Dear Members of the Star Island Corporation,

We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe during these historic and challenging times. As many of you have shared with us and each other, we have all felt the weight of so many issues this year that have affected our communities, our professions, and our relationships.

We are still in the midst of a prolonged pandemic, which has adversely affected all of us and directly impacted the operations of Star Island Corporation with the closure of the conference center for the 2020 season. Our society is also in the process of reckoning with the continuing racist oppression of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, brought once again to the forefront of public dialogue by horrific acts of violence. Additionally, our planet is confronted by an urgent climate crisis, which will persist as we wrestle with these significant challenges. These issues and the work required to address them impact us all, but they also represent an opportunity in this defining moment for Star Island, our nation, and our world.

The Star Island Corporation (SIC) intends to address these myriad challenges as we plan for the long-term health, stability, and growth of our conference center, our organization, and our community. Our 4-year Strategic Plan is set to expire this year, and the Board of Directors and SIC Staff have agreed to pause and create a more immediate Strategic Resolution to serve as a bridge from the end of our current Strategic Plan to the formation of a new one. In this time of extraordinary uncertainty, we are committed to better understanding the new world that we are all in before formulating a long-range plan for the Corporation and the Island.

In this Strategic Resolution, we have endeavored to maintain the substance of the previous plan as an acknowledgment of its continued vitality. However, in light of the pressing challenges of this historic moment, our priorities have shifted, and this document reflects a focus on specific and urgent issues. Our action items for the Strategic Resolution are as follows:

Community

  1. We are committed to continue the work of the Beloved Community Project, further the conversation about racial injustice, and demonstrate action around anti-racism and the end of white supremacy culture in our communities.
  2. We will review and revise the policies, processes, organization, and structures of the Star Island Corporation to ensure that they do not present barriers to inclusion.
  3. Through the lens of dismantling white supremacy culture, we will re-examine the history of the Isles of Shoals, the events and people that we celebrate, and our ongoing traditions.

Public Health

  1. We will develop a clear set of milestones that need to be achieved in order to reopen Star Island to the public.
  2. We will establish additional operational protocols to ensure the safety of our communal Island environment in future years.
  3. We will review and revise our long-range financial, facilities, and stewardship plans in light of 2020’s island closure in order to achieve sustainability and enhance the vitality of our operations.

Environment

  1. We will continue the work of the Green Gosport Initiative to decrease our direct and indirect reliance on fossil fuels in our operations.
  2. We will develop an adaptation plan to address and mitigate the impact of rising sea levels and storm severity on our facilities and operations.
  3. We will augment the ways in which we can serve as a resource for the Seacoast Region and beyond to learn about the issue of climate change and demonstrate practical mitigation strategies to combat its effects.

We are committed to this work in spite of monumental uncertainty, because we understand and embrace our responsibility to forge ahead and carry the light of our shining Star to the world. We are also dedicated to facing these challenges and differences through civil discourse and with Star Spirit.

We ask for your support and your help, in any way that you are able to contribute, to achieve these goals. In the words of our Vision Statement, we can all work together as we aspire to move closer to our collective notion of what the world might ideally be.

~ Strategic Resolution Adopted by the Board of Directors on October 6, 2020