June 18, 2018 Board Meeting
Attendees: Bruce Adams, Nicholas Arrindell, Tracy-Alexis Dixon, Nancy Goldberg, Roman Santillan, Clemmie Solomon and Yasin Yiaman Excused: Mumin Barre, and Nan Qiao Absent: Lorna Forde, Darwin Romero Staff: Cynthia Morris Welcome/Minutes The meeting was called to order at 7:10 by Chairman Bill Nance with a welcome and introduction of attendees. Because the minutes from the last meeting were approved electronically for posting on the website, we went straight to the financial report. Financial Report Cynthia and Ramon led a review of the financial statements, advising the group that with the outstanding reimbursement of $9,730 from the County Executive Grant, we are positioned to operate comfortably until the new fiscal year starts 1 July. Update to Korea/China TripThe board went into closed executive session for an update from Bruce on matters related to the follow up on last fall’s Korea/China trip.Montgomery Sister Cities Board MeetingCountry Committee Reports Morazán: The committee was very pleased with their sponsorship of a local theatrical production and hopes to continue to find similar outreach opportunities. The committee will not sponsor a Fiesta this year and are focusing on recruiting new members while discussing alternative fundraising ideas. They hope to resume the Fiesta in 2019. The committee is continuing its scholarship program for Morazán students and funding will be wired to the local administrator as soon as possible. Ramon shared that the Governor of the State of Morazán will visit the area again in November and he will provide an update at our next meeting. Gondar: Yasin reported that the committee met at the end of May to discuss new committee member recruitment which he hopes will be boosted by a delegation trip to Ethiopia for celebration of the Epiphany (Timket) 16-26 January of next year. A proposal was presented to the board for a 40 member delegation that will comprise both MSC and an Interfaith Group, similar to the structure for the trip that had to be cancelled because of political unrest. Councilman Craig Rice will be asked to lead the delegation which will include stops in the cities of Addis Ababa, Axum, Lalibela, Gondar and Bahir Dar. The committee will also reach out to Roger Mark DeSouza of Sister Cities International to encourage him to participate. The committee will hold planning meetings throughout the summer and report on the status of their plans at our September meeting Xi'an: In addition to their annual student exchange program, the committee is planning their annual barbeque in August and Nan will send an invitation to the board. Bruce raised the issue that there should be a plaque to accompany the Terracotta Soldiers in the Executive Building lobby. He will contact General Services. New Business There is a consensus that board recruitment and community engagement strategies are on-going needs, though the current transition period is slowing that process. Particular effort has to be made to re-establish the Hyderabad committee. With a new County Executive starting in December (one month after November election), it was agreed that in the next board meeting, a summary document should be outlined/prepared for background information about Sister Cities and our goals going forward for both the new County Executive and County Council. Bruce reminded everyone of the annual World of Montgomery Festival Sunday 21 October at Montgomery College in Rockville. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm NEXT MEETING: MONDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 7PMOffice of Community Partnerships
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia Morris,
Senior Fellow
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