Ĉeestas: Brandon SOWERS, David BECK, Charlotte BURTON, Quintyn BOBB, Enrique HARO MARQUEZ, Jane SHEVTSOV, Tim BORONCZYK, Ruth (Margo) KEVESS-COHEN, Fred MEYER III, Bill (Vilĉjo) HARRIS (sen voĉdonrajtoj)

The meeting is opened and called to order. A quorum is declared.

New Business

Vice President

Due to Hoss stepping down, a new vice president must be elected by the board from among its members, per the bylaws. Brandon nominates Quintyn, who has expressed his interest in and readiness for the role. David speaks in support of Quintyn. Jane suggests nominating someone with more experience, such as Charlotte, David, or Margo. Margo clarifies that she has taken herself out of the running. The board discusses concerns about having a vice president without a certain depth of institutional knowledge and experience in Esperanto politics, although options are included, such as making sure that the president and vice president are using their human resources, and pointing out that vice president is a good position in which to get good experience. The possibility of formally nominating Charlotte is also discussed. Charlotte expresses a willingness to serve Esperantujo and Esperanto-USA where needed, and Quintyn expresses an eagerness to serve as VP and emphasizes his experience in leadership in other professional settings, and he briefly reviews his Esperanto experience. The board enters executive session. The board leaves executive session. During the executive session, Quintyn was elected as the new Vice President.

Standing Reports

President

We have the tax returns from the Reed trust and should be able to move forward with that.

C.O.

Nothing to report.

Landa Kongreso

We are on schedule to have the contract, and the site has a good Esperanto archive. Brandon speaks that last year, we figured out a way to support board members in attending the LK despite financial barriers, and expresses hope that we can do so again. The contract will be amendable if needed. There will be no minimum age, but no one under 18 will be residing on site for liability reasons. However, there may be a youth or children’s programo.

Old Business

Funds Working Group

A folder has been created in the EUSA Archive Google Drive folder, which contains the documentation we have regarding the funds.

New Business (cont.)

Website

The website is mostly back up and mostly working after a brief down period, although there are some inconsistencies regarding some of the underlying structure connecting pages. Wes has agreed to work with the KpK to get the new website up and running and to create a forward-thinking plan for how to build the website in a future-friendly way. Quintyn will be meeting with Hoss and will communicate to the board regarding anything he learns from that. Additionally, as soon as the KpK has an outline, they will present that to the board for approval, as well as later a more detailed plan. The board will have approval before anything goes live.

David moves to extent the time of the meeting by 30 minutes, with a five minute break to occur first. Ruth seconds. Jane, Enriko, Fred, and Tim would be unable to stay. The motion is retracted.

PER

Proposal: Esperanto-USA will advance $1000 for conference costs, and set up Zeffy for registrations, from which we would retain the first $1000. Ruth moves that we approve this request. David seconds. Motion passes unanimously. Brandon will determine whether Esperanto-USA will be reimbursed if the $1000 limit is not reached.

ESF Grant Request

In order for us to get the matching funds from ESF, we will need a full and formal grant request, which Margo has put together. We would be spending the money for events throughout the USA, including in person and virtual events, for up to $5000 of matching funds. Margo will prepare a report for them in January 2025 about the expenditures from 2024. Fred moves to send ESF the matching grant request, and Tim seconds. Motion passes unanimously.

Proposal: Appoint Margo as E-USA board liaison with ESF, Edukado, and the London Esperanto Club. This information will be posted on our new website when it is available. David moves to accept. Quintyn seconds. Motion passes unanimously.