President’s Message September/October 2021

We have three new trustees to welcome to the Board of Trustees. Tony Goodyer replaces Ramsey Pattison after Ramsey served since 2014 as UK trustee. Thank you Ramsey, for all your service and support. We are eagerly looking forward to working with Tony as he begins his term of office and thanks to Tony for stepping forward. Joey Montagut is our new EuroAfrica trustee replacing Willem Hurkmans who served since 2009, I believe. Joey lives in France and his business takes him to Cameroon several times a year. Joey is off to a great start and has volunteered for extra committee duties. Giresh Ghooray is our new USA SW Region trustee replacing Dave Mouat who served
since 2011.
Christine Henning, our Secretary, brought to the Board a request and justification to change the date that
membership dues are due. The Board agreed that all memberships will now go from October to October. This
change will significantly reduce the workload for the Secretary and Treasurer by concentrating all dues renewals
to a few months in the year as opposed to a few being due each month. The Secretary will be working to notify
each member whose membership comes due as to what is owed to bridge them to the new October date. After
this year of extra work membership renewal time will be much less time consuming.
The Board also approved to separate the position of Sec-Tres into individual positions to reduce the workload
on the combined position and as a cost saving measure. Each individual position is now more like a volunteer
position with an honorarium instead of a part-time job. New Roles and Responsibilities for each position and
a revision to the bylaws Article III were also approved paving the way for the Board’s approval of Judy Miller
(#10212) as Treasurer. Judy and Christine will work together to make this change a smooth and seamless
transition.
Our bylaws often reflect the way we used to conduct our affairs many years ago, for example, when we only had
one business meeting a year. In today’s environment that is not practical. I have had several Board of Trustee
meetings since I became President last September. So, this message will be notice to all the membership that
we will be holding business meetings, when necessary, via Zoom. If any member would want to set in on a
Board Zoom meeting send me your name and email with a request. I will make a list of all interested members
and notify each with the Zoom meeting invitation. We will be forming a committee to review our bylaws and
recommend changes to bring them up to date.
Our IWCS Score card shows only a slight increase in our Matching Funds drive. This initiative has meant that
we have replaced almost all lost income from not holding any meetings for a year. We are only about $3,000
short of matching the initial generous donations. If you have not taken the time to make a donation, now is
the time to do so and help us reach our goal. Please send your donations, no matter how small, to the current
Secretary, Christine Henning. As the transition to the Treasurer begins Christine will ensure your donation is
acknowledged and deposited correctly.