WKI's new organizational structure reflecting addition of a Community Planning Committee (CPC) and project teams. Our organization will continue to be governed by a Board of Directors. Under our new strategic plan, we are reducing the number of seats on the board from nine to five, and formally assigning responsibility for the day-to-day business to our Executive Committee. At this time, WKI remains volunteer driven, leaving the tasks normally assigned to staff members the responsbility of the Board.  While the Executive Committee normally consists of officers, we have made provisions for non-officer and non-board member appointments to that committee in the event an officer of the board lives outside our base of operations (Knoxville TN area). New to the mix are the Community Planning Committee (CPC) and the Project Teams. 

Community Driven Program Development The CPC will be populated by members of Tennessee’s AI/AN community including diverse tribal affiliations, citizens of federally recognized nations, members of state-recognized tribes, and un-enrolled remnant and migratory individuals who identify as American Indian/Alaska Native. Following an initial meeting or two, the CPC will develop its own process for determining officers, member responsibilities, etc.

Project teams will be organized as needed, will consist of a mix of members of the community to be affected by the project, by members of identified partner organizations external to the community, and by relevant industry professionals. For those projects designed to ultimately become separate legal entities, project team members will have the opportunity to move to the board of the new organization, move into any staff positions that may be created, or move on to another development project. Like the CPC, each project team will, after an initial meeting or two, decide the processes it will use to determine its leadership and member responsibilities. WKI acknowledges pre-existing grassroots initiatives seeking our support may and probably will have basic organizational structure in place, and will work with such initiatives to determine what their specific needs are in relationship to WKI's offerings.

Cooperative internal relationships result in new programs and services

The new structure of WKI is reliant on cooperative internal relationships and with each component of the process carrying out its responsibilities for each project. The successful results of cooperation are new and necessary programs and services for AI/AN residents of Tennessee and beyond.  The goal of the new structural design is to meet Goal 2 of our strategic plan - to identify and engage community leaders and partners, and to ensure a higher level of community input, ownership and organizing in WKI programs and projects.