May 21, 2021 – PASADENA, MD – The Moon Society’s 2021-2022 Election Cycle has begun! Here are the candidate statements that have been submitted so far. All paid members of the Moon Society are eligible to vote in our elections. The ballots will be emailed soon. You can check your current membership status by visiting our self-service portal on Wild Apricot or you can Join Now!
James Burk – Candidate for Vice President
I am excited to announce that I am running for re-election for the office of Vice President of the Moon Society.
I was the Society’s first VP back in the year 2000 and I rejoined the organization as VP in 2018. During the last four years, here are a few of the accomplishments which I helped the Society board and officers to achieve:
Together we relaunched the Lunar Development Conference which had been defunct since 2005 and we got broad support from the space advocacy community to put on a fantastic virtual event last year. We are already on pace to duplicate that success this July with our second event. We recorded all sessions and put them on Youtube within 2 weeks of the conference and also published a conference proceedings ebook with the transcripts, slides and research papers presented.
We held a successful Moon Base Design Contest which accepted 18 high quality lunar settlement concept designs.
We purchased our parent organizations the Lunar Resources Company and the Artemis Society and all rights to the Artemis Project. We republished the original 1995 Analog Magazine article for the first time on the Internet.
We published two books by our President Emeritus, Peter Kokh: the Pioneer’s Guide to Living on the Moon, and the Pioneer’s Guide to Living on Mars. We also have the materials and rights to publish two more books with Peter’s full support and cooperation.
We relaunched our organization’s main website, created a new Lunar Traders online store, revised and modernized the technology behind the Lunarpedia and Spacepedia wikis, and archived all previous organizational materials on the Strabo file server. We also still have all of our previous websites and even the MOO still online.
In this new decade and beyond, we will witness humanity’s return to the lunar surface, the first woman on the Moon, as well as the first explorers outside of the United States. I will work to ensure the Moon Society is at the forefront of humanity’s lunar return and a staunch and vocal advocate of private and commercial lunar exploration.
We have an opportunity to bring together academic, governmental and commercial experts to dialog together and foster the creation of new projects and new collaborations.
In these endeavours, I need your help, your guidance and your suggestions. You can reach me anytime via email at jburk@moonsociety.org or my cell phone +1 206-601-7143.
Through modern technology, innovative ideas in lunar advocacy, and the hard work of our amazing volunteers, we will succeed together to settle Luna and the rest of the solar system.
Ad Luna! (To the Moon!)
Ben Smith – Candidate for Treasurer
Hi. I’m Ben Smith and I’m running for the office of Treasurer of the Moon Society. First though, I want to thank Dana Carson for all his hard work and dedication as Treasurer over all these years. You have done a great job Dana and it is much appreciated. If elected, I look forward to asking you LOTS of questions in the future.
I joined the Society in June of 2018. I’ve served as the Society’s Membership Coordinator since October of 2018. You’ve probably gotten emails from me over thepast couple of years. I’ve also served on the Board of Directors for this last term andhave actively participated in most meetings.
I’ve been an active member of the Society since I joined. I helped James Burk coordinate and run the 2020 Lunar Development Conference. I helped James with the purchase of Artemis Society International (ASI) and The Lunar Resource Company (TLRC), both instrumental in the creation of the Moon Society. I was a key member in both the website and Lunarpedia redesigns. I’ve been involved in most of the Society’s recent projects, even the ones that haven’t taken off yet.
As Treasurer, I want to streamline our financial processes and create protocols so anyone in a leadership position can take over instantly if necessary. I’m currently involved in getting our financial data into QuickBooks and will take responsibility of it as Treasurer. In addition to making our finances more transparent, we can use ournewly organized finances to apply for Gold (and eventually Platinum) status with GuideStar. Additionally, we’ll finish the process of consolidating ASI and TLRC resources into the Moon Society. With the help of the Society leadership, we’ll pursue new opportunities for financial growth. Our financial resources are the fuel we need to achieve all the great things we’ve been talking about.
Fortunately, I’ll have help getting achieving these goals. Of course, Dana will be available to answer questions. Additionally, my sister-in-law, a CPA and expert in QuickBooks and taxes, has expressed an interest in helping as well. Finally, my father has been an accountant and “financial guy” his entire career. He’s already agreed to help if I have questions.
The Moon Society has a lot of great ideas. We just need to start doing the work. As Treasurer, I’ll help make those ideas become reality. And I’m asking for your vote. Thanks for your time.
Inara Tabir – Candidate for Board of Directors
I began working in the space world 15 years ago when I founded the Galaxis network, engaging the public with the space industry. Now we have over 250,000 members. I am a natural connector. I pay attention to trends as they are forming and jump on them early. I have the ability to engage people in a way that makes them stakeholders to the benefit of organizations I work with. I am a force multiplier, meaning I will propel this organization into more engagement. I was able to turn my original network into a business, Galaxis Aerospace, and my list of partners is a testimony to my proven track record in connecting. Working with the other team members on the board I will propel the Moon Society forward, adding more members and more engagements as well as making the Society a household name. Not only am I effective, I am committed. Space is my center of gravity and everything I do filters back into human life in space. Just as the Moon gets people to look up, the moon society should get people to look forward. Lets make that happen together.
