PPDB February  2021 Minutes
(Annual Membership Meeting)
 
Call to Order:  8:04 PM

Present: Julia Murray (general member) Juli Baumgarner, Molly Black, Johnine Bickauskas, Tammy Kitterman, Gordon Boe, Lisa Lopatofsky,
Sandra Salerno, Patti McGowan

Approval of January 2021 Minutes: Molly motioned, Lisa seconded, motion passes. 

Treasurer’s Report:  Gordon Boe
 
COMMITTEE UPDATES:

Membership – Tammy Kitterman - There are currently 49 active memberships. We encourage new families to sign up though the donation received to apply toward new annual memberships.

Outreach – Patti McGowan -

• Used spring and summer to work internally on the Outreach Committee,
• developing the purpose and mission  and an Action Plan
• General Member recommended PPDB to The Healing Center for a nonprofit to benefit from a Fundraiser.  PPDB was given an award of 4700.00 Check.  In September, The Healing Center hosted a podcast with PPDB to congratulate them on the fundraiser and a way for PPDB to bring awareness or its organization
• In the Spring, another generous member gave a donation to pay for 25 free 1 year family memberships.  The Outreach plan rolled out a plan to offer this Free Membership to new families
• NOV/DEC – Holiday Mailing
• Updated our PPDB Brochure and partnered with the PA Deaf-Blind Project to have the PPDB included in their family mailing  

 
Fundraising – Gordon Boe and Johnine Bickauskas - Tammy set up Pennsylvania Partnership for the deaf blind as a non profit with Amazon Smiles. We discussed ideas such as a virtual run or t-shirt sales. The committee will meet this month to discuss more.

Nominations – Molly Black - Call went out on February 1st to encourage general members to apply to become board members. The officer positions of Treasurer, VP, and special advisor are all up for renewal and these individuals have graciously agreed to continue to serve in the position unless there is interest expressed from others to run for these positions.

NEW BUSINESS:
Strategic Planning – Juli Baumgarner

• Report out of meeting with Pivot Consultant. Juli B, Lisa L. and Molly B. attended on 1/29.  Julie will share the information with Molly and Lisa to begin with and they will discuss and get this information out to the general board. The pivot group gave wonderful ideas for grant resources and fundraising ideas. The minimum for consulting is $500 if we choose to go that route.

Lisa Lopatofsky - field advocacy information

• 2/16/21 Advocacy training at 7:30 pm, this is good preparation for those wishing to participate in the day on the hill advocacy.
• Rare Disease day is 2/28/21                      
• PIE NFADB - Finished first position paper on interveners.

OLD BUSINESS:
I/G and Twitter Sandra has set up, we need to link up with the Facebook account.  We would like to know how the general membership uses social media and what type of content they would like to see from PPDB. Sandra to set up a time with Tammy to link the accounts.
 
GOOD OF THE ORDER:  Thank you Julia Murray for attending! We encourage you to apply for a board position if you are interested.
 
ADJOURNED: 9:04 PM

PPDB January 2021 Meeting Minutes

Call to Order: Tammy Kitterman at 8:04 PM

Present: Tammy Kitterman, Molly Black, Sandra Salerno, Lisa Lopatofsky, Johnine Bickauskas, Juli Baumgarner

Excused Absence: Gordon Boe, Patti McGowan

Approval of November Minutes:  Lisa motioned, Molly seconded, all in favor to pass 6/0.

Committee Updates

Outreach – Beautiful holiday greeting cards were sent to all PPDB members. We discussed possibility of member buddies, reaching out to other PPDB families to do a virtual check-in.  We also discussed gifting family memberships to new families.
               Fundraising – No updates
               Nominations – Discussed in new business #2 below

NEW Business:

• What can we do for our members? – Outreach Committee will bring thoughts of implementation and budget to the next meeting regarding ideas of the following:
• Possibly offering a small one time grant to deaf-blind families to use for SSP type spending. A more in depth discussion is needed.
• Possibly providing respite care. 
• Possible purchase of books or materials, e.g. Brooks publishing, Mikaylas Voice, HELIX materials of presenters. 
• A donation was made by a James Smith, but there was no identifying information for contact.

 Board Nomination Process for adding new Board members

• Tammy appointed Molly Black as committee chairperson, Sandra Salerno and Lisa Lopatofsky will serve on the committee.
• Call for Nominations to be posted for general board members and officer positions open immediately. Board members are encouraged to report to the February meeting with nominees to the board. We discussed the need to have representation from the deaf-blind community through young adults experiencing deaf-blindness.
• Committee proposes nominees for all positions vacated, presented at February 15th Meeting (please refer to 20-21 Roster) Treasurer – Gordon; VP-Lisa; Special Advisor(annual)- Juli;
• Written notice of nominees by the Nominating Committee shall be given by the Secretary 15 days prior to  meeting  (by March 1st)
• Committee reviews nominations and paperwork to present to Board with recommendations at April 12th meeting
• Election held May 10th

 
OLD Business:

• Beautiful holiday postcards! Thank you Lisa and Johnine!!
•  I/G and Twitter Sandra has set up, we need to link up with the Facebook account.
• Juli will have a free consult with the Pivot group regarding strategic planning on January 29th at 9am. Juli, Lisa, and Molly plan to attend the call and report back to the board in February.

 

PPDB Board of Directors
 
Minutes of the November 9, 2020 Meeting
 
Call to Order – Tammy 8:00 PM
 
Present: Molly Black, Tammy Kitterman, Patti McGowan, Lisa Lopatofsky, Johnine Bickauskas, Sandra Salerno
 
Excused Absence:  Gordon Boe, Juli Baumgarner
 
 
Approval of October Minutes – Motion to approve Lisa, Seconded by Patti, all in favor
 
Treasurer’s report - Gordon Sent treasurer’s report by email.  Molly explained that our Logo Graphic Artist, Brandon O’Neill, never received the check written to pay his invoice.  She used Venmo to pay him, and Gordon reimbursed Molly.  The check is still missing in the mail, and Brandon agreed to destroy it if ever received.  It was agreed not to stop payment because of a $30.00 bank service charge since it will be void in 90 days.  
 
Motion to approve the Treasuer’s report was made by Patti, Lisa seconded, all in favor
 
Committee Updates (If any)
 
Fundraising – Gordon, Johnine - No new update but we need to add Fundraising as a January agenda topic with Juli
 
Membership – Patti & Tammy - December 1st do a blast to update what we have done - put on Facebook and ListServ 
 
Outreach – Molly & Patti – Brochure/update; Podcast – The Healing Center
Last version of brochure - Molly sent updated Logo and brochure pictures and Barb Gilligan at PaTTAN will be working to get final version to us soon. Hoping to have it completed to include in large mailing being done by the Project. 
 
Podcast - Patti, Molly, and Tammy did a podcast for the Healing Center - 
They referred to PPDB as a partnership which was very reassuring to our group.  We will invite The Healing Center staff to join us when we are able to socially gather again.
 
Nomination – Molly - she wants us to grow the board (perhaps up to 11 members?)  Please be considering what members we should be recruiting when nomination season begins again in February. 
 
 
New Business:

1. Toolkit 2 - Further discussion will take place in January, if necessary.  We were all reminded to watch Toolkit #2 video, linked here:

 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8ywVl24Lcms
 
 
Old Business:
 
A. Strategic Planning – Juli has a meeting planned on 2 pm on November 13 with NFADB, Lisa plans to attend.  If interested in joining the meeting, please contact Juli.
B. Holiday Mailing – Lisa & Johnine – Lisa will re- send she did not receive the colored picture in the mail.
C. Instagram/Twitter – Sandra - Tammy is available for next two weeks to get in touch to begin setting these up for our organization.
 
Good of the Order: No additional comments. 
 
Adjournment: 8:21 PM
 
 

​PPDB Board of Directors October 2020 Minutes
 
Call to Order – Tammy 8:00 PM
 
Present: Tammy Kitterman, Gordon Boe, Juli Baumgarner, Lisa Lopatofsky, Johnine Bickauskas, Molly Black, Patti McGowan, Sandra Salerno

Conflicts to the Agenda - none stated
 
Approval of September Minutes – Molly motioned, Gordon Seconded, all in favor.
 
Treasurer’s report - Gordon - Molly motioned to approve, Lisa seconded, all in favor. Invoice sent to Gordon to pay Molly’s nephew for the logo.
 
Committee Updates
Fundraising/Membership/Outreach
 
Tammy and Patty will meet first of November to get drive started.
 
New Business:
​
A. Review of Fundraising Modules – Juli - Toolkit 2- Financial Oversight Fundraising. After reviewing the toolkit we discussed possible need to budget for deaf-blind families in crisis. Gordon shared it is useful to share information back to our donors and non-profits regarding how their donations are used. Everyone needs to watch the 20 min video in Toolkit 2.
 
B. Review/discussion of responsibilities under the VP position and other responsibilities of all officer positions and general board members not currently outlined in Bylaws. We concluded that the VP position will be responsible to be the liaison to NFADB.
 
Old Business:

A. Progress on Brochure printing vs. copying and recreation by PaTTAN Publishing Department – Molly will send us a copy of the PaTTAN created brochure to see if we approve the change of format.

B. Strategic Planning – free, initial consult scheduled with PIVOT group? – Juli has a meeting planned on 2 pm on November 13, email her if you are interested in attending.

C. Holiday Mailing – Lisa & Johnine will send a picture for our children to color and use for the mailing.

D. Instagram/Twitter – Sandra - needs to work with
 
Good of the Order: No additional comments.
 
Adjournment: 8:58 pm
 
Respectfully Submitted, Sandra Salerno

PPDB BOARD OF DIRECTORS

August 10, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Call to Order:  8:00 PM Lisa Lopatofsky

Present: Juli Baumgarner (professional consultant/non-voting), Molly Black, Patti McGowan, Lisa Lopatofsky, Sandra Salerno, Gordon Boe, Johnine Bickauskas

Absent:  Tammy Kitterman – approved absence

To the board: Molly disclosed the individual being considered to update our logo is her nephew.
 
Approval of Minutes:  Molly Motioned, Gordon second, approved 6/0
 
Treasurer’s Report:  
June Beginning Balance: $3,581.88 - $202.50 (micro cloths) - $112.50 (pens) - $51.94 (Website) = $3,214.94 ending balance

July Beginning Balance:  $3,214.94 + $4,720 receipts = $7,934.94 ending balance

Treasurers report – approved 6/0

New Business:
 

• All members reviewed the marketing brochure. Molly will mark up the changes and send out. We discussed the need to ensure the brochure and website are cohesive, board members should review the list sent by Gordon and compare to wording on brochure. Juli mentioned stepping back on printing the brochure as an effort to streamline the process and wait until we are finished with strategic planning.  Molly expressed concern with losing momentum on brochure and will work with Tammy to make changes suggested as we move toward our formal strategic planning. Will send out an updated brochure when appropriate for board to review and approve. Suggested adding social media information to brochure.
• Vote to update the logo. Molly’s nephew, Brandon O’Neill, offered to do for $100, Patti motioned to spend $100 to update the logo properly brailed, state straightened out, put on a clear background and add the website. Lisa seconded motion, all in favor 6/0
• Discuss holiday mailing. – postcard, general season’s greetings, all in favor pursuing – Lisa and Johnine will lead the project
• Instagram/Twitter – Sandra – will follow up with Tammy
• Note change to date of September meeting: Tuesday Sept. 8th 8:00 pm, Patti will receive an excused absence
• The Healing Center fundraiser update – Molly provided an update on the $4,720 received from The Healing Center. The Healing Center sold caps for $5.00 and gave 100% profits to PPDB, Tammy wrote and sent a thank you letter, pictures are posted on THC Facebook page, as well as PPDB’s Facebook page. Molly asked if we would consider voting for THC on the Tribune Review website as best CBD dispensary, one vote per email.
• Free family memberships! – update – To date, 7 families have taken advantage of the free memberships out of possible 25. The deadline is August 31, 2020 and more e-blasts will go out as a reminder.

 
Old Business:  
 

• Purchase of exhibitor handout items. We plan to use the existing marketing materials already purchased, even though there is an error in logo.
• Shout Outs – E-voted to eliminate. Outreach will do periodically but will no longer occur monthly.

  
Committee Updates

• Bylaws Committee: Tammy and Lisa
• *Fundraising: Johnine, Gordon, and Sandra – plan to meet in August to do template
• *Membership Committee: Tammy, Patti, and Lisa – plan to meet in August – 7 people have taken advantage of free membership, 9 one year members, and 39 lifetime members, google suite can view membership list, 45 of 48 are on listserv – August 31 is end date of campaign
• *Outreach Committee: Molly/Patti – West, Lisa/Johnine – Central, Sandra - East
• Finance: Tammy, Gordon, Lisa

*Fundraising, membership, and outreach – can be general membership of PPDB, finance, bylaws, and nominations are only Board members. 
 

• Strategic Planning – Juli mentioned we may want to consider using funds in the budget to hire someone to facilitate virtually. She estimates this will take 6 hours total, possibly broken up in 2 or 3 sessions.

Good of the Order – Gordon shared that he is having difficulty accessing pictures and the calendars on g-suite. The board discussed asking Tammy to host a possible g-suite tutorial for the board.
​
Adjournment – 9:07 PM
 

PPDB BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Minutes of June 8, 2020 Meeting

Call to Order:  Tammy Kitterman, President, called meeting to order at 8:02 PM.

Present:  Tammy Kitterman, Patti McGowan, Lisa Lopatofsky, Juli Baumgardner, Molly Black, Sandra Salerno, Johnine Bickauskas
Absent:  Gordon Boe (approved absence)

To the board: There were no conflicts to the agenda voiced.
 
Approval of Minutes:  Motion was made by Lisa and seconded by Johnine to approve the minutes of the May 11th meeting.
 
Treasurer’s Report:   Gordon Boe emailed treasurer’s report prior to meeting. PPDB received a generous donation of $400 in the month of May to use toward new family memberships. The general fund received $45 dollars in donations.
Molly motioned to approve treasurer’s report and Lisa seconded.

Outreach/Social Committee - Patti McGowan and Molly Black reported no new news due to covid19 pandemic.

Membership Committee - Tammy Kitterman and Patti McGowan – Application of $400 donation made by Tina Hertzog to be used for new family memberships. Email letter to be sent to members – start drive as soon as we are contacted by families, Patti asked for us to add an August 31st deadline, idea to allow each board member to ask a family or friend if we don’t fill all memberships. Tammy will send to listserv’s and Facebook.

Nominations Committee – Molly, Chair, onboarding of Johnine Bickauskas complete.
 
New Business:  Tammy

Cogswell-Macy Act – Jackie Brennan, Superintendent of Overbrook School for the Blind and a past PPDB Board member, Guest.  In reference to request of PPDB's support and participation in supporting the Cogswell Macy Act, through increased sponsorship by congress to improve services for children with sensory impairments. Jackie sent information to Sandra to disseminate to the Listserv as well as on the Facebook page. Members were encouraged to contact our congressmen in support of the Cogswell Macy Act. June 21-28 is deaf blind awareness week.

Old Business:   Tammy

​Purchase of exhibitor handout items.  Discussed budget adjustment that was suggested through email for the exhibitor items. Molly motioned to adjust the marketing budget to $300 on even years and $100 on odd years for marketing budget. Patti seconded the motion and it passed. Pens and 6X6 micro cloths will be ordered for total cost of $315.

Shout Outs – Juli is due to post in July. (The board will discuss possibly moving Tammy up from August due to Juli’s new role).
August – Tammy
September – Johnine
October – Patti
November – Molly
December - Gordon
January – Lisa
February – Sandra
March – Sandra

PPT Overview –   Belief and the Standing and Ad Hoc Committees slides were updated. Most recent version shared with entire Board.  Will be available for outreach

Committees Review – Discuss Current Committees and possible Committees to be formed:

Bylaws Committee: Review the appropriateness of the Bylaws on an as needed basis – Tammy and Lisa

Fundraising: Solicit contributions and other activities to support membership and advocacy Johnine, Gordon, and Sandra

Membership Committee: Recruit new members and retain current ones Tammy, Patti, and Lisa

Outreach/Social Committee: Create and support awareness, events, and engagement toward the mission of the Pennsylvania Partnership for the Deafblind. Molly/Patti – West, Lisa/Johnine – Central, Sandra - East

Add Finance: The Finance Committee will provide oversight responsibilities to ensure PPDB is fiscally responsible with respect to budgeting, safeguarding assets, financial reporting, and compliance with federal and Pennsylvania tax reporting. Tammy, Gordon, Lisa
Committees may want to schedule a meeting in July during our “off” month and report back in August with their mission and goals.


Strategic Planning –. Molly reported that Jeannine Brinkley, the PEAL Executive Director indicated that she would be willing to facilitate our strategic planning meeting(s); however, it would have to be on a virtual basis during COIVD. Juli has also spoken with Edgenie Bellah from the NFADB regarding setting up a consultation. There is a possibility this meeting could include other states (not just PA) and we could potentially pool resources if necessary.  Edgenie said she may also be able to facilitate strategic planning if needed. 
Good of the Order – No additional items.
Adjournment – 9:33 PM
​

Minutes of May 11, 2020 Meeting

Call to Order:  Tammy Kitterman, President, brought the meeting to order at 8:00 PM

Present:  Tammy Kitterman, Patti McGowan, Lisa Lopatofsky, Juli Baumgarner, Gordon Boe, Molly Black

Absent:  Tina Hertzog

To the Board:  There were no conflicts to the Agenda voiced. 

Approval of Minutes:  Motion was made by Lisa and seconded by    Gordon to approve the minutes of the April 13, 2020 Minutes

Treasurer’s Report:   Gordon Boe, Treasurer reported that PPDB started April with $3,147.57 in checking, added $0, spent $0, and ended April with $3,147.57.  One donation was made in the month of May and that will be reported next month.

Outreach/Social Committee - Patti McGowan and Molly Black – There were no events or updates to report.

Membership Committee - Tammy Kitterman and Patti McGowan reported that Tina Hertzog resigned from the Board.  Her letter of resignation is attached.  She indicated that she will donate $400 and has requested that it be a conditional donation, to be used for 25 new family memberships.  Tammy will reach out to Tina and thank her for her time on the Board and her donation.  Gordon, as Treasurer, indicated that we can add a line item in the budget for these memberships.  Patti and Tammy will bring back ideas to the June meeting on how to apply this donation to new families.  The whole Board agreed that this donation will be used in this way to honor Tina’s request. 

Nominations Committee – Molly Black, Chair, directed the votes as follows:

1. The appointment of Juli Baumgarner to a Special Advisory role was unanimously approved.  Juli suggested that the length of this term be one year and reviewed at each annual vote of the Board.
2. There being no new additional nominations to the Board for President, Tammy Kitterman has accepted this nomination.  Tammy has just completed the balance of Kristina Kezmarsky’s 2 yr. term, due to Kristina’s resignation as President.  Tammy will begin her first, two-year term as President.
3. There being no additional Nominations for Vice President, Lisa Lopatofsky has accepted this nomination.  Lisa will complete the balance of Tammy’s VP Term that occurred when she stepped into the office of President. 
4. There being no additional Nominations for Secretary, Sandra has accepted this nomination.  Sandra will begin her first two-year term as Secretary.
5. Nominations to General Board Members.  Molly and Patti have each accepted nominations as general board members.  Patti will begin her last, two-year term as a general board member.  Having just completed her term as Secretary, Molly begins a first two-year term as a general board member.   

 
Old Business:   Tammy

1. Exhibitor handouts items.  Budget - $200 or 10% of balance of current budget year, which is $273.00, as of Sept. 1, the start of our fiscal year. Molly provided a breakdown of costs for replenishing our pens, sticky pads and a new item, microfiber cloths.  All seemed to like the idea of the cloths, but not the price quoted.  Tammy will look into Vista Printing for purchasing microfiber cloths and report back next meeting.
2. Lisa reported on the Zoom meeting for concerned parents and sharing of Triumphs and Challenges which occurred on Thursday, April 30.  She reported back that no families joined the meeting, but felt that families are tired of zoom meetings, but it was good to give them this opportunity.  If we feel it is needed, we can try again either in a couple of weeks or over the summer. It was likely just bad timing.
3. Shout Outs – Sandra is due to post in June.

July – Juli
August – Tammy
September – Johnine
October – Patti
November – Molly
December - Gordon
January – Lisa
February - Sandra
 
New Business:

1. PPT Overview –   Juli presented the overview of PPDB and some changes were made to our Belief and the Standing and Ad Hoc Committees were updated. 
2. Committees – Each member should review the updated list of Committees and should email Molly & Sandra as outgoing and incoming Secretaries to report on next month’s Agenda these assignments.  Committees will then meet separately from the Board to update their mission and goals and report back to the whole Board.
3. Strategic Planning – Juli has offered to draft a letter for Tammy and Lisa to forward directly to Edgenie Bellah, Affiliate Liaison of NFADB, to inquire whether they might be able to provide or suggest a facilitator for the process of strategic planning.  Molly will inquire at PaTTAN and PEAL, as well.  Any Board member may reach out to any non-profit organization as well for this purpose of locating a facilitator.

 
Good of the Order – Gordon mentioned that he will be unable to attend next month’s June 8th meeting, as it is his 52nd Wedding Anniversary.  

​Adjournment - Meeting Adjourned at 9:20 PM
 
 
 
 
 

PPDB BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING

April 13, 2020 Minutes

Call to Order:  Tammy Kitterman, President, brought the meeting to order at 8:01 PM

Present:  Tammy Kitterman, Lisa Lopatofsky, Patti McGowan, Gordon Boe, Sandra Salerno, Juli Baumgarner, Molly Black

Excused Absence:  Tina Hertzog

To the Board:  There were no conflicts to the Agenda, however, Juli requested to add: Review Toolkit/Self-Evaluation to New Business.

Approval of Minutes: Lisa made the Motion to accept the Minutes of March 9, 2020 and Patti seconded the Motion.  Motion Passed.

Treasurer’s Report:   Gordon Boe, Treasurer, Balance is $3,147.57 – No new monies received this past month.

Outreach Committee - Patti McGowan and Molly Black, indicated no new activity, but reported that the NE CHARGE Conference was cancelled and rescheduled for September and the DB Family Learning Conference was cancelled for June, but may be added to the HELIX Conference in November, in some form.

Membership Committee - Tammy Kitterman and Patti McGowan, reported no new memberships. 

Nominations Committee – Molly Black, Chair, shared that she had forwarded the Nomination Application of Johnine Bickauskas – for review and consideration prior to this meeting by email.  The Nominations Committee (Molly, Patti & Lisa) wholeheartedly recommend Johnine to the Board.  Vote will take place at May meeting.
 
Molly also had nominated Erin Gabriel to the Board.  She has declined the nomination, but may reconsider at a future time. 
 
It was determined that Juli’s term will end and the Board discussed appointing her to a Special Advisory role at the May meeting, allowable under Article VIII of the Bylaws as stated:

ARTICLE VIII
ADVISORY BOARDS AND CONSULTANTS
Section 1.  Establishment.  The Board of Directors may establish one or more Special Advisory Boards, Liaisons or Consultants.
Section 2.  Size, Duration, and Responsibilities.  The size, duration, and responsibilities of such boards, liaisons or consultants shall be established by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.

Molly also reported that there have been three officer nominations to the Board so far:   Tammy Kitterman, President; Lisa Lopatofsky, VP and Molly Black, Secretary.  Any other nominations are welcome and encouraged.  This vote will take place next month following any vote of general board members.  If Lisa does move into the VP role, her general board membership will be an open position for a year balance of her current term. 
 
There was discussion around whether our Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws follow PA Non-Profit Law.  Juli suggested we review annually and Lisa forwarded the state statute to all members by email for your review. 
Title 15, Article B, Chapter 55, Subchapter A, Section 5504
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=15&div=0&chpt=55&sctn=4&subsctn=0
 
New Business:   Tammy
Molly & Patti indicated we are now in short supply of our exhibitor handouts items.  Discussion was held around purchasing new/additional exhibitor supplies. Budget - $200 or 10% of balance of current budget year, which is $273.00, as of Sept. 1, the start of our fiscal year.  Molly will get firm bids from our current vendor and see if items are even available because of state shutdown. 
 
Fundraising – a short discussion occurred regarding whether this is an individual vs. whole Board responsibility.  Molly feels that the Healing Place is still hoping to designate PPDB as a donation designee.  Gordon mentioned that when PA Skills is back up and running, he will pursue a donation through his VFW.  Patti suggested that a Fundraising Committee be formed.  Gordon suggested a small games of chance license could run through his VFW. Tickets are printed and sold among the Members. Gordon volunteered to chair the Fundraising Committee. 
 
Juli shared the results of the Self-Evaluation she conducted. She is requesting feedback on the Overview information that she emailed out.  She will email it out again as a reminder.  She indicated that we really never had a real Vision or Mission Statement.   Toolkit #6 is about Strategic Planning and she wondered if NFADB could lead us through it.  What we believe and our vision needs to be fleshed out.  This would be what drives and gives us a clear vision of what we do as an organization.  Patti said that it would be important to determine: Who we are; What we believe (vision), which should drive the Mission; and then give Our Purpose before we do any strategic planning.  If we did do any strategic planning, will it be 1 yr. 2 yr. 3y,r etc.? Patti also suggested that we do not need a lot of committees.  Juli would like an outside person to help us facilitate a meeting on strategic planning.  Juli will work with Patti to talk about locating a facilitator. 

Tammy read the following -
Articles of Incorporation: 

1. . The corporation is incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988 for the following purpose or purposes:

PPDB is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, and more specifically to provide a statewide voice for the promotion of support, services and policies that impact individuals who are deaf-blind (spelled this way)and their families
 
Lisa made a suggestion of a Zoom meeting for concerned parents.  She agreed to set it up for PPDB Open call – Triumphs and Challenges 8pm on Thursday, April 30. 

Old Business:
Shout Outs –
April – Gordon
May – Lisa
June – Tina
July – Sandra
August – Juli
September – Tammy
October – Possible New Board Member #1 TBD
November – Possible New Board Member #2 TBD
December - Patti
January - Molly
 
Committees – Tabled until next month 
Good of the Order - None
Adjournment - Meeting Adjourned at 9:33 p.m.

March 9, 2020 Minutes
 
Call to Order:  Tammy Kitterman, President, called the meeting to order at 8:01 PM
Present: Tammy Kitterman, Juli Baumgarner, Patti McGowan, Tina Hertzog, Sandra Salerno, Molly Black

Excused Absences:  Lisa Lopatofsky, Gordon Boe

To the Board:  Tammy asked if anyone had a conflict with any of the agenda topics.   There were no objections or conflicts to the Agenda.  

Approval of Minutes:  A motion to accept the Minutes of the February 10, 2020 Board Meeting Minutes was made by Tina Hertzog and Patti McGowan seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report:   Gordon Boe, Treasurer, provided the Treasurer’s Report by email, prior to the meeting.  Molly Black made motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Juli Baumgarner seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

Outreach Committee - Patti and Molly reported that they exhibited at Rep. Dan Miller’s Disability and Mental Health Summit on March 3. PPDB got a lot of exposure and many people stopped by the table.  Event was attended by over 1,100 people.   Vendor giveaway items are running low.  Molly will look into the cost of replenishing the current items and ideas for other items with our logo on them.  Juli mentioned that she will follow up with Gordon to get started on placing this as a line item for the budget, especially as we move forward with Committees. 

Membership Committee - Tammy Kitterman and Patti McGowan – One new member was added since last month, Erin Gabriel and Family.  One new renewal was added, which was Johnine Bakauskas.

Board Votes:  
Molly presented the Nomination Policy, adapted from NFADB’s template. After discussion and noted changes and typos corrected, a Motion was made to accept the Nomination Policy by Juli and seconded by Patti.   Motion passed.
 
Nominations Committee – Full Board and Molly Black, Chair.
There have been two nominations to the Board, those being:  Johnine Bickauskas and Erin Gabriel.  No Applications have been received to date for review.   Molly will follow up with the nominees to determine if they will accept these nominations and complete the application process.

Old Business:

1. Toolkit Completion –– Juli completed the review of the Toolkit.  We are to look at who we are as an organization and as a Board.  New members need to know what is expected from them and an orientation should be conducted.  We need to be clear about our organization and our Board as a whole.   Discussion included:
   1. How do we orient a new person – FAQ Sheet
   2. How do we look at ourselves as a Board?

Tina suggested that it would be a good idea to meet once a year in person and we could consider meeting in the summer.  Patti indicated that we should delay meeting in person until we have had a chance to review the goals and missions of each Committee and determine action plans of the committee work.  
We should have a Board purpose and outline for meeting in person.
Juli asked that each member complete an Evaluation Form and return it to her so that we can define our strengths and prioritize and address our weaknesses.

Please complete how we feel about ourselves as a Board, with notes and suggestions and how can we improve ourselves?  Where do we have gaps and how can we strengthen the Board so that we can strengthen the organization.    This Evaluation Form was provided to you by email.   (Since this meeting a Talent Form has also been emailed and you are requested to complete that too and return to Juli.)

​New Business:

1. NE CHARGE CONFERENCE – NY Parent Association for the DeafBlind requested a donation for the Saturday evening parent event.  Juli reviewed the line item protocol and she made the Motion and Patti seconded the motion to: participate at a vendor table, cost is $100, and $50 donation toward supplies/music for Saturday evening Social for families and one $15.00 free membership to be drawn among the PA attendees who are not yet PPDB members.  Vote – Juli – yes, Molly, yes; Tina, No, Tammy, yes, Patti, yes, Sandra had to leave the meeting prior to the vote, but had texted this before stepping off the conference call: “I would be in favor of spending 200 (or more) for the charge family conference”, so she was included as a “yes” vote.   5-Yes, 1-No.     Molly will work with Gordon to have the amounts forwarded to the NYPADB, through its President, Suzanne Chen. 
2. Shout Outs – This subject will be addressed by Tammy through an email vote. 

 

1. Meeting Adjourned at 9:26 PM