Title: COS New Jersey Challenge Coin Award Winners
Original CoS Document (slug): cosnj-challenge-coin-award-winners
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Created: 2019-07-31 22:31:31
Updated: 2019-08-12 23:00:02
Published: 2019-08-05 09:31:09
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:04:00.008555105
Making something happen that never has, such as a Convention of States, is the ultimate challenge. To be a part of making history is no small feat. It is an arduous endeavor, requiring confidence, focus, and enormous generosity.
As the founder of Convention of States, Mark Meckler shared in a special presentation dedicated to New Jersey's Challenge Coin recipients: State Director Jonathan Viaud and Grassroots Coordinator Bill Boniface.
Meckler said that they each represent, “true leadership [that] is developed and forged in the fire of challenge.” It should be noted that there are only 300 Challenge Coins, making them as rare as the kind of leadership displayed by those who have earned them. Watch the video for Mark's full presentation.
Without a doubt, New Jersey has seen tremendous progress under the leadership of Jonathan and Bill, both of whom believe the key to getting New Jersey to join the growing list of states to pass the COS resolution is by educating and activating the citizens.
Together, they have built one of the nation's most active armies of grassroots citizens for COS.
Their story began in 2014 when they attended a debate between COS Co-Founder Michael Farris and Andy Schlafly of Eagle Forum. Shortly thereafter they became COS District Captains.
Back then, the tools at their disposal were hardly as sharp as they are today for COS volunteers. Nonetheless, they both understood the importance of COS and knew they could count on each other for encouragement on the journey.
In these early days, Bill would open up his company's building for informational meetings that he and Jonathan advertised through emails and Facebook.
Reflecting back on this, Jonathan admits, “There were plenty of times where no one showed up. Yet, even in moments when it seemed the task may be too daunting, Bill would shrug his shoulders and say, 'Whatever we are doing now is more than would be done if no one was volunteering.' Those words always stuck with me, even in moments of doubt, and really kept me with the team.”
Jonathan and Bill spend countless hours supporting new team members, driving all over the state, facilitating or attending meetings other volunteers organize, teaching various COS resources for others to succeed, finding ways to optimize processes, and coming up with innovative ways to organize and energize the grassroots.
In the end, as Bill described, “the Challenge Coin is an heirloom to future generations and the culmination of having laid all the groundwork…” in pursuit of a monumental goal and to one day soon triumph in getting New Jersey to pass the COS resolution.
COS New Jersey has motivating and inspiring leadership. If you haven't volunteered and are interested in joining the team of grassroots activists, check out the Take Action page to learn about how you can get involved!