications & Events Manager, and Michael Strauss as ICT and Site Relocation Project Manager, from January 6, 2020. JOY will commence an independent (pro-bono) Governance review in January which will be lead by an experienced facilitator who has worked across Government, Corporate and Community organisations in leadership roles. Jennifer Wolcott has generously offered to assist JOY with this key initiative that will look at how our organisation is structured, lead and operated, making recommendations to ensure JOY is well positioned for success now and into the future. The Board has been working on building their skills and leadership capabilities, and are delighted to announce that Gary Singer will be joining the JOY Board from January 2020. Welcome Gary! I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support of JOY – we do not exist without your commitment and generosity to our work, and we are incredibly grateful for it. Finally, to those who find this time of year challenging, I send you my love and warm wishes and also that of the JOY family, your family, who are with you always. Ange Barry Chief Executive Officer - JOY 94.9 |