Dear Members, I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the Member Elections last month, and send a special thanks to those of you who voted for me, and supported my campaign. Thanks, too, to Executive Director Sara Horowitz, my fellow Board Members Stephanie Buchanan, Trisala Chandaria, Charles Heckscher, Andrew Kassoy, and Hanan Kolko, as well as to the Staff members and other attendees who all gave me such a warm welcome at my first Board Meeting this week. It’s an honor to have been elected Member Representative, and I’m excited by the opportunities ahead. Running for this position showed me that no matter our titles or industries, we freelancers share common experiences and priorities, so I’m assured that I’ll be bringing both my experience as a self-employed designer and the more universal perspective of an independent worker to our Board conversations. There’s a lot of great stuff in the works, and once it’s rolled out, I guarantee that Members nationwide will be impressed. However impressive the current work of the Board and our active Members is, though, I can’t stress enough that we’ve only just begun. The modern workforce is changing fast, and the rules in place are not. We’re working under laws that were designed to protect the workers of my Grandparents’ and Great Grandparents’ generations, and they’re simply not enough for today’s workforce. That’s why Freelancers Union needs your continued help. Whether you write your representatives to ask for their support of healthcare reform, attend a Monthly Member Meeting if you’re in the New York City area (every month is a good month to come check it out!), or make a donation to the PAC, your efforts will go far to help us keep the momentum going, and change the world of today’s worker. Thank you all, again, for the opportunity to serve on the Freelancers Union Board. I look forward to an exciting two years of bringing advocacy, fairness, and community to the Independent Workforce. All best, Joseph Caserto Member Representative Freelancers Union Board of Directors