The membership of WSO has elected officers for the corporation who will now serve two-year terms. Voting electronically and by mail, members ratified the slate proposed by the nominating committee. Mary Korkor of Hartland was elected president; succeeding her as vice president is Sunil Gopalan of Middleton, and returning as secretary, Jenny Wenzel of Caledonia. Their terms began May 16.
A total of 123 ballots were cast, 89 electronically and 34 by mail.
Elections for WSO’s leadership to one-year terms previously have occurred at our Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with our annual convention. COVID-19 has forced WSO’s Board of Directors to manage our affairs in new ways. We were one of the first statewide organizations to recognize the need to protect our members and volunteers through social distancing, cancelling our 2020 convention and all field trips through July 31.
These actions led the board, voting electronically, to amend bylaws to permit voting by electronic ballot, creating an opportunity for every member to cast a ballot.
WSO members with email were notified that, beginning on April 16, they could access their ballot by following a secure link. Those for whom we lacked an email address got the same notification by regular mail.
A recent change in corporate bylaws extended officer terms to two years. Another change eliminated the election for treasurer, which is now an appointive position, and Dani Baumann will be continuing in that important role.
The new officers:
PRESIDENT: Mary has served as vice president for two years. She joined the WSO Board as development chair and served on the Conservation Committee. Prior to that, she served on the boards of Wisconsin Public Radio and the Kettle Moraine Garden Club and on various committees in her local community.
She grew up in the city but now lives on a 40-acre bird-friendly hobby farm, with gardens, a native prairie, pastureland and a pond. She says she hopes to share her admiration and excitement for this organization with members and the community at large.
VICE PRESIDENT: Sunil has served as WSO’s website coordinator since 2018 and joined the WSO Board in 2019. He also writes the Spring Seasonal Report for the Passenger Pigeon and will continue to administer our website. He works full time at Epic, an Electronic Health Record software development company and has spent time playing various IT roles over the years.
He grew up in a very urban but also a very bird-rich part of India, and has lived in the Midwest for almost all of his adult life. A serious interest in birding didn't catch on until he took a break from a hectic work life when his daughter was born. He now is a widely published bird photographer and has spent time birding on five continents but calls Middleton (Dane County) home with his wife Heidi and their two children.
SECRETARY: Jenny joined the WSO Board in 2012 as secretary and now has been re-elected eight times.
She has lived her entire life in Wisconsin and has always been interested in nature. She has always enjoyed feeding backyard birds but was turned on to birding as a hobby by a warbler walk advertised by the Hoy Audubon Society of Racine and Kenosha in 2008.
She has been active in Hoy ever since and has served on its Board of Directors as treasurer, newsletter editor, vice president and is the current president.
Jenny and her husband David live in Caledonia (Racine County), monitor a 20-box bluebird trail at the South Hills Golf Course in Franksville, and vacation in Marinette County each summer. She is an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist with Aurora Health Care.
-- This is one of several timely articles in this month's Badger Birder newsletter; don't miss out on the latest birding and conservation news. Become a WSO member today! --
