Greetings from the Board of Directors,

The Board met on February 21st in the first meeting of 2018.

Following are the major topics of discussion and issues addressed.

President's Message

The Kwan Jang Nim called in to the meeting and presented a message of thanks to the Board of Directors, Technical Advisory Committee, Studio Owners and the entire membership for the support during recent trademark defense actions.  Attorney fees have been paid in full; however there is an existing line of credit of approximately $28,000 still to be covered and other infringers requiring follow-up actions.

Moving forward the Kwan Jang Nim is focused on simplification of our administrative and organizational processes.

Election of Directors

Elections of board directors were recently held in Regions 2, 3, 6, 9, and 10.  The newly elected Directors are KSN Tony Le, SBN Keith Wildonger (reelected), SBN Dwayne Townsend, KSN Elena Duncan, and SBN Charles Holland.

The Board of Directors consists of elected directors from each of the 10 regions as well as 5 directors appointed by the Kwan Jang Nim.  Current directors are shown below.

Region 1        Paul Chiasson, KSN
Region 2        Tony Le, KSN

Region 3         Keith Wildonger, SBN
Region 4        George Broyles, Master
Region 5        Ron Strong, SBN

Region 6        Dwayne Townsend, SBN
Region 7        Andrea Casselson, JKN
Region 8        Susan Fittanto, SBN

Region 9        Elena Duncan, KSN

Region 10       Charles Holland, SBN
Appointed        John Johnson, SBN
Appointed        Phillip Bartolocci, SBN
Appointed        Daymon Kenyon, SBN
Appointed        Craig Hays, SBN
Appointed        John Mahony, SBN

Congratulations to the newly elected Directors.

Election of Executive Committee

In addition to the new Directors, board officers were elected during the last meeting.  Term of office is 1 year.  The Executive Committee for 2018 is as follows:

Susan Fittanto, SBN          Chair
George Broyles, Master     Vice-Chair
Dwayne Townsend, SBN    Treasurer
Elena Duncan, JKN              Secretary

2018 National Festival

The contract for 2018 La Toretta Lake Resort in Montgomery, Texas has been executed.  Negotiations are underway with La Toretta for 2019.

Background Check and Ethics Policy

On October 20, 2010 the Board of Directors created a Special Work-Group to develop a policy for dealing with ethics related issues.  This process was very time consuming and addressed a broad range of potential issues and situations that could arise within the Federation.  The Work-Group presented it's final report to the Board which was then referred to the Technical Advisory Committee for input on February 29, 2012.

Between 2012 and 2017 the Board of Directors' focus was on protection of our intellectual property effectively delaying finalization of an ethics policy.  Now in 2018 the Board has resumed development of an ethics policy.

The first step in developing an ethics policy is to determine whether Board Directors are supportive of background checks.  A motion was presented to gauge support.  (Move that the Board charge the Executive Committee to clarify provisions of Background Check policy 1.0 to become effective 01/01/2019)  The motion passed unanimously.

The purpose of this action was to seek support for a background check policy and allow time for the Board to address relevant issues.  The Executive Committee has committed to developing a Background Check Policy and is to bring a final report to the Board prior to the January 1, 2019 effective date.

Finance Committee

Andrea Casselton, JKN presented the current agreement of the 501c3 Foundation regarding the silent auction to be held at the 2018 National Festival.  A motion was presented and the Board unanimously supported the agreement between the Federation and the Foundation.  The Foundation will also continue to develop and lead the Silent Auction at the 2019 National Festival.

Technology Committee

The Board has authorized creation of a Technology Committee charged with evaluating the technical approach and costs of employing a cloud-based solution for managing gup test submissions by school owners and allowing school owners to monitor their students’ membership status. Technology Committee recommendations, implementation plan and budgetary needs to be submitted for Finance Committee review by 03/21/2018 and then Board review.

Sa Bom Nim Craig Hays has volunteered to chair the committee.

Tiny Tots Membership Program

The board voted to extend the variable age rank of the Tiny Tots Membership Program to age 7 or 1st official rank test and adopt a new name for the program as chosen by TAC to be published in the updated member manual.

TAC EA Report

Phil Duncan SBN reported on several issues including the following.

• TAC tour is beginning in 2018 and will be a busy year.
• Early registration is open for the National Festival in Montgomery Texas.
• Updates of the Member Manual are underway by the TAC and will be printed and distributed in the near future.

This concludes the major topics addressed at the February 21, 2018 Board meeting.

Submitted Respectfully,

Ron Strong, Region 5
Outgoing Chair