Attendees:

Susan R., Chair

Vacant., Vice Chair

Jennifer B., Treasurer

Jeff B., Secretary

Mark M., Technology Chair

Beth A., International Trustee

Barry M., Trustee At Large

Anita M., Alternate Secretary

Shelly, Visitor from The Acid Test as IGR

Nilsa L, Visitor from Serenity Group as Alternate IGR

Susan R., the Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM, and opened with the We version of the Serenity prayer. Susan welcomed the visitors and stated visitors’ questions will be answered any questions they may have at the end. This meeting is for the Board and they can listen only.

Overview of Agenda: Minutes, Secretary and Treasurer Reports, No Old Business, New Business: Inventory, Pro-Bono, Financial Review Discussion, ASL information.

Meeting Minutes Approval:  

• June 9, 2024, Board of Trustee minutes: Jeff reviewed them.
  • Motion: Jennifer made the motion to accept, and Mark seconded. No one opposed. Minutes approved.
• July 11, 2023, Board of Trustee minutes: Jeff noted these were developed from the Chair’s notes and meeting Agenda, due to the recording not being available to use.
  • Motion: Mark made a motion to accept the minutes and Jennifer seconded. No one opposed. Minutes approved.

Treasurer’s Report – Jennifer B., Treasurer

• June Variance: The detailed report is found on the OIAA website in the Finance Committee tab. June was very good regarding contributions. Revenue for June was up 48% both individual (47%) and group 48%) were higher than expected. Year to Date is excess $8,300 when compared to budget. Expenses were reviewed and highlighted. Positive a little over $4,100 for June. No comments.
• Balance Sheet: Straightforward report, $131,000 in bank. Cash just over $126,000 with $5,500 earmarked for OIAA International Convention.
• Contributions: Ties in with Budget vs. Actual. Contributions are $7,500. 58 individual groups contributed for June. LED lighting contributed $80, and they are not a group or individual member. Jennifer asked for input on returning the funds. The Board agreed to return the funds. Budget templates were sent out to Committee Chairs. Interpretation budgets will be based on $37 per hour. Discussion was held on projecting expenses in the draft 2025 budget.

Comments on Financial reports:

• Barry asked whether new groups receive a welcome note or thank you when they first contribute. Jennifer reported they do not. No further discussion.
• Minutes reflected Jennifer would do some research on who we receive contributions from. Barry agreed to look into it.

Motion: Mark made a motion to send two Board members, Barry and Susan, to the NAATW conference and refund their $100 registration fee. Beth seconded the motion. Barry and Susan abstained. The motion passed.

Jennifer reviewed the use of interpreters at the Conference and would like to train them to be used overall for all of our needs not only the October Convention: Assembly, Forums, Unity. She felt this is a global orientation and should be paid for by the Board. Some further discussion regarding Tech 12 training, and Relay training. Susan asked for this to be discussed with Beth the Convention Chair. The Board agreed.

Inventory Dates Discussion, Jeff, and Beth: Jeff stated that Gregg is not available on July 28, 2024, to do the 2^nd half of 1^st set of questions and J. Gary is available. He suggested that to keep this moving forward we ask J. Gary to do the 2^nd half of the 1^st session questions.

Motion: Jennifer made a motion to have J. Gary complete the 2^nd half of the 1^st set of Board inventory questions, and Mark seconded. All were in favor.

Two sessions will be needed for the second set of questions. Jeff asked for dates from the Board. The Board agreed upon August 10, 2024 @ 3 pm EST and August 13, 2024 @ 2 pm EST.

Pro-bono Legal Representation, Susan, Chair

A clarifying discussion took place regarding the Board decision made in June for Barry, Trustee-at-Large, to pursue the issue. Jeff will send a letter on behalf of the Board thanking Pro-Bono for their service.

Barry began his presentation and noted that he did ask Pro-Bono if they had any recommendations. They did not because they could not refer us to anyone else. The summary created for the Board is in Board Drive and was shared during the meeting for discussion. The Board discussed those candidates and then asked for a recommendation from Barry. Barry recommends Brett Harris/Wientz as the number one choice and ranked Farrah Asiana Shek Price and then Monica Vin Lindabury.

Barry then stated that there needs to be a primary contact.

Jeff made a motion to accept the recommendation of Brett Harris/Wientz to be OIAA Legal Counsel and Beth seconded. All in favor.

Jeff made a motion, that Susan be the point of contact and an alternate contact be Barry.  Jennifer seconded the motion. All in favor.

Posting Financial Review Publicly: Treasurer recommends posting it to the membership for full transparency and that we have been internally reviewed with no findings. Barry supports this with the caveat that the members have a sign in.  Mark states that this is not an option for members only. After discussion, Jennifer made a motion to post the written report publicly on the OIAA website and Jeff seconded. Two opposed Susan and Barry.  It will be posted on the Treasurers page. Minority opinion: redirected to the discussion. Did the minority opinion change anything on the prevailing side? Nothing changed.

Terms of Use: Susan asked Beth about discussing. Beth redirected it to legal; it is a large document. Barry stated it is considered to be good to have and not required.

ASL: Susan provided a report. She spoke with Gwen about contacting the deaf community. Jennifer said we have a clear set of guidelines and if we need to get ASL interpreters for OIAA events. Susan will work with CPC to get the word out about ASL. Jeff recommends the Board treat providing ASL as an accessibility concern. Beth mentioned what about other deaf people who do not speak English, and would we be able to provide support to them? The Board decided to leave this as it is currently and revisit, as necessary.

Barry and Anita left the meeting at 3:32 pm EST and the meeting ended. The Officers went into Executive Session. Both visitors left the meeting.

Motions Summary

The following motions were voted on by the Board at this meeting:

• Meeting Minutes for June 2024, and July 2023 accepted.
• Motion approved to reimburse Barry and Susan $100 each to attend NAATW conference.
• Motion approved to have J. Gary complete the 2^nd half of the 1^st set of Board inventory questions.
• Motion to accept the recommendation of Brett Harris/Wientz to be OIAA Legal Counsel.
• Motion to accept Susan to be the primary contact for OIAA Legal Counsel and Barry be the alternate contact for the Board.
• Motion approved to post the Financial Review to the website.

Respectfully submitted,

Anita M

OIAA Alternate Secretary