PRESENT: Celeste Branham, Jennifer Burke, Pam Proulx-Curry (remote), Kelly Day, Chelsey Fortin-Trimble, , Scott Adams, Ninette Irabaruta, Kelsey Preecs, Bill Guindon, Necole Janczura, Janet May, Tom Meuser, Luke Shorty, Ruben Torres
GUESTS: Katherine Freund, Kaitlin Norden
STAFF: Jamie McFaul, Maryalice Crofton
Commission chair Luke Shorty reviewed the protocols for hybrid business meetings and individuals making public comment through remote means.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Katherine Freund , President and CEO, ITN America introduced the Commission to ITN and it’s current work. The organization is based in Westbrook and first opened in 1995. She will share the slides with Board members but asked they not be posted to the web. ITN now operates across the country as a network and ITN provides resources to affiliates, both financial and operating tools. (ITNAmerica.org) Tom Meuser commented on the presentation because he invited her. In response to a question about a profile of a typical volunteer, Ms Freund explained the gender representation is 50% men, 50% female; age is about 63; and tend to be recent retirees.
Business Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 10:46 am by board chair, Luke Shorty. After Commissioners, staff, and guests introduced themselves, the Commissioner quiz was covered. Staff pointed out the Colby report used in the quiz was based on 2021 data but next week, the federal AmeriCorps will release the analysis of the 2023 data and state profiles will be provided.
Chair Shorty reviewed the conflict of interest policy and procedure for board business. He also announced the board member assignments to task forces. The handout was posted with board materials. There were no questions. Appreciations shared included one for Tom Meuser for inviting the ITN representative to address the Commission. Also, one offered to all who were present this morning and another to Jamie McFaul for the work she is doing on getting grant awards out after the board votes. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda but it was noted that the Foundation item will be shifted to later so the Foundation President can join in the discussion.
CONSENT AGENDA
MOVED by Meuser to approve the consent agenda. SECOND by Guindon. Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Branham, Burke, Day, Fortin-Trimble, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, May, Meuser, Preecs, Proulx-Curry, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Under the motion, the following minutes were approved and reports accepted: minutes of the September 20 board meeting, Executive Committee meeting reports from October 1 and November 5.
PLANNING AND FUTURE INITIATIVES
Re-stablish Finance Task Force. Shorty explained that the Commission had retired the Finance Task Force after it created the reporting formats and dashboard for board members that showed the status of operating [non-grant] funds. Then the Commission hit some rough patches where the state central accounting was not providing timely data. Now the Commission is entering a period of multiple transitions. The Executive Committee is proposing the Finance Task Force be re-established. The prior mission still seems valid. That mission is "The mission of the Financial Oversight Task Force is to educate and communicate to the commissioners the financial condition and activities of the Commission, as well as the financial resources needed to meet our mission."
MOVED by Fortin-Trimble to re-establish the Finance Task Force with the mission as stated. SECOND by Branham.
Discussion began with naming the members who have agreed to serve. They are Shorty, Adams, and Burke. Michael Williams is expected to join them.
Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Branham, Burke, Day, Fortin-Trimble, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, May, Meuser, Preecs, Proulx-Curry, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Revised Values and Convictions. The chair recognized Celeste Branham for her work on editing the Commission’s organizational values and convictions using the notes and comments from the board retreat. Celeste explained the process she used which started with incorporating all the notes from the retreat. She removed redundancies and then simplified some language. It has been reviewed more than once by members of the Executive Committee. It is being presented to the full board for approval.
MOVED by Branham to accept the newly revised values of service and convictions of service for the Commission. SECOND by Burke. It was noted there is one conviction that does not have final language. The discussion needs to determine which phrase to use. A friendly amendment will be needed once there is consensus.
Discussion among the members determined the prior language of “community-led and government-supported” is a better phrasing.
Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Branham, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, May, Meuser, Preecs, Proulx-Curry, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
FOCUS ON MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES
Commissioner Ambassador Program. Maryalice reviewed the purpose of this program, role of an Ambassador, and assignments. The materials distributed are online for future reference along with a guide for making a visit and an outline for organizing the report to the board. There is a regular board meeting agenda time for report back. The role is also a way of sharing representation of the Commission at program events. All the known programs have Ambassadors this year. It was noted there are some new assignments because some grantees are finishing up and not renewing. In response to questions, many of the programs never were visited because of turnover on the board last year so a handoff from one Ambassador to another wouldn’t be needed. The programs are not likely to be intimidated because the compliance officers at the Commission (Jamie) or Regional Office do not participate in Ambassador visits.
There were no reports from continuing Ambassadors. December will be the next opportunity to report out.
Maine Volunteer Foundation. President, John Portela, gave a quick overview of the Commission/Foundation relationship. Portela introduced the work plan and reviewed the items negotiated with the Commission officers for the 2024-2025 year. The fundraising goal is $50,000 with a significant chunk set aside for education awards for Maine Service Fellows. The Governor’s Service Awards event will need $8,000 to cover expenses. Commissioners were asked to help by connecting potential sponsors with the Foundation. Lastly, he issued a challenge related to the annual appeal which is underway. Celeste Branham noted she will be asking past Commission chairs to contribute in recognition of Maryalice’s retirement after 30 years. John asked the full board to help the Foundation help the Commission.
Niki Janczura from the Commission is co-chairing the joint Foundation/Commission planning group for the service award presentation event. She reported the group is focused now on confirming the venue and finding sponsors. She asked Commissioners to add names to the sponsorship solicitation list and she will be sharing the sponsorship package next week.
Chair Shorty acknowledged the Commission has yet to approve the Memorandum of Understanding that is the work plan. It was held over from the September meeting. There was a bit of discussion about the Foundation goal to revisit its goals by December.
MOVED by Branham to approve the MOU between the Foundation and Commission. SECOND by Janczura. Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Branham, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, May, Meuser, Preecs, Proulx-Curry, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
BUSINESS REPORTS (Reports submitted are posted.)
Public Policy (TiltonFlood, Fortin-Trimble). Luke summarized the known issues in the absence of others. Representative Rielly has asked for a meeting with the Service Programs Task Force and Public Policy will be asked to join the meeting. Tom shared the meeting will be December 5. There was some discussion of the immediate federal budget issue and the potential impact on CNCS budget. On a budget related issue, staff has inquired from GOPIF about the status of the federal NOAA funding and whether it will be cut off. They do not have clarity yet.
Grant Selection and Performance Task Force (Guindon). The task force is recommending a change in the state policy related to match requirements for AmeriCorps cost reimbursement grants. The change will bring it into line with the new 2024 regulatory match schedule. The proposed new Commission policy states “A first-time successful applicant is required to match at 24 percent for the first three-year funding period. Starting with year four, the match requirement gradually increases every three years to 30 percent by year ten.” The schedule for the intervening years would be set at 26% match for years 4/5/6 and 28% match for years 7/8/9.
MOVED by Guindon to adopt the revisions in the Commission match policy. SECOND by Branham. There was no discussion. Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Branham, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, May, Meuser, Preecs, Proulx-Curry, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Executive Committee. Chair Shorty announced that the board expects Director Samantha Horn will be a guest at the December board meeting. He then moved to the financial report for the period ending September 30. Shorty did a quick review of the funding sources, their cycles, match requirements, and reporting format for all members using the board orientation materials. He also oriented members to the report and how data is presented, emphasizing the importance of keeping an eye on the match (local share) that lets the Commission access all the funding available.
Communications Task Force did not have a report.
Service Programs Task Force. Meuser asked task force members to meet with him for five minutes after the meeting. The group needs to set a time to meet. He also announced Julia Van Steenberghe agreed to chair the Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference. The task force is going to launch regular meetings in January 2025.
DEI Task Force. Branham invited members to join the task force. The current members are searching for a new time and schedule for meetings.
Transition Task Force. Shorty reported the task force members briefed Samantha Horn, the newly announced Director of the Maine Office for Community Affairs (MOCA). The group is monitoring budget and HR issues.
AmeriCorps (federal agency). Norden is attending for Cheesman. The agency is following normal procedures for transition and operating under a Continuing Budget resolution. Looking forward to the release of the Civic Engagement and Volunteering data. Norden also shared a link to a national article on the agency’s role in climate action. (https://time.com/7172469/michael-d-smith/)
Commission Staff Reports. Crofton reported the search for temp staffing to move the Climate Corps work forward continues. All the reclass requests for positions are still being processed through state HR. Maine Service Fellows received additional applications which will fill the remaining three positions. Several communities that submitted Letters of Intent became part of proposals submitted. On December 13, James Fagan will complete his term as a Maine Service Fellow and it’s proposed we repeat the education award presentation ceremony at December 20. Regarding the OIG visit with the national service programs, Tilan and Jamie represented the staff in a meeting which was well attended by program representatives. It went very well and was a different type of presentation because Maine nearly all the AmeriCorps grants by the Commission are fixed amount under formula. The status of the NOAA-funded Resilient Maine project was covered earlier.
The OIG and AmeriCorps finding related to the investigation of Axiom has been resolved. They were not required to repay funds but directed to reduce the match reported.
The partnership with Service Year, Maine Municipal Association, and the Commission for the Green Employer Learning Cohort will kick off on Monday. The work is to identify the requirements for municipal jobs and help service corps programs connect their training and post-service advising of members with those positions when appropriate.
On another note, the National Governor’s Association is again inviting states to apply for a year-long workforce training and planning program that would link service experience to jobs. Maine’s Dept of Labor is leading the application process this year and invited the Commission to participate. This year there is an identified member of the Governor’s staff on the team so our chances of being chosen are greater. The decisions will be announced in January 2025 so it is a fast turn-around. DOL and the Governor’s office want the focus to be on connecting Climate Corps members with jobs in the green economy.
Business Wrap Up
Shorty checked on the sound experience for board members online. Feedback was the sound was fine. The next meeting will be December 20, 2024 and grant decisions and a guest are on agenda.
MOVED by Adams to adjourn at 1:03 pm. SECOND by Torres. Unanimous approval.