FEMINISTAS UNIDAS INC.

BY-LAWS

Modified and Approved February 13, 2025

 

Link to Bylaws
 

Article 1 - NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION

The name of this association shall be FEMINISTAS UNIDAS Inc., a non-profit coalition of feminist scholars in Spanish, Spanish-American, Luso-Brazilian, Caribbean, Afro-Latin American, Indigenous studies and languages, and U.S., European and Global Hispanic Studies.
 

Article 2 - OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this coalition are to create and sustain a national and global network of feminist scholars in the fields of Spanish, Spanish-American, Luso-Brazilian, Caribbean, Afro-Latin American, Indigenous studies and languages, and U.S., European and Global Hispanic Studies. The coalition seeks to strengthen the intellectual environment through:

1. Exchange of ideas and information.

2. Collaborative research projects.

3. Organization of conferences.

4. Preparation and presentation of papers and panels.

5. Gathering and dissemination of bibliographical data.

6. Recognizing and rewarding scholarly work.

7. Sharing classroom materials and methodologies.

8. Assisting with publication opportunities.

9. Career counseling and mentoring.

10. Building connections with feminist scholars in Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

11. Other appropriate joint intellectual endeavors.

Article 3 - MEMBERSHIP AND DUES

Membership

Membership is open to individuals with a professional interest in the coalition's objectives. This includes employed and unemployed scholars, independent researchers, individuals across all academic ranks (including graduate students), creative writers, and others engaged in related fields such as literature, languages, history, and cultures of Spanish, Spanish-American, Luso-Brazilian, Caribbean, Afro-Latin American, Indigenous studies and languages, and U.S., European and Global Hispanic Studies.

 

Dues

Annual membership dues are assessed according to rank and cover the calendar year (January 1 – December 31). Dues fund coalition projects, including the publication of the Newsletter, the journal Ámbitos Feministas, awards, the website and its maintenance, and arrangements for annual meetings at conferences such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and other important academic events. All members of the executive committee must pay the annual membership fee for Feministas Unidas, with the exception of the person who coordinates the website.

Article 4 - STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

FEMINISTAS UNIDAS Inc. is organized nationally and globally through an Executive Committee comprising:

1. President

2. Vice-President

3. Treasurer

4. Secretary

5. Four Members-at-Large:

• Newsletter Editor.

• Editor-in-Chief, if possible, or another person in this role, of Ámbitos Feministas.

• LASA Liaison.

• Digital content manager, in charge of maintaining the Feministas Unidas website and social media.

 

Responsibilities

The Executive Committee is responsible for initiating actions aligned with the coalition's goals and implementing decisions made by the national and global membership.

 

Restrictions

Executive Committee members are ineligible for coalition awards during their term. However, the Secretary and Members-at-Large may participate in award selection committees, but the President, Vice-President, and Treasurer cannot.

 

Award Committees

The President, in consultation with the Vice-President, will organize award committees composed of past award winners, field experts, and, where applicable, the Secretary or Members-at-Large. The President ensures compliance with anonymity standards for submissions.

 

No member of the Executive Committee may apply for Feministas Unidas awards. Only the Secretary and the four Members-at-Large may serve on committees tasked with selecting the winning submissions; the President, Vice-President, and Treasurer are never allowed to participate in these committees.

 

The President, in consultation with the Vice-President, will organize the committees—one for each award—to select the winning submissions. These committees will be composed of individuals who have previously won these awards, experts in the field, and, whenever possible, the Secretary and/or some of the Members-at-Large of Feministas Unidas.

 

Filling Vacancies

Executive Committee positions are filled through elections. If a member resigns before their term ends, either an interim appointment from within the committee is made, or early elections are held.

 

Banking Authorization

Whenever the Executive Committee is renewed, the incoming officers must be authorized to access the coalition's bank accounts. This process must occur in December.

 

Article 5 - ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Term and Elections

Executive Committee members (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and the four Members-at-Large) are elected for two-year terms by the general membership. Ballots are distributed electronically before April 30 of the year preceding the start of a new term.

 

If a position becomes vacant, special elections may be held as determined by the Executive Committee. An individual may hold multiple roles simultaneously, but their voting power is limited to one vote.

 

Nominations

Nominations must be submitted in writing to the Secretary or electronically before February 28 of the election year. Nominations may also be made at the Annual Meeting, including self-nominations. For the positions of president, vice president, secretary, newsletter editor, and liaison with LASA, it is recommended that only individuals with a PhD be considered, preferably those affiliated with the university and who are able to write and speak in both English and Spanish.

 

Voting

A simple majority determines the winner. In the event of a tie or lack of a majority, additional ballots are cast until a winner is determined.

 

Transition

Terms begin January 1 and end December 31. When possible, the Vice-President will assume the role of President following their term. Secretaries, Treasurers, and Members-at-Large may seek reelection. When possible, outgoing Presidents may immediately run for another role, excluding the Presidency, unless there are reasons such as organizational restructuring or similar issues that require a longer period, but no more than two additional consecutive years.

 

Article 6 - DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

President

• Presides at the Annual Meeting and Executive Committee meetings.

• Appoints ad hoc committees.

• Oversees elections and compliance with by-laws.

• Coordinates awards (calls for submissions, reviews anonymity compliance, forms selection committees, communicates results).

Additionally, the President is responsible for issuing the call for submissions for the annual Feministas Unidas awards (reviewing the guidelines, submission procedures, etc.), receiving and reviewing submissions to ensure compliance with anonymity standards, identifying individuals to serve on the award committees, preparing all necessary documentation for the awards, and sending it to the Vice-President. The Vice-President will then manage communication between the award committees and Feministas Unidas.

After the committees have made their decisions, the Vice-President will notify the President of the titles of the winning works. The President is responsible for contacting both the award recipients and those who did not receive the recognition. The names of the award winners will be announced at the annual MLA conference.

​

• Acts as the primary liaison with MLA. The President serves as the liaison with the MLA and is responsible for initiating the calls for the guaranteed session, the non-guaranteed session, and seeking potential collaborations for sessions with other organizations that can be supported. The President also prepares the necessary details for the annual meeting.

The topics for these sessions should be developed by soliciting ideas from the Executive Committee and the membership, ensuring that the calls reflect the wide variety of interests within the Feministas Unidas membership. Whenever possible, the President should attend the MLA annual conference in person if the sessions are held in person or online if the sessions are virtual.

​

When Feministas Unidas has sufficient funds, the organization will cover the early bird registration fee for attending the annual conference, but not the annual MLA membership fee, which remains the individual’s responsibility. Additionally, every seven years, the acting President must complete the review report required by the MLA.

The President must first pay this fee personally and, once the Feministas Unidas sessions are confirmed in September, submit the proof of payment to the Treasurer, who will then reimburse the amount.

​

• Acts as the primary liaison with LASA. The President is responsible for submitting the final proposal for the guaranteed session that Feministas Unidas has with LASA. Whenever the President attends this annual conference, whether in person or online, LASA covers the conference fees and the annual membership fee for this organization.      Together with the LASA liaison, the President is tasked with issuing the call for the guaranteed session, disseminating information about this session, selecting the proposals to be included, and managing, assisting, and coordinating the session, whether it is held in person or online. Whenever possible, a meeting will be convened during the organization of this conference. It is the responsibility of the President to contact the person in charge of LASA dues to confirm the exemption from conference fees and annual membership remains in effect. If at any point LASA discontinues this exemption, Feministas Unidas will cover the conference fee under the same terms as those stipulated for the LASA liaison. However, the liaison will no longer be reimbursed for these fees. Only the President will be reimbursed, limited to the conference fees, while the annual membership fee will remain the individual’s responsibility.

• Opens the call for proposals from the membership for sessions at the Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) conference or any other conference in which Feministas Unidas is involved.

• Organizes online book presentations, reading clubs, lectures by prominent individuals, etc. Each session must be recorded and later added to the Feministas Unidas YouTube channel. As many sessions as the membership desires can be facilitated, with a minimum of two per year.

• Sends monthly communications to the membership alongside the Secretary.

• Ensures a smooth transition between Executive Committees by providing essential documents, by-laws, and account access.

• The President and Treasurer must use the generic email accounts created to ensure that all communications from Feministas Unidas are properly recorded. Additionally, they are responsible for maintaining their respective Google Drives with the materials generated during their term. They are required to keep a personal copy of all materials produced during their tenure with Feministas Unidas on their personal computers, in addition to storing them in the association's Google Drive, managed through the President's account.

• Feministas Unidas Website: Together with the secretary and the person in charge of maintaining the website and social media, they are responsible for updating the Feministas Unidas website.

 

Vice-President

• Assumes the President's duties in their absence.

• Manages communications with award committees, ensuring documentation (rubrics, scores, and winners) is accurate and complete before results are announced.

This person is in charge of communicating with the people who form the prize committees. Their responsibility is to share the submitted works, rubrics for the committee members to use, coordinate how the committees deliberate and meet. This person cannot be part of these deliberations, and the respective committees inform her of the winning works. Before communicating these results to the president, it is the vice president’s duty to ensure that all rubrics with comments on each work are in the digital folder, as well as that the scores for each work are recorded and the winner is clearly identified, usually managed through an Excel document. Once this person has checked all of this, the vice president must inform the president of the slogan of the winning works.

• Acts as secondary liaison with MLA and supports continuity by attending MLA conferences when possible.

 

Secretary

• Records minutes of Annual and Executive Committee meetings.

• Manages correspondence and arrangements for meetings.

• Sends monthly updates to members.

• Oversees website updates with the President, and the person in charge of the website and social media.

• Provides voting links to eligible members.

 

Treasurer

• Manages finances, including dues collection, accounts, and membership records.

• Coordinates banking transitions between Executive Committees.

• Approves expenses with input from other Executive Committee members.

• Submits in timely manner the annual taxes, including Form 990-N, which provides the IRS with important financial information about the organization

• Is responsible for submitting a bi-annual financial report to the board, which is then included in the newsletter for the members.

 

Members-at-Large

• Newsletter Editor. Assists in coalition activities, including the publication twice a year of the Newsletter and maintains sections of the coalition's website.

• Editor-in-Chief of Ámbitos Feministas. Assists in coalition activities, including the publication once a year of Ámbitos Feministas and maintains sections of the coalition's website. Whenever possible, the Editor-in-Chief will be in charge; however, when this is not possible, another member of the editorial team will take on the role.

• LASA Liaison: As long as the individual attends the LASA conference, either in person or online, Feministas Unidas will cover part of the conference registration cost, always in relation to early bird registration. If the cost is equal to or less than the MLA annual conference fee, the full amount will be covered. If the cost exceeds the MLA annual conference fee, only the amount equivalent to the MLA fee will be reimbursed, excluding the annual membership fee. The individual must first pay the registration fee, and once the Feministas Unidas session is officially confirmed by LASA—initially with a confirmation in November and a final one in March—they must send the treasurer proof of payment for the conference, which will then be reimbursed.

• Digital content manager: this person is in charge of maintaining the Feministas Unidas website and social media. This individual must keep the Feministas Unidas website updated according to the instructions of the President, Secretary, and the person from the Ámbitos Feministas editorial team. Additionally, this person is responsible for posting content on Feministas Unidas' social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, or others. This person is exempt from paying the annual membership fee of Feministas Unidas. Like the rest of the executive team, they cannot run for awards but can participate in committees to select the winning works.

 

Article 7 - MEETINGS

Annual Meeting

The coalition meets annually during the MLA conference. Additional Executive Committee meetings may be called as needed. The coalition may also organize separate conferences without replacing the Annual Meeting.

 

Article 8 - VOTING PROCEDURES

Membership Voting

Voting at the Annual Meeting is conducted by voice, show of hands, or online format. A simple majority carries the vote.

 

Executive Committee Voting

Voting among Executive Committee members follows the same procedures and may also be conducted online.

 

Article 9 - AMENDING THE BY-LAWS

Proposals to amend the by-laws must be submitted to the Executive Committee at least two months before the Annual Meeting. Members will receive proposed changes one month prior to the meeting. Amendments take effect immediately upon majority approval.

​

Article 10 - PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

 

When necessary, the President may invoke Robert's Rules of Order to facilitate meetings and decision-making processes.

FEMINISTAS UNIDAS Inc.

Modified and Approved February 13, 2025