CSTS Global Steering Committee

Contact the CSTS Steering Committee by emailing them at gsc@cantstoptheserenity.com . Click the name above their picture to email that member of the Committee.

Cheryl Mattson
In Memoriam

Cheryl Mattson - CSTS Global Steering Committee Chair — Cheryl Mattson

Cheryl has been with Can’t Stop the Serenity as Communications Director since 2016 and is entering her first year on the Steering Committee.

She comes to the Steering Committee with a passion for seeing CSTS continue to grow. In addition to being involved with CSTS, she is currently serving on the board of directors of Utah Browncoats Society and remains active with the Utah Browncoats with their fundraising and events.

Cheryl enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews, misbehaving with her friends, and playing with her dog.

Matt Black
Chair

Matt Black - CSTS Global Steering Committee — Matt Black

Matt started as a local event organizer for Can’t Stop The Serenity back in 2006. Years and thousands of dollars donated to Equality Now later, CSTS Philadelphia is still going strong. Their team of of volunteers run multiple CSTS events per year, plus raising money for Equality Now at fan club tables at numerous conventions annually.

Matt is passionate about Equality Now and CSTS and is looking forward to helping revitalize the movement. Matt also chaired the Browncoat Ball in Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Las Vegas, and has served on the Browncoat Ball Steering Committee since 2007. He remains active with, and an event organizer for, the Pennsylvania Browncoats.

Outside of fandom, he directs project managers, is a tequila aficionado, enjoys board games and RPGs, and is the willing servant of two feline overlords.

Andrea Edman
Equality Now

Andrea Edman - CSTS Global Steering Committee (Equality Now) — Andrea Edman

Andrea has been working at Equality Now for almost two years on the fundraising and communications teams. She works closely with groups such as CSTS to help raise awareness of Equality Now’s work and achieve success in fundraising and supporter engagement.

Before working at Equality Now, Andrea was not privy to the Can’t Stop the Serenity fan group but since then she has seen all the Firefly Episodes and the film Serenity and not only loves the show and film but is also constantly inspired and motivated by the Browncoats and CSTS at large and their efforts.

In her spare time Andrea enjoys running, seeing all kinds of theater and trying all the new food she can.

Emma Doran

Emma has been a local CSTS organiser with the small but mighty Adelaide Browncoats for four years. In that time they have run three events with proceeds going to Equality Now and a local organisation that provides much needed sanitary items to homeless and disadvantaged women and girls.

In 2016 she joined the global CSTS team working on communications and over the last three years has been lucky enough to become friends with CSTS organisers around the globe.

In her regular life Emma is a British expat, originally from near Manchester in the north, now living in sunny Adelaide with her husband and two young sons. She loves anything Whedon, exploring the many wine regions around South Australia and connecting with fellow geeks wherever she finds them.

Ria Selvaggio

Ana Maria “Ria” Selvaggio was inducted into the ‘verse after the series had cancelled but before Serenity, and she was hooked. One week before moving her family to Kentucky in 2016, she took over a defunct Facebook group with three inactive members and started the Kentucky Browncoats. Three years, 170 “family” members, and 40 events later, she is just getting started.

Ria has been an illustrator, writer, and designer for more than 30 years under the name Renmeleon. She has designed swag and unique interactive games for conventions, as well as a pairs-matching card game, Stegs & Cerato, based on two toy dinosaurs belonging to her favorite pilot.

Future plans for her extended family will incorporate her love of writing and gaming, as well as packaging some of the tools in her creative arsenal for the CSTS community to help boost the signal.

Purpose of the Global Steering Committee

The Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Steering Committee (GSC) are volunteers working to ensure the continued success of Can’t Stop the Serenity events for charity. The GSC represents the strategy setting and organizational process supervisory body of Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS).

The Global Steering Committee (GSC) was originally created to address the potential for “event drift” from year to year. The GSC served as a de facto “consistency committee” which was to be kept apprised of planning details and merchandise/sponsorship deals. The committee is also serves as a backup in case the Global Event Coordinator must withdraw.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Global Steering Committee is responsible for:

Ensuring consistency of purpose for the event.
Organizing and overseeing the election of the Global Event Coordinator (GEC), and ensuring that handover goes smoothly.
Preparing Global Policies. These are policies shall be developed prior to selection/election and as required at the request of the Global Team.
Specifying and advising on changes to procedures to be published in the Global Organizer’s Handbook.
Setting the Event Window and Key Deadlines (including Registration and Global Tally Finalization).
Ensuring the history of the event is documented and maintained.

The Steering Committee Chair can delegate the authority to a Steering Committee Co-Chair selected from the Steering Committee Members.

In the situation where the Global Event Coordinator cannot fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the role for any reason, the Global Steering Committee shall either provide support to a deputy Global Event Coordinator or the Global Steering Committee shall appoint a GSC member to oversee the management of the Global Team. In such a case the GSC may also work to find a replacement for the Global Event Coordinator.

Decisions of the Global Steering Committee are made by a two-thirds majority.

Membership

The Global Steering Committee (GSC) consists of the Steering Committee Chair, and 4 Steering Committee Members (including a representative from Equality Now).
To ensure the compliance with Equality Now’s expectations, procedures and policies, a Representative from Equality now is by default among the Members of the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee Chair is be elected by the members of the GSC.

Term Length

Membership on the Global Steering Committee is a two year commitment, commencing in October each year. The term length of the Equality Now representative is at the discretion of Equality Now, but should be no less than 1 year.
In any given year, two members will be in the first year of their term, and two members will be in the second year of their term. Where circumstances result in all terms concluding at the same time, two (2) members of the newly elected team will have a two year term and two (2) will have a one year term (to facilitate the commencement of the rotational structure).
Members on the Global Steering Committee can be considered for re-selection for consecutive terms.

Eligibility

Applicants must have been a past Screening Event Organizer (Lead) or Global Organizing Team member. Affiliate event organizers are not eligible for membership at this time.
Individuals from any global location may apply for each position.
Applicants must have a sound knowledge about the issues within their region (e.g. Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe etc) and be prepared to become familiar with the issues and needs of all other regions to confidently represent the needs of the global CSTS community.
Members must not be part of the current Global Organizing Team. The exception to this is where elections take place within 1 month of the end of the applicant’s term on the Global Organizing Team.
Applicants must not have been banned from participation in any capacity such as an Organizer/Committee member within the CSTS movement or other organisations.
The representative from Equality Now is selected by Equality Now, and must be an Equality Now employee.

Selection Process

If you would like to apply to be a member of the Global Steering Committee or need to contact the Committee, you can email them at gsc@cantstoptheserenity.com.
The selection process does not apply to the Equality Now representative.
Nominees must complete a formal Global Steering Committee Membership Application, and provide two letters of recommendation. The Global Steering Committee Membership Application is a written response that covers the role for consideration, contact information (including screen names used), outlines relevant skills and experience and a statement about why the applicant wants to take on the role and their goals for CSTS. Letters of Recommendation may be from any of the following: a Global Team member (past or current), an Event Organizer (Screening or Affiliate), or Event Team Member (for the event the applicant was Organizer of).
Voting is limited to current year Organizers of Screening events and Affiliate events, and will be decided by a two-thirds majority. Nominees may not vote for themselves. The current Global Steering Committee Chair is not eligible to vote except in the case of a tie, where they holds the deciding vote (where the Global Steering Committee Chair is standing for re-election, this responsibility is passed to the Equality Now representative).