Kimberly Capehart

I would also love to structure and create an updated library of contracts that has easy to compare benefits amongst all the units. I envision special call outs for benefits that support justice. This ideally could include a way to sort the benefits by strength, so we can leverage our collective power in our individual bargaining.

Introduce yourself and where you work.

My name is Kimberly Capehart (she/her). I am the shop steward and e-board representative for the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). I have been with the WRC and an NPEU member since 2018. In 2023, I led the WRC unit in bargaining a new contract, which included significant steps toward protecting our most vulnerable staff, a shift closer to a four-day workweek, and substantial economic gains for the lowest paid in our organization.

Also, check out my 2019 NPEU Q&A if you are interested in more: https://npeu.org/news/2019/12/8/qampa-with-npeu-member-kimberly-capehart

Why do you want to run for this position?

I have worked as an administrator for over 10 years. I have a lot of administrative skills I would love to contribute to NPEU and the role of Secretary-Treasurer. Throughout my time as an e-board member, I have learned of several places where I think NPEU can improve our internal scaffolding so we can return to support new union organizing and adding new union siblings, both large and small, to our ranks. For example, I would love to create a union-wide Discord server where we can have a number of channels dedicated to committee work, new organizing, bargaining strategies, social events, and generally just connecting with each other as union siblings.

Members union-wide can join channels they are interested in, and share their capacity, energy, and expertise with the union. Each unit would have their own private channel, which would be maintained by that unit’s leadership to keep the server up to date with active union members, which is a challenge with the Google Group. This would additionally create greater transparency within the union, as Discord retains history that can be reviewed by new members.

What does being in a union, and specifically being an NPEU member, mean to you?

My dad was a UAW member, and, growing up, being in a union meant good health insurance and guaranteed cost of living raises. Being in NPEU, it means solid and expanding benefits for all of us. Each of our units works in silos to improve our benefits, but I would love for us to work collaboratively to improve all of our collective benefits and create new and just standards for the nonprofit workplace. I want NPEU to be the rising tide that lifts all ships.

What experiences have you had that have prepared you for this position?

In addition to serving on the NPEU e-board for four years and working in administration at several nonprofits for over 10 years, I have volunteered at numerous nonprofits, both established and new. Founding new nonprofits takes serious effort and careful forethought. For example, from 2020-2022, I was a founding volunteer of the Rise Up Project, a group created to support people nationally who lost their jobs during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We created an 8-week program to cultivate marketable skills and assist participants in finding new jobs. We also fostered a sense of connectedness for both the volunteers and the participants – especially poignant in a time of intense isolation. This experience taught me the necessity of and how to build consensus amongst the volunteers, how to ask their strengths and utilize them, and how to build strong internal structures that can withstand exponential growth.

What qualities do you believe make you a strong candidate for this position?

I am very familiar with document organization and retention, budgeting and spending analysis, taking meeting minutes, preparing presentations, creating new organizational systems and supporting documentation for other and future staff to be able to use, navigating complex and competing issues with varied stakeholders, multitasking, and, to put it simply, getting the work done.

What goals would you like to focus on or accomplish over the next 2 years if elected?

First, I want to ask the union’s help. There is a lot of work to do, and there is such incredible expertise, skill, and capacity within our union. I want to hear what folks are interested in contributing and find ways for us to improve the internal scaffolding of the union together.

For my own skills and capacity, I want to focus on some of the basics of our union. This would include rethinking our file management organization, which is a pain point I have heard the officers raise in the past. Next, I want to focus on greater transparency and on creating open access resources that are available to all our union members. I want to explore and implement better and more accessible communication systems for the membership at large.

My other priority is critically examining why there was a moratorium on new organizing (with a few exceptions for large units), identify the barriers to new organizing, and ascertain the steps necessary to return to supporting nonprofits, of all sizes, to join NPEU.