Illinois Federation of Business Women S Clubs, INC

Illinois Federation of Business Women’s Clubs, INC. Interim Board of Directors Meeting Minutes November 12, 2016

President Susan McGrath called the meeting to order at 10:45 a.m.

President-Elect Tina Suarez led the attendees in the Collect and Pledge of Allegiance.

President Susan McGrath thanked Viola Lighthall and Tina Klein for their veteran’s service due to Veteran’s Day being the day before our meeting.

President Susan McGrath recognized the presence of one of our Cecil M. Howard Scholarship winners – Shannon Kitzer.

President Susan McGrath appointed Carol Burk to serve as secretary pro-temp in the absence of IFBW Secretary Danielle DiMarzio.

State Pro Temp Secretary called roll:

President (Pres.) Susan McGrath – Present President-Elect (PE) Tina Suarez – Present Secretary (Sec.) Danielle DiMarzio – Absent Treasurer (Tres.) – Carla Tucker - Present Immediate Past State President (IPSP) Kathy Clark-Eller – Present Education Holly Nordheden – Present Finance Michelle Hagen – Present Legislation Amanda Spade – Present Networking – Cheri Kesler - Present Membership Representative Alternate Vi Lighthall standing in for Page Irvin Susie Dewaele – Absent Page Irvin – Absent Carissa Walton – Absent Margaret Bennett – Present

SUSAN: Madam Secretary, do we have a quorum present?

A quorum is present.

 President-Elect Tina Suarez moved that observers be permitted to attend the Interim Board Meeting of the Illinois Federation of Business Women. Seconded by Carol Burk. Motion carried.  President-Elect Tina Suarez moved to accept the agenda as presented and provide the President latitude to make non-substantive changes to facilitate business. Seconded by Carol Burk. Motion carried.  President Susan McGrath drew attention to the Rules of the Board of Directors meeting which are part of the board packet on page 3. These rules have not changed in the time that has lapsed since Board Meeting.  President Susan McGrath appointed Holly Nordheden as timekeeper. Chair appointment of a timekeeper for the meeting is in the Board of Directors rules.  President Susan McGrath introduced the guest speaker Amy Kemp, a member of the Crawford Local. Amy spoke based on her book “It’s All about the Dough”. Her presentation was enjoyed by all. A 5-minute break was taken for the purpose of allowing members to purchase Amy’s book. Tina Klein announced she had State membership pins available for purchase.  Immediate State President Kathy Clark-Eller was introduced and gave an update on the Leadership University. The Leadership University materials may be found on the IFBW website, after log in, under the lines on the far right of the page under “LU Trainer’s Portal”. Courses which have been customized for our use are then listed. Courses available include: “Effective Communications”, “Business Writing”, “Resume Writing”, “Leadership and Influence” and “Negotiation Skills”. 190 other courses are available upon request by contacting Kathy. We were also informed that in order for these classes to be taken for college credit they must be associated with a particular curriculum, which at this time our classes are not.  President Susan McGrath recognized the following individuals in attendance: o President-Elect – Tina Suarez o Treasurer – Carla Tucker o Secretary Pro Temp – Carol Burk o Immediate Past President – Kathy Clark-Eller o Pat McNicholas – IFBW Past President o Tina Klein – Administrative Assistant and also an IFBW Past President

 There was no correspondence.  The minutes from the 2016 Post-Convention Board of Directors Meeting on April 24, 2016 are on page 35 – 37 of the Interim Board Packet. President Susan McGrath ask those present to review those minutes. There were no corrections or additions to the Minutes. The Minutes stood as presented.  President Susan McGrath then called for the Reports from the Executive Committees. o Treasurer Carla Tucker present the Financial Reports as handed out prior to the meeting and can be found attached to the minutes (addendum 1). The Financial Reports were reviewed and clarified by Treasurer Tucker. Notice was made that a $250 check from the Illinois Educational Foundation has still not been received. It was noted that Deborah J. Pearson, Past Treasurer of the Education Foundation is no longer a member of our organization. Barb Yong, who was not able to be present at the meeting, is trying to track down the money and is to report to President McGrath. o Michelle Hagen, Finance Chair had just received the Budget Analysis information the day before the Interim Board Meeting and commented only that everything looked to be in order. At this time no budget amendments appear to be necessary.   At this time President-Elect, Tina Suarez assumed control of the meeting. o President Susan McGrath now presented her report. Executive Committee Reports are in the packet pages 7-9. President McGrath chose not to reiterate the information given in her report. However, she did state that she had attended a special event with Pat McNicholas at the Southern Illinois University Alumni Reception that recognized all the donors to the Paul Simon institute for scholarships. Due to our donation we were included in that event. President McGrath also rode in the Centralia Halloween Parade representing IFBW. She attended the Taylorville Christmas Auction for their scholarship fund. This event appeared to be quite a success. Future events she will be attending will include a visit to Paris, Illinois and going to the Palmer House Tea in Chicago.  President McGrath resumed management of the meeting. o

o President-Elect, Tina Suarez reviewed the visits she has had with several of the Locals. Her future visits with include Metro-East and Southwestern. o President-Elect then introduced the Standing Chairs. Reports could be found in the notebook. Cherie Kesler, Networking & Strategic Planning Committees – Cherie’s report may be found on page 21 and 22. Cherie explained that the Networking Committee reviewed the Strategic Long Range Plan so that IFBWC could implement an annual plan and special goals in a three to five year period and measure its success through this implementation. Michelle Hagen – Finance Committee – Michelle had nothing more to add to her report. Holly Nordheden - Education Committee – The report of the Education Committee was handed out prior to the meeting and is attached as Addendum 2. Other than for the update given today by Kathy Clark-Eller, there were no additions to Holly’s report. Amanda Spade – Legislation – Amanda said there are a lot of exciting things coming up such as meeting with the lobbyist and Equal Pay Day Rally. Tina Klein reported that she made contact with the people that help us with the lobbying and was informed that until the State passes a budget no one will be willing to listen to any lobbying efforts. The Equal Pay Day Rally has been set for April 11, 2017. As more information becomes available, Tina will post it on the IFBW website. o President Susan McGrath called for Special Committee Reports Reports may be found in the packet on pages 19 for the Cecilia M. Howard Fellowship Fund and on page 20 for the Investment Fund Committee. President McGrath announced that Carrie Perkins-Schnicker has ageed to serve as the Young Careerist Speak-off Chair. Topics for the upcoming competition at State Convention may be found on page 15 of the packet. Tina Klein – Convention Committee Report – Tina said some information may be found on page 45 of the Interim Board Packet. There is a large wedding the same weekend so it is important that reservations be made as soon as the block becomes available. Other than that, everything is set up with the exception of meal plans. Those are still being decided on. Also Tina reminded everyone that articles for the Illinois Bulletin are due within the next two weeks. Pat McNicholas – Chair Blue Ribbon Task Force – This task force was formed for the purpose of investigating what legal ramifications there would be to the Investment Fund should IFBWC disaband. The Investment Fund was originally a restricted fund strictly for the purpose of buying out the building and operation of the IFBWC office. In approximately 2005 these funds were unrestricted. If the dissolution resolution ever becomes effective, it is necessary to determine what would happen to the money in this fund. Committee members consist of Catherine Barbercheck, Kathy Beals and Pat. Pat reported that the committee has decided that they feel a legal opinion is needed to determine what can be done with the funds without jeopardizing our 501(c)(6) tax exempt status. In order to initiate contact, to obtain a legal opinion, the committee needs authorization of the Board. A motion was made by Viola Lighthall for the Illinois Federation of Business Women’s Club to engage an attorney for the purpose of providing a legal opinion, to the Special Task Force, regarding the dissolution of the Investment Fund. The motion was seconded by Cherie Kesler. There was no discussion and the motion carried.  A break for lunch was taken.  The meeting resumed.  President McGrath announced that tours of the Champaign Public Library would be available at the conclusion of the meeting and reminded officers to please stay after the meeting for a picture for the Illinois Bulletin. A short discussion, following the meeting, will also be held regarding State Convention.  New Business – o President Susan McGrath directed everyone’s attention to the Policy and Procedure Manual that is located in the back of today’s information packet. This Manual has not been revised in the last three years and since there have been changes in our Bylaws an update of the Policy and Procedure Manual is needed. What was presented for change was the old wording lined out with the new wording following. Suggested changes from Kathy Eller and President McGrath have been incorporated. The purpose of the Manual is to provide information about the organizations and special events held by the IFBWC (i.e. the Outstanding Working Woman Award, the Speak-Off and the Convention.) The current Manual is about 63 pages long. With the revisions the Manual will be condensed to about 25 pages. The committee wanted to make this Manual a working document which can be changed from time to time to comply with changes in the organization. A clean copy without all the strike-outs and wording change notes will be presented to the Convention body for approval. Pat McNicholas ask for an explanation of the revised document. President McGrath explained that the strike-outs were deletions. The italicized were complete section rewrites. Kathy Clark-Eller questioned the proper procedure for approving changes to the Policy and Procedures Manual? Kathy’s concern was that no one would want to approve all of the changes in one action. Pat McNicholas suggested that all of the deletions be presented in one motion or section by section and that the revisions then be dealt with by section. President McGrath explained that a policy manual is different from bylaws. Policies are mainly suggestions on how things are to work and can change periodically. Bylaws are requirements determined by the governing body. Pat McNicholas suggested that a motion or series of motions be sent out for review that state that the revisions are needed to bring the Policies in-line with the current Bylaws. Also she stated that it needed to be stated that the changes are effective the date of the vote.  President McGrath called for Open Forum with President-Elect, Tina Suarez presiding. o Amanda Spade – Effingham LO – The Effingham LO would like to offer a presentation on Budgeting from the Leadership University as a break-out session at the Convention coming up. o Kathy Clark-Eller stated that we currently have 326 members which include 12 new members.  Door prizes were won by Kathy Clark-Eller and Holly Nordheden.  Meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.  Emblem Benediction was led by President-Elect Tina Suarez.

Submitted by: Carol Burk Secretary Pro Temp