CAA News Today

CAA Annual Business Meeting Minutes
Friday, February 18, 2022

1. Welcome + Call to Order – N. Elizabeth Schlatter, CAA President
   1. N. Elizabeth Schlatter called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. CT.
   2. Land acknowledgements.
   3. Thanks paid to staff for their hard work bringing the 2022 Annual Conference to fruition.

    

2. Executive Director’s Report – Meme Omogbai, CAA Executive Director + CEO 
   1. Meme Omogbai welcomed everyone to the 110th Annual Business Meeting and expressed regrets that this could not be an in-person convening as the pandemic necessitated a pivot to virtual meeting.
   2. CAA staff remains focused on meeting commitments to members, based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, surveys and other feedbacks consistent with the fundamentals of our strategic repositioning plan.
   3. CAA’s aim for the 2022 Annual Conference was to create a smaller, more digestible program of 200 vetted and guaranteed sessions in two components, in-person in February and virtual in March, based upon membership feedback.
   4. Throughout the pandemic, the health and safety of members has been CAA’s primary concern. Based on the information and the feedback received from members, specifically concerns about an in-person convening, and close monitoring of the COVID pandemic and omicron strain as well as CDC guidelines, it was decided that the CAA 2022 Annual Conference would pivot to an entirely virtual format while also maintaining the scheduled dates: February 16-19 and March 3-5, with all recordings available through April 14.
   5. It is important to note that during the decision-making process, while the Hilton Chicago remained open, CAA 2022 registration statistics were drastically below what was needed to fulfill the negotiated room block contractual obligations and registration goals.
   6. The pivot to virtual has provided increased access to virtual content, allowing conference attendance to expand and embrace a global audience. In this flexible and accessible format, individuals can hear session content on their own schedule between teaching, family care, and other obligations, including acknowledgement of the climate crisis.
   7. Pricing was also adjusted for virtual access. Everyone registered for all access/in-person was automatically converted to virtual from a rate of $249 to $199 and directed back to portal for self-service options: 1) credit $50 to the next membership renewal; 2) $50 tax deductible donation to CAA; or 3) refund of $50.
   8. This year’s pivot exemplifies our model of constant learning and improvement where we adjust our plans based on feedback and data received. This is just the beginning; as we continue with our repositioning, we will be able to improve our responsiveness and agility in the process of supporting CAA members.

    

3. Approval of Minutes of 109th Annual Business Meeting [ACTION ITEM]
   1. Jennifer Rissler, CAA VP for External Relations, moved to approve the 109th Annual Business Meeting minutes. Niku Kashef, CAA VP for Diversity & Inclusion, seconded the motion.
   2. 81% of attendees (25 people) voted to approve; 19% of attendees (6 people) abstained. The minutes were approved.

    

4. Financial Report – Georgia Harrell, CAA Treasurer + Robert Tofolo, CAA Head of Operations
   1. 1. As of June 30, 2021, the association posted a breakeven operating budget with revenue including investment spinoff matching expenses and meeting our forecasts and budget expectations. The association continues to manage expenses within revenue means. Operating revenue totaled $3,001,778 verses prior year $3,321,000.
      2. Excerpts of the audited financial statements for fiscal year 2021 will be posted on the Association’s website. Complete audited financial statements have been provided and made available via guidestar.org and charitiesnys.com.
      3. In March of 2021, the association received a second payroll protection loan of $352,195 as part of the national CARES Act. This loan was fully forgiven in February 2022.
      4. As of June 30, 2021, there were 6,095 individual members down 9% from 6,699 prior year; this is reflective of continued systemic and pandemic impacts. There were also 367 institutional members versus prior year numbers of 443.
      5. The market value of the association’s investment portfolio as of June 30 was $11,946,566 versus a prior year balance of 9,825,458 million. The portfolio continues to be managed by investment managers at Boston Trust, now named Boston Trust Walden Company, under the supervision of the finance committee of the CAA Board of Directors.Georgia Harrell presented the financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.
   2. Robert Tofolo presented an update on conference attendance and CAA’s strategic plan.
      1. As of today, February 18, 2022, 2038 attendees have registered for the 2022 conference. We will provide a final tally for attendance after March 5, 2022.
      2. In 2020, CAA implemented a five-year strategic plan to create a sustainable business model that can support operations and allow for endowment growth through responsible and streamlined operations. Although we are now operating within our means, we know that membership dues no longer support the operations of the association: combined revenues of dues, Annual Conference, and publications in fiscal 2021 only covered 63% of our operating expenses.
      3. In response to this, we are working to redesign our membership tiers in order to provide an accessible entry point to CAA.
      4. In November 2021 we introduced a new user portal which will function as a central nervous system for the member experience, enabling a unique “myCAA” experience tailored to each individual’s member journey.

    

5. Old/New Business
   1. No old/new business was raised.

    

6. Board Member Election Results – N. Elizabeth Schlatter, CAA President
   1. Gregory Gilbert, Nazar Kozak, Karen Leader, and Adity Saxena were elected to serve a four-year term on the Board of Directors, beginning in May 2022.
   2. Victoria McCraven was elected as an Emerging Professional Board member and will serve a two-year term.

    

7. Adjourn

Respectfully submitted by Maeghan Donohue, CAA Manager of Strategic Planning, Diversity, and Governance.