OUTREACH COMMITTEE
Our Outreach Committee is dedicated to building sustainable relationships between SAC and other organizations and targets on the national level and between Syrian-Americans and other communities and individuals on local levels. The Outreach Committee seeks to build long-term coalitions with organizations that share common ground with respect to supporting our core values of justice and freedom for Syria and broader communities. The SAC Outreach Committee strives to promote reciprocity and deeper engagement with other communities and causes, which share common ground.
HUMANITARIAN COMMITTEE
The main objective of SAC’s Humanitarian Committee is to support the development and ease the crisis and the challenges being imposed upon the Syrian community, namely the youth, who have been unfairly affected by the conflict in Syria. In order to achieve this objective the SAC Humanitarian Committee seeks to create a sustainable fund that continues to grow over time under the SAC umbrella. This fund will be dedicated to education and development initiatives for Syrian youth and will include an online portfolio of Syrian Youth Development Fund recipients and stories.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Our Membership Committee serves to maintain and expand our membership base by evaluating, managing, and enhancing membership incentives. The Membership Committee determines all rules and regulations with regards to membership sign-up. This committee facilitates the logistics of acquiring and maintaining members and standardizes the practice across chapters for receiving and welcoming new members by managing the membership software. They are also responsible for initiating and supporting new and existing chapters. All rules and regulations for membership sign-up are determined by the Membership Committee and they enforce the membership and chapter status rules as prescribed in the by-laws.
STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE
Our Strategic Planning Committee develops overarching and specific short and long-term goals to the benefit of our organization and its growth and presence. The Strategic Planning committee is interested in the development and reputation of SAC, deciding where to best put our efforts and evaluating our impact.
PROJECT EVALUATION COMMITTEE
Our Project Evaluation Committee serves to evaluate projects proposed and executed by SAC. This committee seeks to ensure the projects presented support the vision and functions of SAC and that they are achievable. The committee conducts evaluation reviews of our projects at their conclusion to determine value, impact, best practices, cost worthwhileness and determine areas for improvement.
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Our Public Relations Committee serves to cultivate and maintain positive media coverage for Syria’s struggle for freedom and democracy, SAC and its projects, and the broader Syrian American community. Together they build and direct SAC’s media outreach team, manage and execute public relations and communications initiatives for SAC’s national team, and coordinate media appearances and interviews for SAC’s members across the country. The PR committee helps analyze and develop campaigns, projects, and activities. The committee creates strategy to clearly and succinctly articulate project goals and objectives to a broad audience.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE
The primary objective of our Government Relations Committee is to develop strategies to positively and effectively impact US/Syria policy. They lead initiatives to promote and educate elected officials on the need for an inclusive, transparent Syria that includes a US policy that supports democracy. Our GR committee develops a yearly government relations strategy to engage local SAC members that articulates our larger national goals and objectives and establish grassroots presence across states with diverse communities and populations. The committee coordinates and implements programs with the Department of Homeland Security, the US State Department, USAID and US Congress. Members of our GR committee frequently give print, radio and television interviews and conduct media outreach.
WOMEN’S/YOUTH COMMITTEE
The Syrian- American Council recognizes that women in Syria must play an active role in their countries’ political processes, especially amid the regional backdrop of upheavals and conflicts. While women are equally represented in the uprisings against the dictatorial regime of Syria, they are not equally represented in the transitional structure that will shape their lives and society, and determine the future of Syria. We are launching the Syrian-American Women’s Union to strengthen these efforts by uniting Syrian-American women, advocates, and policy makers to educate and empower more Syrian women on how to effectively participate in the rebuilding of a more inclusive, diverse and democratic Syria.SAC seeks to grow and develop a special niche for women and youth involvement and leadership in SAC and the community at large. SAC’s Youth Initiative intends to create a special niche for youth advocacy and activism. As a part of this initiative high school and university students will have the opportunity to travel to Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon to volunteer their time to Syrian refugees and receive credit or community service hours from their respective institutions.
COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE
The Compliance Committee ensures overall organizational compliance with the bylaws. The committee reviews the actions of the Executive Committee and National Board of Directors to maintain adherence to the bylaws and performs annual reviews for any recommended changes to the bylaws.
** Please contact [email protected] to apply to join a committee
Best Practices
•Each committee should have a chairman
•Each committee chairman should be on the board or regularly reports to the board
•Each committee should meet regularly (e.g. at least once a week).