Board Meeting Minutes — March, 2025

Reports

President/VP

The Community page has been added to the website.

Treasurer

Financial report is based on bank information. A cheaper QuickBooks subscription through TechSoup is showing some difficulties in its integrations. The treasurer is now able to access and view the bank account directly. The organization showed net positive finances for January and February, partially due to several matching donations being received at once, combined with relatively normal expenses. The credit card that had been used by the previous director of the Central Office has been closed and all bills being paid to that credit card were moved to new accounts. Morgan Stanley receives a small amount of our investment income in order to provide us with regular reports. The treasurer will send Morgan Stanley a letter requesting that this be addressed, and if not addressed, the organization may be able to gain significant monetary bonuses for moving our investments to a different investment company. (Matt no longer works at Bank of America, and therefore does not have any conflict of interest involving that company, which holds the main bank account for Esperanto-USA).

Central Office

Important upcoming tasks include filing a report with Delaware, which has been accomplished. The director of the Central Office has been working with the Dulanda Kongresa Komitato and has been supporting that effort, such as by booking lodging for NASK and the LK, to ensure that there will be sufficient housing, including backup housing for honorary guests, stipend recipients, and others. She has also helped the Dulanda Kongresa Komitato in creating smaller working groups to support the komitato in managing specific tasks. Additionally, the Central Office met with the Springly representative and has been working on moving forward with Springly for the membership directory. The support will include a reduced price rate and training for Esperanto-USA on how to make the best use of the software. Additionally, Amanda has made a table showing the costs associated with inviting the honorary guests voted on at February’s board meeting. Out of the seven prospective nominees, five have been confirmed as nominees for the Estraro: Izaak, Kinen, Zerbie, Bradford, and Charlotte. The Central Office is reaching out to see if any want to run for the secretary position. The board discusses what the procedures are for determining how to determine which would be elected to secretary and which to board. A suggestion was made that all candidates could run for board, and then have the board select officers from among its members.

Executive Committee

The executive committee has been discussing how to support board members in staying active and finding projects to work on.

Membership Committee

Peggy shows a membership survey which Quintyn has helped draft, and which the membership committee will continue to review, as well as requesting board review. This survey would be sent out after the launch of Springly. Amanda asks when and why the decision was made to send a survey. Peggy explains that this survey is partly to determine how to build and support member activity within the organization, as well as gathering information about social media platforms which may be most helpful for Esperanto-USA to maintain. Amanda raises the point of wanting a response in case members raise concerns about why E-USA is putting out another member survey. Matt asks whether the survey will be anonymous, and it is clarified that it can be made anonymous if needed. Matt states that this survey would differ from the previous survey in that it will be better equipped to help the organization set priorities for this year and moving forward. Brandon notes that this differs from last year’s survey in that it is being brought to the board first and requests that the survey be bilingual in Esperanto as well as English and that each question have clear and actionable outcomes based on how members respond. Ruth suggests that this survey may be able to wait until after the Congress. She also asks how board members may be able to provide comments on the survey. Quintyn and Peggy agree to share the link in the board chat and move the draft to the shared Google Drive. Matt suggests that the survey should be sent sooner in order to ensure that E-USA can take action on the member feedback within the current year, including before the congress takes place. Peggy asks that the board respond within 7-10 days and will move the conversation to Slack. Amanda asks whether everyone is able to access Slack and check it daily or almost daily. 

Old Business

Premio Harlow

This is tabled for the time being, but would include a prize to recognize people making strides for the Esperanto movement within the USA.

Google Drive

The organization will transition files from a shared Google Drive folder to a Shared Drive to improve security, accessibility, and file management. Board members were asked to prepare for the transition. Some links may need to be updated following the move. 

New Business

Age Requirements in Bylaws

The current bylaws have an age requirement of 18 for director or secretary and 30 for president, vice-president, or treasurer. The proposed change in bylaws would change this such that the 18 year age limit for general board members would remain, and the age limit for secretary, treasurer, vice-president, or president would be changed to 25 years. This would place all the officers of the board in the same age category and place the age limit for officers of the board as the same for the House of Representatives in the US Congress. Brandon proposes that an amendment to the bylaws be presented to the membership with the ballot, as described in this document. The board unanimously approves.

Bylaws Revision

A proposed amendment allowing for a full revision of the organization’s bylaws was introduced. The board discussed potential edits for clarity and considered the timing for member review. It was agreed that the proposal will be referred to the Bylaws Review Committee for further discussion before any action is taken. 

Values, Reaction to Current Events

Members have expressed concerns regarding the current political climate, which has caused some matters which were previously apolitical to be perceived as political, such as planning a shared event with the USA and Canada. Quintyn and Charlotte have worked on a Values Statement, based on discussion at the Executive Committee retreat in February. Isabel comments that respecting people’s human rights is not political but is basic decency and that the organization should not treat it as a political matter to respect its members’ human rights. The draft values statement reads, “Esperanto-USA is an organization which values establishing and promoting friendly relations between its members, the surrounding community, and the Esperanto community abroad. This includes respect, acceptance, and inclusion of all its members through listening and prioritizing member needs, collaborating with and empowering members, and professional interactions which highlight and support the stated mission of Esperanto-USA.” Ruth notes the use of the word “inclusion” and suggests that it could be removed without significant change in the meaning of the statement. Charlotte notes that inclusion does have a different meaning than respect and acceptance. Charlotte and Ruth both volunteer to be on a working group to discuss and edit the proposed values statement. Brandon recommends that “diversity” is also an important word to describe the nature of the Esperanto movement within the USA. Brandon suggests the possibility of the organization making a statement clarifying that Esperanto-USA supports its transgender members. Ruth asks whether bringing up a particular subgroup might result in some members of other minority groups and protected classes feeling excluded. Isabel speaks to the merits of making a statement in favor of specific groups which are currently being impacted by changes in the world. Peggy asks who would need to vote on the values statement: the board, the congress, or the full membership. Charlotte suggests that it could be a board vote, to help determine where the organization can focus regarding projects. Quintyn recommends that a values statement be brought to the board and to the congress. Ruth, Charlotte, and Isabel will form a working group to edit the draft values statement and bring it to the board for a vote at April’s meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:47 PM, Central US time and will reconvene on April 27 at 4 PM Eastern, in order to avoid various holidays taking place on April 20, including Easter and Passover.