This is a letter of concern. As I travel internationally to SA groups and have international sponsees, I am becoming more and more aware that we are an international organization. As Bill S. said recently, “We will soon have more members outside of North American than inside.” Since this is true, we must become more intentional in our efforts to include participation at all levels of all members. Here are some suggestions:

• Committee phone meetings could include VOIP and rotate meeting times so that sometimes the US members are the ones to attend during the night.

• Ability to speak English should not be a prerequisite to being a member of a committee, Delegate or Trustee. Perhaps we should be obligated to provide a translator if needed to any meeting.

• Speakers for retreats, marathons or conventions could include a non-English speaker with a translator.

• Conventions could provide translation of major talks, etc. if the need was presented in a timely matter for a non-English speaker attending.

• If we are holding “International” conventions then we must consider holding them in neutral countries sometimes so that anyone can get a visa and attend.

I am painfully aware that we are doing de-facto segregation by not thinking of the “other” language speakers. If the hand of SA is to be there for anyone who suffers from this disease, we must begin thinking inclusively.