2023-10-14
Ĉeestas
Brandon SOWERS
David BECK
Charlotte BURTON
Ruth (Margo) KEVESS-COHEN
Enriko HARO
Ĉeestas sen Voĉdonrajtoj
Bill (Vilĉjo) HARRIS
The meeting is opened. We do not have a quorum, so voting will have to be conducted at a later time or via Slack.
Standing Reports
CO
CO is working on getting QuickBooks online working, and has send over the documents concerning the funds from the Swenson Trust, which will be placed in a separate account to go toward investments, where it will sit until it is determined how to use it.
President
A firm has been contacted to help us understand some tax issues concerning the Reed Trust. The president is gathering the required documents in order to proceed on that matter, in addition to working on communications committee matters and communicating with a lifetime member who had expressed frustration regarding a publication in the bulteno.
Treasurer
Treasurer’s report was sent out to the board. LKK is waiting on a proposal from a potential venue, CalState Dominguez Hills, in LA County.
Old Business
Board Functioning (Working Group)
No progress has been made on this, as no one has been selected to take the lead. Brandon agrees to take the lead on moving this forward.
Funds Working Group
Margo agrees to be the point person on the funds working group. The goal for this is to expand a working document, to be sure we have a clear definition of each fund, who administers each fund, and the documents we have about it. This document should include information about which funds are donor restricted vs board restricted, and should be sufficient that any new board members can read it and understand all important information about our funds.
New Board Meeting Day/Time
Tabled for a future time, with help from Quintyn. Expectations of board members is also tabled for later in the meeting or online.
New Business
Landa Kongreso Website
The LKK is moving forward with a website, which is being built by a committee member and designed by another volunteer. $95 will be budgeted toward setting up a website, and then we will get $1000 of credits. By December 1, we are hoping to have a landing page, and by January 31, we are hoping to have the full website ready for ordering and volunteers. The communications team and the LKK are collaborating to determine a website name, which could also be used for future LK-j.
ESF Matching Funds
Charlotte has provided a list of expenditures from the Goldman Fund in 2022 and year-to-date in 2023, in order to fulfill ESF’s request for documentation of how we are spending the funds. Margo has forwarded this information along with a request to continue the matching fund. Fundraising ideas are in the works to increase donations. Bill comments that in the past, we have received the most donations in years in which the president sent out a letter to members in late November or early December asking for donations. Interest is expressed in raising the matching ceiling beyond $5000, and how we would achieve that level of donations.
Usona Esperantisto
Amanda Schmidt and the nomination committee have met with the communications committee to discuss potential editors, with Alena Adler’s name coming up as a possibility. The communications committee has committed to take over as interim webmaster and may be suggested as an interim editor. It is discussed whether the role could be divided to require less centralized labor and use additional helpers. The bylaws are consulted to make sure what the rules are concerning the editor, and it is determined that the editor is ultimately responsible for selecting the material which goes into the newsletter, but could receive help in regards to tasks such as proofreading and soliciting articles, and that the bylaws require at least one issue per quarter. Currently, the editor is paid $240 per edition.
TAKE in Brazil
Roughly $4000 in stipends is being suggested to send two usonaj aktivuloj to TAKE in Brazil, with the expectation that this will be a good step toward improving relationships with other sections of the movado in the Americas and potentially towards a future TAKE in the USA. Present board members are generally in favour.
Film Festival
There is a suggestion to give honorable mention prizes to places 11-20, as the judging was very close on the top 20 entries. A commitment has already been given to donate $1000 towards film festival prizes, which would make this a budget-neutral decision. Present board members are generally in favour.
USEJ
Enriko agrees to be a point person between USEJ and E-USA board.
LSG
A suggestion is raised to invite the Ligo de Samseksemaj Geesperantistoj to hold their kongreso with us at our Landa Kongreso in 2024.