Thank you to everyone for the welcoming words and heartfelt comments following yesterday’s announcement. They were a powerful reminder that even more than superheroes the most important legacy of comic books is the comics community.
I’ll have a lot more to say about CBLDF’s role in that community as we move forward, but first, I’d like to share a few initial thoughts about our rebuilding process.
With regard to ethical commitments, we’ve already begun to discuss reforming CBLDF’s internal policies and procedures. Anti-harassment provisions will be an integral part of this as will diversity and inclusion. Another key aspect of our ethical reforms will be transparency — you’ll see what we’re doing and why, and if you have your own recommendations you’re welcome to send them our way.
And as I said on Twitter, if you’re tired of hollow corporate-speak and unfair harassment investigations, I’m with you. That’s why I’ve spent so much time on this issue, including the development of more trustworthy reporting procedures and the enactment of local- and state-level protections for independent contractors, which have significant ramifications for comics. I’ll be talking more about all of this too, along with how we can put in place standards that, I hope, will be a model for the entire industry.
Several of you have asked why I have the word “Interim” in my title. In brief, the title means exactly what it says: I’m not going to apply for the longer-term executive director position, nor will I accept it if offered.
One reason for this is that I want to exemplify that an executive director does not have to be permanent — in fact, once an organization’s founders have moved on, getting accustomed to change at the top can help prevent the feeling that executive directors must be kept in office no matter what they do.
In addition, eliminating a personal stake in keeping the position helps the rebuilding process. There’s no question as to whether my advice is being tempered to protect my job security because there’s no job to protect. My aim for the time I’ll be serving in this position is to build a stronger organization for the next executive director — and that’s it.
Finally, as to whether the CBLDF will stay true to its founding mission, our commitment to creators’ rights and creative freedom remains strong. If you find yourself in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts on how we can best fulfill our founding mission, we look forward to hearing from you. We’ll be setting up new ways for you to connect with us soon, but in the meantime, you can reach us at our main email address, info@cbldf.org, or you can email me directly at jeff.trexler@cbldf.org. You can also contact me via DM at Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, where I’m @jefftrexler on each.
Much good remains to be done, and we’re eager to return to work!