Hi Dan,
RASA has developed from members that were part of the
WIA reform group (WIARG). You
may be receiving emails because at some stage you took some interest in what the WIARG were up to in relation to the WIA. Subscribing to the WIARG is
one way that you could have made it onto the RASA mailing list.
Your first question can be answered by looking at their web pages. Your second question may or may not be answered by what you read.