May 2013 Minutes

Board Members Attending: Frank Almaguer, Margaret Carpenter, David Cohen, George Hill, Jim Michel, Nancy Pielemeier, Alex Shakow

Board Members Not Attending: None

Committee Co-Chairs Attending: Curt Farrar, Paula Goddard, Pamela Mandel, Nancy Tumavick, Jerry Wood

Committee Co-Chairs Not Attending: Bill Anderson, Larry Smucker, Ann Van Dusen
AGM Organizing Committee Attendee: George Laudato

Executive Assistant: Kristina Short

Venue: DACOR-Bacon House in Washington, DC
Meeting Chair: Nancy Pielemeier

1. Review and approval of the April 18, 2013, Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: The April 18, 2013 Minutes were unanimously approved for posting in the UAA website.

2. Approval of UAA Bylaw changes:

The Executive Committee discussed and the Board voted on proposed changes to the UAA Bylaws, distributed in draft prior to the meeting. The proposed changes were as follows:

a. Membership definitions: The changes to Article III make clear that Bylaw references to “Members” mean Members who contributed at or above the annual amount suggested by the Board. Thus, for all purposes, “Member” and “Contributing Member” are identical terms. The UAA will refer to registered non-contributors as “UAA Registered Alumni”. Only Contributing Members will be eligible to vote at Annual General Meetings.

b. Open Board seats: The change in Article IV, Section 3 incorporates a special provision that of the five Board members whose terms are scheduled to end in 2013, one will be filled for a one-year term so that in future even-numbered years three Board members will be elected and in future odd-numbered years four Board members will be elected, thus achieving greater continuity in Board membership from year to year. The Board is empowered to approve a similar procedure in future years in the event that there is a recurring imbalance in Board continuity.

Alex Shakow moved the approval of the revised Bylaws. Frank Almaguer seconded the motion. The Board, with all seven members present, unanimously approved the revisions:

Voting in favor: Frank Almaguer, Margaret Carpenter, David Cohen, George Hill, Jim Michel, Nancy Pielemeier and Alex Shakow.
Voting against: none.

This unanimous vote fulfills the requirement in Article IX that Bylaw changes be approved by no less than two-thirds of the Board membership.

The updated Bylaws will be noted in the May Newsletter and published in the UAA website, and alumni will be encouraged to read the changes to the UAA Bylaws. This will fulfill the requirement (in Bylaws Article IX) that amendments to the Bylaws be “published to the members of the UAA”.

Next Steps: Jim Michel will incorporate the approved changes into a revised version of the amended Bylaws for posting.

3. 2013 Annual General Meeting (AGM)

a. Date, venue, logistics:

Date: The preferred date for the 2013 Annual General Meeting is October 25, 2013.
Venue: George Laudato will visit the Woodrow Wilson Center (WWC) to see the space that the WWC has offered. Confirmation on the venue will help define the AGM agenda.

The Executive Committee discussed the need for more details on the AV system and the availability of space outside the meeting room for registration, food and informal networking.

b. Theme and suggested agenda: George Laudato will work on a proposed agenda for Executive Committee consideration after seeing the facilities at the WWC. The AGM organizing committee noted that if DLIs will be involved, the UAA would need to plan timing of their participation so as to minimize interruptions to their regular work schedules. George L. and Janet B. will at an appropriate moment meet with USAID’s Dave Eckerson and Susan Reichle regarding the availability of DLIs for dialogues during the AGM meeting, and will offer to meet with Dr. Shah closer to the event to discuss the content of his luncheon talk to the AGM.

c. Report of the UAA Board Nominating Committee: The Nominating Committee (Margaret Carpenter, George Hill and Ann Van Dusen) will report during the June 20 Executive Committee meeting on efforts to recruit candidates for the five Board seats opening in October.

4. Membership Issues

a. June 2 social event in honor of the UAA “founders”: As of May 16, the event has 77 confirmed attendees, including two of the four original signers of the UAA Articles of Association (signed on May 27, 2009). The 5:30 – 7:30 PM event will include a short welcome by host Nancy Pielemeier, words by Henrietta Fore (who as Administrator encouraged the creation of the UAA) and Alex Shakow, who will close the program.
Executive Committee members suggested inviting USAID personnel who have worked closely with the UAA (e.g., mentoring, urban policy, etc.). All Executive Committee members should send suggested names to Nancy Tumavick.

b. Other upcoming events:

i. July 27 picnic: The 2nd Annual UAA Summer Picnic will be held at Fort Hunt Park, located a few miles outside Mt. Vernon in Alexandria, VA. The site can hold up to 350 people. Paula Goddard and George Hill will coordinate the planning and program for the event.

The Membership Committee called for ideas on activities that will help attract more alumni. Suggestions should be sent to Paula Goddard, George Hill and Nancy Tumavick.
The Membership Committee will also reach out to former FSNs in the DC area to involve them. The flyer for the picnic, to be distributed at the June 2nd Reception and electronically in the weeks leading up to the picnic, will include a note for alumni to bring FSN associates who may be in town. The UAA will also encourage alumni to bring their families, spouses, etc.

All members of the Executive Committee should share with the Membership Committee information on venues at which they attend events that may be suitable for future UAA picnics and other events.

ii. August Vermont gathering: The Committee will ask whether Ann Van Dusen wants RSVPs and will use last year’s Vermont alumni event as an example that could be duplicated by other potential state-level groups.

iii. September “Life after USAID” panel: The panel is still in the early stages of planning. Anyone interested in organizing the event should contact the Membership Committee.

iv. FSNs: Diane Ponosik has been putting together a ‘soft landings’ package to be reviewed by several FSNs. Once completed, the information will be placed in the Website as a blog topic for FSNs to respond to and suggest additions.

Next Steps: Kristina will provide a list of new 2013 registered alumni to the Executive Committee to see if any FSNs have joined.

5. Development Issues:

a. Urban Initiative – May 22 Seminar at the WWC: An invitation for the event has been electronically distributed to all Registered Alumni. There will be another event coming up in June/July focused on Asia and possibly two more events after the summer.

b. Other Development activities: Owen Cylke and Jim Michel had lunch with USAID alumnus Alonzo Fulgham and Katherine Raphaelson, the new president of the Washington chapter of the Society of International Development (SID). They discussed, inter alia, the possibility of co-hosting future events. The September “Life after USAID” panel was suggested as a possible option for collaboration.

Alex will attend the May 21 USAID launch on the Hill of its new USAID Water Policy. Jim provided feedback on the status of the still-pending new USAID Democracy, Human Rights and Governance Strategy.

Dates available at DACOR for future DACOR/UAA Development Dialogues are November 4 and 27. The next UAA/DACOR Development Dialogue will be held on July 25 with guest speaker Andrew Steer.

6. Strengthening USAID

a. Evaluation of the pilot E&E/UAA mentoring program: A three-person evaluation team has been contacting over the past two weeks all mentees, mentors and others involved in the E&E/UAA pilot mentoring program. This independent team includes representatives from USAID/HR, the E&E Bureau and the UAA. The UAA representative is Richard Blue. This evaluation should provide information useful in determining if the program should be continued or expanded. The final interviews will be conducted on May 16 and the team will begin work on a draft evaluation report by the week of May 19. The target is to have a final report by the end of May.

b. Next Steps: The UAA will look at the mentor selection process and the pool of potential mentors available among its registered alumni as it considers future commitments to the mentoring program.

7. Public Outreach:
Discussion regarding Public Outreach issues was tabled until the June 20 meeting of the Executive Committee.

8. Newsletter and Website updates: Kristina will distribute a draft Newsletter next week for feedback and suggestions on content.

9. Future meetings: Upcoming meetings of the Executive Committee will be held at TetraTech from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM on June 20, July 18, August 15 and September 19.

10. Other business: Committee members briefly discussed the upcoming annual Book Event Series at AFSA, in which Janet Ballentyne is involved on behalf of the ADST. The event, on July 11 at 2 PM, is an opportunity to sell copies of USAID’s 50th Anniversary book. The Executive Committee agreed that the UAA would help publicize the event if asked. Janet is working on having a panel, with participants drawn from those who contributed to the book.

For next year, the UAA may consider joining other affinity foreign affairs groups in setting up a booth for participants at the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Day (which honors retirees from the foreign affairs agencies – usually on the first Friday in May of each year).