The following is the first ever PNA Annual Report delivered by interim President Harry Tobin.

Transcription

1 [The first annual PNA membership meeting was held on October 16, 2015 in Pacific City, Oregon. The meeting was called to order by interim PNA President Harry Tobin at 9:04 am. More than 40 people were in attendance, half of which were PNA members. A quorum was declared.] The following is the first ever PNA Annual Report delivered by interim President Harry Tobin. Welcome to the first ever annual meeting of Paddlesports North America. This is a milestone event in the short history of this organization and I am delighted to see all of you here join me for this historic moment. My name is Harry Tobin and I have been serving as the interim Vice President and then President of PNA over the past two years. Before we declare a quorum, so we can officially conduct PNA business, I first would like to thank Paul Kuthe and Alder Creek for hosting this meeting and making it possible for us all to be here at this time. [Board Chairperson report discussing vision, challenges, and future plans] Some of you may be asking why we are conducting an annual meeting. The answer is threefold. First, our organizational by laws, drafted under the laws of the State of New York, as well as NY state legislation, require not for profit organizations to have an annual meeting specifically to show the Board s accountability for finances to the membership. We will get to the Treasurer s report in a moment, but until we do, I will mention that no PNA funds were expended on this annual meeting. Second, this is a great forum to communicate the accomplishments and challenges that we have had as an organization and what we expect to face over the next few years in a very transparent way. This presentation will be posted on the PNA website next week so we can ensure that all PNA members not in attendance at this meeting have the opportunity to share in this transparency. Finally, it is our fondest wish that through this meeting and our discussion, we will raise your level of awareness about PNA and what we are trying to accomplish, and engage you as a committee volunteer while providing nonmembers with inspiration to join PNA. PNA has had a very exciting year. We officially became one of the five British Canoeing affiliate organizations and delivery center for British Canoeing programming, including star awards and coach training programs, in North America, establishing a solid vision for PNA, namely that: Paddlesports North America exists to ensure that all those enjoying paddling canoes, kayaks and stand up paddleboards do so safely and in a manner that demonstrates respect for the environment. PNA accomplishes this by delivering the international gold standard for personal paddling, leadership and coaching skills through classroom and on water training. Our interim Board members and other dedicated volunteers have accomplished a lot this year, including establishing PNA as a not for profit organization, launching a resource rich website and dynamic Facebook page, developing a logo, raising money, establishing a new

2 administrative office and processing courses and awards, surveying coaches about their needs, exploring course insurance, offering member only discounts for training programs and opening the PNA online store offering official PNA merchandise. And now, of course, we are holding our first annual meeting and electing a new Board. In a few minutes we will announce the Board members for the next two years. This team of volunteers will have some challenging goals in front of them. I am hopeful you will be inspired to pitch in and help achieve these goals. The goals facing the new Board are: 1. Growing membership. Every new member represents the possibility to do more since membership is the primary driver of revenue necessary to deliver more and more benefits to PNA members. Our goal is to double membership this coming year. 2. Expanding course delivery across Canada, Mexico and the midwestern U.S. PNA has a strong footprint on the US coasts. It is time to fill in the middle and expand our footprint across North America. 3. Underwriting course delivery where difficulties of location or economics make them currently unavailable. We need to bring British Canoeing programming to more urban communities and make it accessible by developing a scholarship program for those for whom cost is an obstacle. 4. Collaborating with the United States Coast Guard and other marine organizations to promote the wearing of personal floatation devices. 5. Teaming up with leading first aid providers to promote first aid and incident management skills. 6. Determining the appropriate environmental partner to support leaving the environment better than it was found and maintaining a minimal environmental impact and footprint. 7. Exploring the appropriateness of including cultural and historical awareness as a component of paddling curricula, as many paddlers are exposed to the historical aspects of indigenous water based cultures, from the Aleutians and Kwakiutls to the Seminoles and Miccosukee. It s a big agenda. But we are hopeful that with your support, the support of financial benefactors and fundraising efforts, we can make this happen. [Administration Director s report, discussing current membership, challenges and future plans.] Paddlesports North America is the first organization outsides the UK that British Canoeing has officially entered into a relationship with for delivery of BCU courses. As such, we are in

3 uncharted territory in developing systems and processes that meet both the needs of coaches and paddlers in North America and the requirements of British Canoeing and its various committees and affiliate entities. While we were able to plan for much of the transition from BCUNA to PNA, there were quite a few issues that neither BC nor PNA foresaw. In the first six months there were delays in processing some course paperwork while BC worked through the processes that supported their quality control and database requirements. These delays have largely been resolved and the second six months has been much smoother and more efficient. Course paperwork and membership applications are generally processed within a few days of receipt. Currently, we are completely up to date. We hope to have administrative access to the BCU database by early next year. This is a big step and involves some technological challenges for BC, but it will hugely expedite our ability to check old records for paddlers and coaches here in North America and minimize reliance on British Canoeing records. We are working towards the day when paddlers and coaches won't have to hold on to small pieces of paper to prove they've passed courses and assessments. PNA administration by the numbers: 323 individuals have taken at least one BCU reported course. 185 different BCU courses have been registered. This includes all assessment courses, 4 and 5 star trainings, FSRT, WWSR, and foundation modules threads representing well over 1,000 individual interactions have been handled. Currently, PNA has 170 memberships of which 133 are Individual Memberships, 16 are Family Memberships (representing 32 members), we have 1 Student Membership, 1 Sustaining Membership and 3 Lifetime Memberships (gratis) [Treasurer s Report, presentation of financial statement, and financial goals for next fiscal period.] Paddlesports North America was officially incorporated in the State of New York on October 29, We could not have done this without a dedicated team of BCU coaches and volunteers who worked tirelessly to develop draft bylaws and prepare incorporation documents. In particular, I would like to thank John Carmody of Sea Cliff Kayakers who worked with me and our representatives at the New York State Council of Nonprofits, Inc. to establish PNA as a tax exempt New York State corporation. John loaned PNA substantial funds to pay our incorporation fees and for assistance in preparing our Federal nonprofit application. Our application was mailed in January of 2014 and we were approved as a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization on July 9, I would also like to thank our Founding Sponsors: Atlantic Kayak Tours, P&H Sea Kayaks, Sea Kayaking UK, Valley Sea Kayaks and Werner Paddles. Without their meaningful financial support we would not have gotten off the ground.

4 Following incorporation, our next task was to finalize our agreements with British Canoeing. On September 11, 2014 both our Affiliation agreement (which allows us to run British Canoeing courses) and our Delivery Center agreement (which allows us to develop British Canoeing coaches in North America) were signed. Shortly thereafter we began accepting memberships. As of September 18, 2015 we have taken in $11,885 in membership fees and $6,380 in program fees, representing the majority of our income. Our largest expenses to date are the fees paid to British Canoeing for affiliation and to be a delivery center. Each of these fees runs 1,000 annually. Payments for the 2015 year amounted to $3,125, including the exchange rate and bank fees for foreign transactions. As of this writing we have not yet made payments to British Canoeing for PNA run programs. We estimate that we owe approximately $2,600 to British Canoeing for programs run in the last quarter of 2014 and the first two quarters of PNA office expenses amount to approximately $1,500, and our annual premium for directors and officers insurance runs approximately $700. Upcoming significant expenses include payment for programs run in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, and our Affiliation agreement and Delivery Center renewal fees for the 2016 calendar year, due at the end of January Currently, we have cash assets totaling $15, so we will be able to meet pending expenses. Going forward, we anticipate implementation of (1) a Support PNA webpage with a PayPal Donate button, and (2) the ability to make new membership application payments, renewals, course application and certificate payments directly through the PNA website via PayPal s credit card or direct transfer options. [Election/confirmation of Board members according to by laws.] Before I announce your new Board, I would like to say thank you to some people who really helped ensure PNA s success this year even though they were not on the board. First, a big thanks to some of our volunteers, namely: Bill Lozano, who pretty much single handedly ran BCUNA, the predecessor of PNA, for 13 years and facilitated the almost seamless transfer of its role to PNA. Bill continues to offer guidance and assistance whenever we ask. And we do ask. Mike Devlin, who championed PNA becoming a British Canoeing affiliate and delivery center; Scott Fairty, who took on the job of PNA administrator, continuing the work Bill had done so that forms were filed and awards were printed and mailed, and everything was entered into a database. John Carmody, Leon Somme, Shawna Franklin, Erik Schorr, Paul Kuthe, and others who served as the BCUNA to PNA transition team. Thanks for getting the ball rolling; Seth Albanese who built the PNA database and website and continues to move us into the 23 rd century;

5 Svetlana Petrova, who sends out the PNA newsletter and surveys and made on line voting possible; Alec Bloyd Peshkin, Marsha Henson and Steve Maynard, our regional representatives, who continue to be important conduits of information between the board and local coaches; Coaching Committee members Shawna Franklin, Alec Bloyd Peshkin and Michael Shugg, who have put in countless hours on matters relating to coaching qualifications and needs; Sam Grubisich, who recently took over leadership of the membership committee simply because we asked. A huge thanks to these tireless volunteers who helped make this organization into a reality over the past two years. And now thanks to our interim Board members. Thanks to Nikki Rekman, who served as the Interim President for the first year and shepherded the Board through getting organized and incorporated and getting the Facebook page up and running. Thanks to John Ozard, who served as Treasurer and set up all the financial and accounting processes and bank accounts and filed our federal and state tax returns even though we didn t owe anything. And thanks to Sharon Bloyd Peshkin, who served as secretary, edited hundreds of documents, took meeting minutes and produced our quarterly newsletter. Thanks also to Steve Maynard, who heads up the APL committee, and Andrea Knepper, who got our fundraising efforts off the ground. Board member Scott Fairty also serves as the PNA Administrator. Scott has a giant job, registering courses, collecting money, implementing memberships, sending out awards and communicating with British Canoeing. He is the person who handles all the admin for PNA. And finally, thanks to Shawna Franklin who, as a Board Member, chaired the Coaches Committee to assure PNA was offering the right courses at the right times and in the right places. Shawna and her fellow committee members helped make sure we were in fact upholding the international gold standard for personal paddling, leadership and coaching skills through classroom and on water training. (A special note: I am being forced to say this by those who looked at and edited these remarks in advance): Also thanks to Harry Tobin, who succeeded Nikki as president of the Interim Board and has not only herded those cats but also investigated insurance options, launched our Cafe Press store, and generally brought his humor and good sense to Board decisions. And now, it is my distinct privilege to announce the results of the first PNA elections for the 2016 Board. Your new board members are: Kelly Blades, Sharon Bloyd Peshkin, Scott Fairty, Shawna Franklin, Todd A Johnstone Wright, Steve Maynard, John Ozard, and Harry Tobin. Congratulations to the 2016 PNA Board.

6 I would like to open the floor to questions or any other business before I adjourn the meeting. [Adjournment of business meeting.] On behalf of your past and new Board Members and with thanks to Alder Creek, let me officially say this meeting is adjourned and let s go paddling.