by Tom Kovach
The holiday season has inspired me to reflect on the year as it comes to its end. What sticks out for me is all the support from the community in 2023, and I want to express my gratitude for it — and to all the volunteers, donors, and members who have made this year possible and successful.
I was recently asked: How does the Body Electric School give? How do we give back to the community in addition to the value of the workshops? That is a great question, especially since the community is so generous to the school.
The Body Electric School, since it became a not-for-profit, has offered many free community events. The Heart Circle and the Erotic Lab were the first things we provided for the community when COVID Hit. We still offer the Heart Circle and have recently added the Queer Heart Circle. We will bring back the Sunday night Erotic Labs in 2024.
We offered the JEDI Speaker Series all summer, and this month, we are offering two free online workshops: Mindful Movement, a yoga class with Shai Saliba, and Mindfulness Meditation Practice and Instruction with Steve Schwartzberg. We also produce the Erotic Liberation Podcast, which has over 30 episodes so far. With the support of our donors, we have provided over 140 scholarships to make it possible for some people to attend a workshop. We contributed free workshops to charity auctions by organizations like the Woodhull Foundation and the Fire Island Pines Party.
And I am happy to announce that we are very close to reaching our break-even goal for the year! I will ask you to help us close the gap to end the year without a deficit. We have $12,000 in matching funds, so every dollar you donate will have double the impact. Breathe into that and consider what amount feels good to you, knowing that your generosity helps us continue the transformational work that has changed so many of us for the better. Remember, some employers have matching funds for your non-profit donations. Thank you for all you do.
Happy Holidays!
Foundations of Facilitation.
We are offering a new kind of workshop on how to facilitate. No matter what kind of group you lead or may want to lead, the skill of excellent facilitation is the foundation for success. This program is being led by JoJo Bear
Call for Board Members
With the approach of the holiday season and end of calendar year, there’s a great deal of Body Electric board activity happening, wrapping up our significant and hardworking 2023-4 year with a lot of work going on around budgeting and supporting and stewarding, looking forward to a new (anniversary!) year of growth in 2024-5.
Looking back, we are so grateful to our Executive Director, Tom, and to all our staff, faculty, coordinators, ambassadors, and volunteers for what has felt like a real turnaround in the school’s sustainability.
This year, we have taken the decision to explore setting up an endowment fund; we have been blessed with a lively session led by Craig Cullinane on end-of-intensive fundraising “asks”; our JEDI+ committee has become more and more diverse, with more and more influence on board discussions and policy; we’ve had a lively and productive strategic planning process; and budgeting and financial planning got much less stressful!
Our governance committee has tackled a couple of important issues, beginning with refreshing our mission and vision. That “mission” is Body Electric’s outwardly-focused “What do we do, and for whom?” statement, which will be consistently communicated to members, donors, participants, volunteers, faculty, and all other stakeholders. We have shared a draft with staff and ambassadors and will cement it shortly. It’s much clearer.
Our vision statement — “Where do we want to be in a year, three years, five years?” etc — has a different internal focus to guide the organization’s strategies and activities and, therefore, should function as the driver of the strategic plan; again, a new draft is in its final stages.
We have had some deep discussions about really needing to broaden, across the entire organization, how we fashion and implement our interpersonal policies among workshop faculty, staff, and participants from the point of view of safety in perceived “power differentials” across all aspects of our work.
Plus, we are hard at work, with staff and volunteers, on some exciting planning for our 40th anniversary year.
Looking forward to next March, when one organizational year ends and the next begins: This is also a time of renewal for the board of directors. Some of our long-serving members will step down, and there will be openings and welcome for some new, lively, passionate and diverse voices to join the team stewarding and guiding Body Electric in the next few years. This is an exciting time to step up to the plate, and we’ll put out a call early in the new year. But before then, if you already think you might have an interest in serving, please do reach out to our Board President, Suzanne Blackburn, at suzanne@bodyelectric.org just as soon as you can!
Best wishes for all our holidays and celebrations from your board of directors.
Charles McFarland
Vice President
For more information, please go to this link
Kenneth Ray Stubbs
Board President
We want to acknowledge the passing of Kenneth Ray Stubbs, Ph.D., who passed away on November 16, 2023. Kenneth Ray was a sexual shaman, certified sexologist, documentary maker, and author of over ten books, including Erotic Massage and Secret Sexual Positions. In 1975, he joined the faculty at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. His 1989 book Erotic Massage — the Touch of Love was the first instructional book to illustrate genital massage. It has sold over a million copies.
Kenneth Ray was one of the early Western pioneers advocating for the reunification of sex and spirit. He developed “Somatic Communication,” a system of pleasure mapping. He was also a generous friend, inspirational teacher, and mentor to many. Some of us knew Kenneth Ray Stubbs personally, but his important work has touched all of us. You are missed, Kenneth Ray.