The mission of MIX is simple: we exist as a member-led organization with a focus on providing community, education, support and advocacy for Nashville’s ENM/CNM practitioners through organized activities which cater to the needs and wants of its membership, while providing those activities in an environment that is welcoming and accepting of everyone, without distinction. Our public events will be open to anyone and everyone who is interested, no matter who they are or where they might be in exploring ENM/CNM relationships.
Leadership of MIX currently consists of a Director, who serves as a coordinator for how all of leadership will implement the events and offerings our membership want to pursue, while also supporting the various individuals who will plan and implement individual MIX events. Each MIX event will have at least one (but likely many) leader(s) who will help envision, plan, and execute that specific event in line with the ideals and goals established by the MIX community. The position of Director will be member-elected and for a single year term, with a limit of maximum term of two consecutive years (e.g., two one-year terms held back-to-back) for anyone holding the position.
The position of global director is currently supplemented by a Board of Advisors, which is intended to be an elected body where each Advisor would hold a two-year term. These advisors have the ability to hold the global director accountable for decisions counter to the ideals and goals of MIX, as well as to provide leadership and insight to the Director when the MIX needs to navigate issues that may arise as the group moves forward.
All of these positions will serve the membership, who ultimately hold the power over how MIX operates on all levels. All decisions involving which leadership positions are created (or removed), the required qualifications to hold any leadership position, as well as the possible removal of those holding those positions from office will be determined by a direct vote of the members.
Given that MIX is in the process of relaunching and establishing its membership rolls, no current member of leadership, from the Director to the Board of Advisors, has been properly elected at this time; each person in those roles has volunteered to hold their positions for a short, temporary amount of time until proper rules regarding leadership positions and the qualifications to hold those positions have been reviewed and approved by a direct vote of the MIX membership. It is a fundamental tenant of MIX that all leadership roles must be chosen by the membership directly; while that can’t happen during the infancy of the organization, it is the top priority of the current leadership to have member-approved leaders installed into these positions as soon as it is logistically and organizationally possible to do so.
Again — in a similar nature to how membership has been explained earlier in this article, this description is only the current leadership’s vision for how leadership may operate in MIX until the members of MIX can have their say. It is likely that these plans will change in the coming months, so please keep checking in for more updates as they happen.
While the membership of MIX is still in its infancy, it is the intention of current leadership to establish two levels of membership in MIX going forward: Associate and Established Members. When a potential member requests to join MIX, they will be designated an “Associate Member” of MIX. Associate Membership allows this person access to event notifications and discussions on our private website and/or Discord server, where they may remain an Associate Member for as long as they wish. Associate Members may become Established Members of MIX by attending an educational event, which will cover topics like the history of ENM/CNM relationships and culture, the different forms and types of ENM/CNM, basic etiquette for interacting with people in sexualized spaces, and how promoting inclusion and enthusiastic consent works to make our activities and events the best they can be. After attending and participating in these introductory educational opportunities, an associate member will become eligible to join MIX as a full Established Member.
Established Members of MIX will have the ability to attend not only our open public events, but also additional events and meetings normally closed to the general public. Established Members are also eligible to vote in referendums and leadership elections, as well as to enter leadership themselves in an elected or appointed position. Established members are also entitled to sponsor non-established individuals as attendees for some private, Established Member-only events we are planning to hold in the coming months.
The current leadership of MIX wants potential members to know that what has just been stated is only the current plan for relaunching MIX in early summer 2023. Given that we are a member-led organization, these plans likely will change based on the desires of our members — so please continue to watch this space for any changes that might come about as we grow and engage with our new members!
Inclusion matters to MIX — not only do we strive to just be inclusive, but we also give maximum effort to being as “anti-” as we possibly can be towards anything that may divide us and exclude others (e.g., anti-ableist, anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-transphobic). We attempt to do this though active engagement with all marginalized communities, listening to what they have to say, respecting what those communities are willing to share with us about their experiences, and then implementing policies which support those communities while also continuing to support our current membership.
We also recognize that, as humans, we may fall short of these values — and, consequently, we also promote honesty, transparency and grace when people fail. We advocate for restorative justice practices over punitive and regressive punishment whenever possible. We believe humans can become better through dialogue, learning and mutual understanding, no matter where they might be on their journey.
We expect our members to strive to also be anti-exclusion, not only in the ways they already are but also through challenging personal biases they may discover during their own life experiences. The work is hard, but ultimately work worth doing.
