MINUTES NAMI North Carolina Board of Directors Meeting August 25, 2018 10:00am-2:00pm Members present: David Smith, Lucy Wilmer, Felicia McPherson (by phone), Alicia Graham, Reid Shalvoy, Dale Mann, Fonda Bryant, Debra Kindervatter, Johnny Puckett Members excused: Judy Jenkins Kent Earnhardt Members unexcused: none Executive Director: Deby Dihoff, Acting Executive Director NAMI NC provides support, education, advocacy, and public awareness so that all affected by mental illness can build better lives. Members of the public present: Richard Callahan (NAMI Johnston County) WELCOME: David Smith: The meeting was called to order at 10:04 a.m. David convened the group, announced a quorum was present, and mentioned that both Judy Jenkins and Kent Earnhardt were excused. David announced that Audrey Hart has resigned from the board, and everyone joined in signing a thank you card for her work on the board. There were no public comments. Minutes from the June 23, 2018 Board of Directors meeting were reviewed. Reid Shalvoy made a motion to approve the minutes from the April 28, 2018 Board of Directors meeting.* Dale Mann seconded the motion. (This approval actually occurred at the end of the meeting.*) The motion passed unanimously. BOARD PRESIDENT S REPORT: David Smith David clarified that our board reimbursement policy states that individuals can request some travel assistance to board meetings if there would be a financial hardship to them in making that trip. The organization is still in a belt-tightening mode, so we should keep that in mind. But, presence at the meetings is really important, and if the cost of gas is a hardship, we want to help. David then clarified that, with the last election in March 2018, we are off-schedule since elections generally take place in October. A motion was made to clarify that those elected in March will actually serve 2 1/2 year terms (rather than 3-year terms in order to get everyone
back on the October schedule. Those elected in March will have terms expiring in 2020. David made the motion; Lucy seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. It was announced that we are recruiting for a 30 hr/week public policy position (previously approved through an electronic vote by the Executive Committee). Regarding Audrey s resignation, David mentioned that he has asked Diane Krisanda to chair the re-affiliation committee; she is on the ballot for election to the board in October. REAFFILIATION REPORT (Models A, B, and C): Deby Dihoff Vanessa is presently out of the office for health reasons, and since we are not sure when she will return, Peg will help out here (as well as the National office). Deby gave an overview of the history of models and their implications. On January l8, 2014, NAMI NC sent in an endorsement plan to National saying that we would support our affiliates in working to achieve Model A. At the time, all affiliates preferred that option. The state office can change the plans at any time to support other models. At this point, we have some frustration in the field from the five affiliates who were disbanded; some want to reform. Sometimes the affiliates simply don t want the paperwork associated with certain models. Model Bs are a choice that may help with that where either another affiliate or the state office acts as an umbrella for another affiliate. That other affiliate would not have to be a 501c3 nor would they have to have fiscal oversight, etc. That burden is then carried by the umbrella affiliate or the umbrella state office. There is risk, cost, and work involved. Deby did mention that, at this point, she was unable to get a clear interpretation of a Model C, so that is being tabled to possibly be explored later. We reviewed some case studies NAMI Randolph, disbanded, wanting to be under ACR until they can get stronger and either reapply for their own A status or consider an umbrella B. Sampson County is interested in forming something; possibly Johnston could extend their geography at some point to cover two counties as an option. What we d like to do is offer some options/some hope for groups that may want to form, or to re-establish. Deby shared some ideas from Texas where they have two variations on the Model B example that could be very helpful to us. There is definitely a resource question here at the state office. The target still needs to be on moving our existing affiliates through re-affiliation by the end of December. At that time, we feel there will be more time to devote to affiliate development, affiliate strengthening, and generally covering more counties in NC with our services and help. David made a motion to have NAMI NC modify our endorsement plan to include the exploration/possibility of using Model B and its alternatives as an option, following completion in December of re-affiliation of existing affiliates. (Further, this option will be communicated to affiliates.) The motion was seconded by Debra, and it passed unanimously. Alicia made a motion to approve re-affiliation of NAMI Pitt, NAMI Western Carolina, and NAMI High Country. Fonda seconded the motion, and the board unanimously approved these three affiliates being sent to national for achieving re-affiliation. POLICIES AND BYLAWS CHANGES APPROVAL: Deby Dihoff David reviewed the suggested changes to the Bylaws, which have been worked on at length by the policy and bylaws committee. He highlighted some especially important changes new phrasing of indemnification section, appropriate titles for Peer Leadership and President s Councils, that the board must appoint committees, that appointees only serve until the next election, and that bylaws changes are made by a percentage of those voting (2/3) (more clear language to make this point, formerly said present). There is some discussion about board size
being too large (that may be dealt with in the next round). Dale motioned that the Bylaws changes (to appear on the ballot) be approved. Alicia seconded the motion; the motion was approved unanimously. Policy adoption: Deby explained that DHHS had performed an audit and made recommendations for policies that were to be implemented before she came on board (in March). When she discovered these in May, they were put on the June agenda for a decision, but they got missed that day. These policies have been previously approved by both the Policy and Bylaws Committee and the Finance Committee. Reid motioned the policies on Check requests and Contract billing be approved. Fonda seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. TREASURER S REPORT: Reid Shalvoy Reid reported that Beth Anne is doing a great job, and was able to complete a year ending June 30 report showing we ended the year $14,000. plus to the good income over expense. This is a great accomplishment given our challenges financially. Reid made a motion to approve a budget revision to show the new public policy position, some minor changes in the Development/Special Events configuration for short-term coverage, and to reflect new funds from Forsyth County of $6000 (half to go to the affiliate). Johnny seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. We have just received the last document we needed to move the audit forward; Reid will do a quick review, and then it will all go to the auditor. We hope to have numbers available at the annual meeting at the conference. CONFERENCE AND LEADERSHIP EVENTS: Deby Dihoff Deby reviewed the agenda for both events, which has been a challenge since we have lost our full time special events person (Meredith is now working l5 hours weekly, and Susan is working 8 hours weekly). We hope to have a very brief annual report for the membership at the conference. Fonda expressed concern about not having enough emphasis on exercise (given our theme: 360 degrees of Wellness). We had expected a proposal from Fonda, but didn t get one, so we are exploring other ideas. Fonda will consider holding a stretch session in the morning before the first session; she will also reach out for a sponsorship from her fitness connection. Deby/David asked all board members to help with getting sponsors for our conference. So far we are at $13,000. against a budgeted goal of $38,000. Debra and Lucy volunteered to help at the conference. Deby proposed two dates for the board to adopt: 1) April 27, 2019 WALK at North Hills; 2) October 11, 2019 Annual Conference at the McKimmon Center. Dale made a motion to approve these dates, and Fonda s seconded the motion. The motion passed, and the dates were approved unanimously. Compensatory Time Policy: Debra made a motion to approve the Compensatory Time Policy, and Johnnie s second the motion; the motion passed unanimously. Special thanks was announced to Kent for his assistance in researching this policy for us. ED SEARCH COMMITTEE REPORT: The board went into Closed/Executive session at 12:39pm to review and discuss the ED Search Committee report. The board came out of Closed/Executive session at 1:26pm.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT: Dale Mann Dale reported on the slate of officers for next year (that is required to be completed 60 days previous to the annual conference). The slate consists of the following: David Smith: President Judy Jenkins: President Elect Lucy Wilmer: Secretary Reid Shalvoy: Treasurer Dale thanked the committee who were excellent to work with: Dale, Felisha, and Judy. NC REPRESENTATIVE FOR NAMI National Veteran s Council: David Smith David asked for a motion to approve Johnnie Puckett to serve as voting representative for NC on the NAMI National Veteran s Council. Dale made the motion to approve Johnny as voting representative for NC on the Veteran s Council, and Debra seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. BOARD RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE REPORT: David Smith David reported on the extensive work done by this hardworking committee resulting in the following slate for election: Barbara Ann Byble (NAMI Wake), Amanda Johansson (NAMI Wake, NAMI Orange), Diane Krisanda (NAMI South Mountains, NC), Sheron Sumner (NAMI Wake), and Rhonda Edwards (Sampson County), LaSandra Williams (Duplin County). There will be a write up for the ballot that will be standardized (including pictures). Care was given to be clear on whether candidates fit either the family member category or the lived experience category. It was recognized that we would still like to have more representatives from the East and West, but many efforts were made to do so; recruiting board members representing a wide geographical range will be a continuing goal. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Committee Chairs The committee chairs reviewed their committee s accomplishments. David asked for a motion to appoint new board committees and detailed updates needed to the list in the packet: Executive Committee: President elect is vacant Budget/Finance Committee: Beth Anne O Keefe will be added as staff Development Committee: Fonda will come off as Chair. David Smith will be Chair, and Fonda will continue as a member of this committee. Audrey Hart has been removed from all committees. Audrey will be replaced by Diane Krisanda on the Re-Affiliation Committee, and an error in omitting Debra Kindervatter s name will be corrected. It was stated/clarified that we can recruit non board members to serve on committees, but it should be done with David s initial approval and be subject to final board approval. Johnnie made a motion to approve the committee changes, and Debra seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: David Smith David announced board meeting dates for the remainder of the calendar year. They are September 22nd, October 12th (at the close of the annual conference), November 10 th, and December 8 th.
David asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dale Mann made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Fonda Bryant seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15pm. Respectfully submitted, Lucy Wilmer, M.A. NAMI NC Board Secretary The next Board meeting will be held on: September 22, 2018.