Member Resources
For more information or Annual General Meeting specific questions please contact The Board of Directors directly – [email protected]
2021
Annual General Meeting 2021
Board of Director Candidates
Members are invited to join Board of Director Candidates for introductions, presentations, and question and answer session prior to the Annual General Meeting.
This session is held online on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Please register in advance at PrideToronto.com/BoardCandidatesQandA
About the Board of Director Candidates
I am Courage, Natasha Cecily Bacchus. I am an athlete and performing artist, passionate about Deaf advocacy, fitness and physical expression. Throughout my life, I have nurtured my passion for fitness, competing as a professional athlete and securing medal positions in the Deaf Olympics, Pan Am Olympics and many other competitive sporting events. As an actress, I have participated in numerous theatre and film productions and have a strong desire to continue to grow and develop as a performing artist, expanding representation to include differently-abled persons and empowering Black Deaf women in Canada to shine on and off the stage.
Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? To create more accessibility for IBPOC Deaf Queer community.
How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? With the all resources I have as a Black Woman Deaf Queer, artist, athlete and advocate, I bring with me many ideas and lived experiences with accessibility. I have a vast network of Black contributors in many sectors, including interpreters, artists, member of the IBPOC Deaf community, to list a few. I also want to bring the UK Black Pride model of accessibility to Pride Toronto.
Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. This includes the development of an anti-BIPOC racism strategy and our public commitment to internal anti-Black racism training for all staff, Board members and volunteers. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? As a Black Deaf, I have appeared on panels with the topic of antiracism in my Deaf community. With the lived experiences, I am able to share my stories, and promote for anti-Blackness and anti-Indigenous racism through sign language. My vision is for fully inclusion of learning how to combat racism, and ableism, specifically audism.
What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? I have not yet experienced addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, transmisandry on a personal level. I do know that if i ever see any of that happening, I would speak up and educate the offenders. I am very open to learning more how to combat oppression against trans people.
Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? If I am elected to the Board, I would ensure that this commitment is upheld by making sure that we maintain the position of ensuring that there are no triggers in Pride Toronto events.
Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing community. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? As a Black Deaf person, I have my own experiences advocating and receiving accessibility, and I am able to bring to the table my lived experiences, resources, knowledge of how to provide full inclusive access to the Deaf /HoH community. I also will help investigate why this was a struggle for the Pride Toronto organization, and help find solutions that will establish for a fully inclusive Pride Toronto.
Deidre “D-Lishus” Walton is a Black, disabled, high-femme bi-dyke artist and activist with a raging addiction to purple flowers. Her work focusses on those systems and spaces that impact on our ability to engage in healthy, positive relationships with our bodies, our selves and our communities. She has a particular interest in the links between spirituality and mental health, and is fascinated with how reclaiming African diasporic spiritual practice can help black women and GNC folx heal from the traumatic effects of racism and hetero-patriarchy. When she isn’t writing, performing or engaging in community arts projects, d-lishus works in as an EDI Consultant, helping non-profit organizations become more inclusive through policy development, program evaluation, and training. d-lishus can often be found puttering in her garden, canning and pickling home-grown veg, or scavenging flowers from lawns and parks.
How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? I have more than 15 years experience doing community activism and organizing in Toronto, beginning with membership on the Women and Trans Bathhouse Committee. I have board experience (as Chair and Treasurer) and am conversant with non-profit governance structures, reporting regulations, strategic planning and grant writing. With my EDI skills, I can contribute to Pride’s efforts to be more inclusive, honour the fullness of LGBT2SQ identities, and help to centre BIPOC voices and priorities within the larger portfolio of Pride Toronto’s work.
Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. This includes the development of an anti-BIPOC racism strategy and our public commitment to internal anti-Black racism training for all staff, Board members and volunteers. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? When I envisioned and implemented the first-ever public BIPOC LBT2SQ space in Canada 15 years ago, I faced an outpouring of hate mail from the larger LGBTQ community. These reactions made it clear how necessary spaces for BIPOC folks were. I want our community to become a place where no one else experiences what I went through when creating safe(r) spaces for those who remain marginalized at the intersections of multiple axes of difference. We need to honour the struggles for acceptance that brought us to the vivifying celebration of difference that the Pride festival embodies today.
What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? I started addressing trans inclusion as an activist, almost 20 years ago, while organizing to create spaces for queer women. I owe a debt of gratitude to my trans friends and allies who supported me through my coming out process and I have always understood my community as one that includes and is enriched by trans people. Embracing my queer identity always included understanding my privilege as a cis woman, and using that privilege to make it clear that spaces that are not safe for trans (and GNC) people are not safe for any of us.
Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? The Pride parade started as a protest against police brutality, and while times have changed, they have not changed equally for all of us. My contribution in this regard is to bring that long-term, historical lens to help contextualize these decisions as ones that speak to the health and well-being of our community as a whole. I can furnish an intersectional analysis that speaks to the ongoing experiences of Black, Indigenous, trans, GNC and disabled people who are still subject to higher levels of police scrutiny and violence.
Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing community. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? I have done activism and allyship work with ORAD (Ontario Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf), who were actively involved with rainbow health toronto and the transAccess lobby back in the day. I’ve worked with, and still maintain professional ties with, ASL interpreters who work specifically with queer and BIPOC communities, and who have a vocabulary that helps to amplify the specific issues faced by communities that live within the marginalized and liminal spaces that those of us with multiple barriers to participation occupy.
Elizabeth Bate is a GTA-based writer and communications specialist. Working in journalism, government, and communications for over 15 years, Elizabeth is excited to bring her extensive experience to the board of Pride Toronto.
Elizabeth is active in her community, volunteering with the Women of Holy Blossom and the 2SLGBTQ+ group at Holy Blossom Temple, the Shore Centre (formerly Planned Parenthood), and other community organizations.
As a Queer woman, Elizabeth believes representation is important and strives to create space for others to speak their truth and share their lived experiences. She hopes to continue this important work with Pride Toronto, making room for people who have been left out of the conversation in the past.
Elizabeth is a self-proclaimed geek who loves all things sci-fi, mystery and thriller. When she’s not working to leave the world in better shape than she found it, Elizabeth can be found playing video games, baking, or working on her first novel.
Above all else, Elizabeth believes in leading with love.
Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? As a Queer woman I am interested in joining with other members of the Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ community to make a positive impact and help steer Pride Toronto into the future. With a background in communications, media, and government relations, I know my skill set would make me a valuable member of the board and bring an insightful, positive perspective. I am excited at the prospect of getting involved and taking on a leadership role, and know my enthusiasm and dedication make me the ideal candidate to fill this position.
How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? With more than 15 years working in journalism, marketing, communications, and government relations, I bring a wide breadth of knowledge and experience that will prove valuable. My networks and connections can help the organization reach political, policy and fundraising goals, while my communications experience can help to refine messaging, target audiences, and continue to build effective outreach.
Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. This includes the development of an anti-BIPOC racism strategy and our public commitment to internal anti-Black racism training for all staff, Board members and volunteers. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? Working with various political organizations I have made it a priority to engage in training to combat anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and I am committed to continuing to unlearn the internal biases each of us carry. I am conscious of the space I take up and am committed to making room for the voices of BIPOC persons; listening to lived experiences, fighting for the rights of others when asked, and making room for others to seek the justice they deserve. I attend rallies, discussions and round tables, and strive to be better at this every day.
What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? I have very little experience in this in a public forum, but I advocate every day in small ways for the acceptance of Trans and gender non-conforming persons. In my professional work I ensure that policies, language and messaging are gender-inclusive and neutral. I read, listen and make it a point to make myself aware of Trans issues and will continue to do so. I’m eager to learn more in this area and do what I can to make the world a safer, more inclusive place for Trans folks.
Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? I will continue to advocate for this policy and promote its positive and necessary aspects. By shining a positive lens on the policy, media can provide an alternative point of view, preventing only one voice being heard in this argument. It’s imperative that people see this not as an attack on police, but a reclaiming of our space from the institutions that have fought so hard against us and have criminalized and killed us in the name of upholding the status quo. We deserve a space free from the symbols of oppression while advocating for our own acceptance.
Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing community. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? The best way to combat an issue is to reach out to those directly affected by it and listen to what they have to say. My greatest resource is my ability to listen to what’s needed and then organize. I would love to engage my network, which includes individuals that specialize in accessibility issues, and learn more about what we can do to improve the accessibility of all Pride events.
Moka Dawkins is a Jamaican and Nova Scotian Black and part 2spirited Indigenous Trans-woman who has outstanding community accomplishments such as; Being a 2020 nominee for Inspire Awards for “Person of The Year”, enacting reformative policies throughout Ontario’s provincial correctional system for access to identity transitional needs for transgender peoples being detained in opposed gender identifying prisons, and inclusive 2SLGBTQ+ programing with Stacey-Love Jolicoeur. Moka is currently contracted as a lead Researcher and Development Specialist for Ryerson University and the University of Toronto on inclusive and reforms on conducive pathways for 2SLGBTQ+ communities and their histories. Moka’s advocacy for community goes further as she is the main feature in the new lgbtq2s+ reality documentary “Surviving The Block” where Moka shares her life experience of being violently stabbed by her attacker and friend back in 2015 and how police discrimination that night landed her in Canada’s most violent and notorious all men’s prison The Toronto South Detention Center. You can now catch Surviving The Block available only on OUT T.V. To learn more about Moka and her community engagements and how she can be an asset of sharing knowledge and more to your event/protest/organization you can visit www.mokadawkins.com.
Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? To empower and support BIPOC LGBTQ2S+ peoples taking initiative to enable themselves into positions to afford themselves opportunities. This Pride board position will enable me to better advocate in attendance to 2slgbtq+ discriminative manners in which members face in their daily livelihoods and be able to provide solutions and resources with the board and organizational commitment and approval in enacting provisions of safer, protective, inclusive community resources. Change for the better must come with love, understanding, and commitment and Pride Toronto’s inclusive history of these traits is growth I inspire daily to self produce in my everyday life and interactions.
How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? My experience living as black/2s trans women who is a survivor of sex work violence and institutional violence is my motivation to promote and provide encouragement of social, academic, & economic advancement for trans/2s+ peoples. Ending high rates of depression and suicide within our communities needs the voice of support from someone who has experienced and overcome these destructive behaviours and thoughts. Recognizing the structure of pain and it’s detrimental effects on community and being able to enhance provided resources of support is an experience I can give to the commitment of Pride Toronto mission, vision, & values.
Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. This includes the development of an anti-BIPOC racism strategy and our public commitment to internal anti-Black racism training for all staff, Board members and volunteers. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? My experience in combating racism against black and indigenous peoples has got me featured in Gord Downie “lead singer of Tragically hip” final project before his death due to glioblastoma cancer in 2017 Secret Path Freedom Of Speech documentary. It can be viewed here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6d_LR6qGv_A&t=133s. My vision for Pride Toronto is to increase visibility and opportunity for racialized 2slgbtq+ peoples in all areas of Global Pride’s organization and communities. My advocacy work has also got me a 2020 person of the year nomination with Inspire Awards.
What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? Part of my lived experience combating transphobia, transmisogyny, & transmisandry from the general public and government institutions has been captured by Yapp Films and made into a documentary called “Surviving the Block’’ available on OUT TV. This documentary entails the horrific life and death violence I faced by a client with views on my lifestyle with his mental health issues being a factor of him trying to kill me by stabbing me repeatedly in my face and stomach. And the dealings of responding police projecting racist and discriminatory attitudes towards me due to my identity. https://outtv.ca/show/surviving-the-block/
Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? By sharing my story and lived experience as mentioned above concerning my relations with police and their interactions towards me and other community members.
Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing community. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? To be honest, I have no real connections or experience in this aspect but do have connections to community organizers who have affiliates in providing these services. I am willing to learn and expand my service abilities to the community granted I am the successful candidate.
Board Meeting Minutes 2021
January 6, 2021
Date: January 6th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Sheldon Dixon, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, David Lewis, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno.
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson (staff portion only), Dami Okunade (bookkeeper)
External: Ed Scheck (auditor), Kevin Thomas (auditor)
Regrets/Absent: Jad Jaber
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Interim Board members standing for election declared a conflict with respect to the Selection Committee’s Board slate recommendations. | Declared |
AGM Agenda Review | Overview of AGM agenda provided, including:
| Received |
Annual Report | The first draft will be finalized on January 7th and shared with the board. | Received |
Memberships | Membership Items:
| Approved |
Audited Financial Statements | Pride Toronto’s auditor provided a line-by-line overview of the financial statements and answered Board questions. Audited Financial Statements were accepted by the Board. | Approved Moved: Ande Seconded: Christin |
Board Only Meeting
Selection Committee Report | 1. Michael Erickson Resignation Resignation letter was received. Michael’s requests for information will be addressed offline. 2. Selection Committee Recommendations The Committee interviewed 16 people over two days and have selected Tika Simone and Lezlie Lee Kam. The recommended Board slate is:
The Committee noted that candidates not selected will still be invited to participate in other ways (e.g. committee work). 3. Voting Process If Board slate only, a two-step process –
If Board slate and additional candidates – Members may vote for up to 7 candidates 4. Candidate Presentation and Q&A All candidates will be provided two minutes to make remarks (Chair to record time). Q&A to follow – all candidates will respond to each question. 5. Board Slate Package (for formal notice) Candidates will be asked to provide a headshot and 150-word biography. | Approved (Selection Committee Recommendations) Moved: Sam Seconded: Ande
Yes: 3 (Ande, Sam, Christin) No: 0 Abstain: 5 (Sheldon, Grant, Yuri, David, Maher)
Approved (Voting Process) |
Motions | By-Law Amendments
Member Proposal
| Approved (By-Law Amendments) |
Formal AGM Notice | List of items to be included in the formal AGM notice provided as an FYI. | For Information |
Other (Board Management) | The Board discussed the importance of check-ins with each other for mental health purposes. The Board discussed improvements to ensure all Board members have the opportunity for their voice to be heard (e.g. sticking to a speakers list only). | For Information |
Next Meeting | Next meeting is January 26. Board Officers will be elected at this meeting. | Received |
January 26, 2021
Date: January 26th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Sheldon Dixon, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, David Lewis, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno.Jad Jaber, TiKA Simone, LeZlie Lee kam
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson, Amber Moyle (staff portion only)
Regrets/Absent:
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | December, 15th 2020 & January 6, 2021 | Approved |
Reaffirming Decisions | Board Motions, Resolutions and Decisions between Board Meetings | Adopted |
Roundtable Introductions | We all introduced ourselves and welcomed new board members to the team. | Completed |
AGM Debrief | We are all debriefing the AGM, Staff and Board. Some members have reached out. WE have discussed better practices on running online AGMs. | Completed |
Treasurer’s Update and Expense Policy | Treasure has updated the board on finances. Item has been deffered. | Action Item:
|
Board and Senior Leadership Training (discussion) | Item has been deffered. | Deferred |
WFH Policy and Membership Approval | Deferred | |
Budget quick review | We reviewed the draft budget and will vote to approve it next meeting. | Deferred |
Strategic Planning | We have reviewed and discussed what would work best regarding development. Suggested making a short term strat plan and longer term strategy plan. | Action Item:
|
9 Committees Outreach | Deferred |
Board Only Meeting
Accessibility and Compensation | Items have been discussed and conversations will continue. | To be continued |
Board Officer Elections | Deferred | |
Signing Authorities | Deferred | |
Next Meeting | February 9th. | Adopted |
February 9, 2021
Date: February 9th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Sheldon Dixon, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, David Lewis, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno.Jad Jaber, TiKA Simone
Staff: Sherwin Modeste
Regrets/Absent: LeZlie Lee kam
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Board Minutes: January 26, 2021 | Approved |
AGM Debrief | Board and Staff have debriefed on the AGM, better practices for our first online AGM. We have left over questions from the AGM and we are looking for ways to engage to answer it. | Action Item:
|
ED Report | Sherwin has sent us an ED report and we are reviewing it. | Received |
Board Training (discussion) | The board is having onboard training. We will be having this on February 27th. The time is 2 to 6 pm. Orientation for new board members 2-3pm. | Action Item:
|
TeamBuilding/Orientation | We are planning a team building meeting, therefore we can work better with each other and focus on anti-oppression approaches to decision making. | Action item:
|
Membership Approval | The Board has approved this membership list. 19 new members. (2 year membership). | Approved |
Treasurer’s Update, and Board Technology | Candidates for the finance position have been interviewed and a candidate has been hired. Accessibility issues have come up regarding technology. | Action Item:
|
Expense Policy Approval | The board has approved the expense policy. | Approved |
2021 Budget Approval | The board has reviewed the budget and has been approved. | Motion: To approve the budget for 2020/2021. Vote: Unanimous Motion Approved |
9 Committees/Consult Outreach | The Board had a conversation regarding consultation and the need for better outreach. | Completed |
Board Only Meeting
Board Officer Elections | The elections on Co-chair, we have elected Yuri and Grant to be our new Co-chairs. | Results:
|
Signing Authorities | Motion: To make Yurien Matamoros Hernandez (Co-chair), Grant Gonzales (Co-Chair), Andrew Clumpus (Treasure), Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson have signing authority for Pride Toronto. Mover: Dave Seconder: Maher Vote: Motion has passed. | Motion: To make Yurien Matamoros Hernandez (Co-chair), Grant Gonzales (Co-Chair), Andrew Clumpus (Treasure), Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson have signing authority for Pride Toronto. Mover: Dave Seconder: Maher Vote: Motion has passed. |
Next Meeting | February 23rd 2021 | Adopted |
February 26, 2021
Date: February 23rd 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Sheldon Dixon, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, David Lewis, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno. Jad Jaber,
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson, Amber Moyle (Staff Portion)
Regrets/Absent: LeZlie Lee kam, TiKA Simone
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Dave Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Board Minutes: February, 9th 2020. | Motion to approve the minutes. Mover: Dave Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Executive Director Report | Board members have reviewed and received the report. | Received |
Policy Approvals
| HR Policies: A edit will be made to include changing to add stipend upon availability regarding funding for student interns. There will be an edit to the finance policy, Any expenditures that surpass above the total approved budget that enters a deficit. will be reported to the Finance Committee and Board of Directors. | Motion: Approving Sponsorship Policy, Mover: Ande Seconder: David Motion: Passed – Motion: Approving Human Resource Policy Moved: LeZlie Seconder: David Motion: Passed – Motion: Approving Finance Policies Mover: Dave Seconder: Andy Motion: Passed |
Board Governance
| We discussed best process on electing co-chairs and possibly a better process.
Board Meetings Expectations: We are discussing ways we can conduct ourselves.
Committee restructure we are restructuring | Motion: To approve the committee restructure. Mover: Maher Seconder: LeZlie Motion Approved. |
Drop the Charges Against Pride Defenders Campaign (see email) | We have received a request from Pride Defender’s Upcoming Trial for support. The board has agreed to support this. Info: In 2019 Pride was attacked by alt-right movements and community grassroots members organised to defend pride. | Motion: Approved the statement and promote it and 500$ Motioner: Christin Seconder: Sam Motion: Passed Action Item:
|
Elected Officials Discussion | Sherwin is bringing up a discussion strategically regarding election officials to Pride. | TBC |
Board Only Meeting
Board Expenses and Meal Reimbursement | We are reviewing best practices on board accessibility and meal expenses. We have agreed to best practices regarding Board expenses and accessibility. | Motion: Board members are able to spend up to $20 for board meeting meals. with the expectation you must be in attendance of that board meeting the meal of that day and this will expire when we can meet in person. For Board accessibility, the secretary will coordinate with board members to accommodate and for tek use Pride will loan it when needed but remain the property of Pride Toronto. Mover: Sam Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved |
Upcoming Meetings |
| Action item:
|
Next Meeting | March 9th 2021 | Adopted |
March 9, 2021
Date: March 9rd 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, David Lewis, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno.Jad Jaber, ,LeZlie Lee kam, Sheldon Dixon.
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Bobby MacPherson, Amber Moyle, Leanna, Laura,Primeau,Lee (Staff Portion)
Regrets/Absent: TiKA Simone
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Motion to approve the Agenda. Mover: Grant Seconder: Sam Motion: Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Board Minutes: February, 23rd 2020. | Motion to approve the minutes. Mover: Sam Seconder: Grant Motion: Approved |
Board Decision Tracker | One item: Support Hamilton Pride Defenders | Reaffirmed |
Executive Director/Staff Report: Festival Overview
|
| Presentation Received |
Local Artist and Performance Programming | We are having a discussion regarding having a Programing Committee. There is an Advisory Program Committee which Leanna is heading. | |
Secretary Items
| Membership has been approved. An email was sent out regarding committees, Board members, please choose two committees you are interested in and take the lead on it by creating. | Motion to approve four new members. Mover: Sam Secounder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Policy Committee Update
| The Policy Committee is working on quite a few policies which will be sent to the board by March 31. for approval April 6th meeting. | Received |
Board Only Meeting
Community Safety / Harm Reduction | The board is reviewing a harm reduction. | Received |
Police Discussion (Costs, Harm Reduction) | We have discussed ways to lessen the impact Police have on the festival footprint and lower their obligated fee that comes for permits. | TBC |
Meal Reimbursement Clarification Upcoming Meetings |
| |
Board Participation | TiKa and D!XON will be performing at pride as they would have been regardless of being on the board and an agency Jad is involved with. Steps were taken to make sure there was no conflict of interest and none of these board members were part of any decisions regarding this. The board has found no conflict of interest. | Received. |
Legal Update (In Camera) | The Board has entered in Camera session | Motion: To move in camera session Mover: Christin Seconder: Grant Motion: Approved |
Meal Reimbursement Clarification | The Board has entered in Camera session | |
ED Performance Review (In Camera) | ||
Next Board Meeting | March 23rd 2021 |
March 23, 2021
The meeting slot for the Board Meeting on March 23, 2021 was used for a Governance training, so no Board Meeting took place.
April 6, 2021
Date: April 6th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Meeting extended to 9:30 PM)
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, Christin Milloy, Maher Sinno, Jad Jaber, LeZlie Lee Kam, D!XON, TiKA Simone, Yuri Hernandez
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: TiKA Simone
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda
| Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Grant Seconder: LeZlie Motion: Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Board Minutes: March 9th, 2021 | Motion to approve the minutes. Mover: Sam Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Board Decision Tracker | One item: Declaration of Support: Justice for Migrant Sex Workers | Ratified |
Membership Approvals | Six members up for approval. | Motion to approve six new members. Mover: Grant Seconder: D!XON Motion: Approved |
Board members have reviewed and received the report. Board members can add Ooma phone extension to their email signatures and use it for outgoing calls. | Received | |
Treasurer Report | All levels of government funding are down ($200K), so we will have to cut the budget.
Most of sponsorships help keep Pride Toronto float throughout the year. Government grant funding is mostly tied to the festival.
| Completed. Reminder: submit receipts to Ande in next 24 hrs for reimbursements |
Policy Approvals Communications Policy:
Governance Policies:
Human Resources Policies:
Risk Management Policies:
Upholding Values Policies:
| Policy Committee Update from Brian. Action items/edits to the following policies to be made: Evacuation Policy
Fire Policy (to be drafted)
Disciplinary Policy
Anti Discrimination Policy
Gender Expression Policy
| Motion: Approving All Policies. Mover: Christin Seconder: LeZlie Motion: Approved |
Committees Update
| Board Members to choose joining two committees: Policy and Governance, Sponsorship and Fundraising Advocacy Equity and Human Rights (AEHR), Finance and Audit. Yuri: Governance and Sponsorship LeZlie: AEHR and Governance Grant: Finance and Governance Ande (1): Finance Christin: Governance and AEHR (optional). Programming (staff committee) Samantha: Sponsorship and AEHR Jad: AEHR and Sponsorship Maher: Finance and Governance D!XON: Governance and AEHR. Brian: AEHR, Governance, and Finance TiKA: AEHR and Sponsorship | Completed |
Elected Official Invitations | Strategy: focus on support for Pride from Elected Officials from Davenport and Church/Wellesley area because of Pride Office location and parade route. Met with 95% of councillors and next election, we will follow up with them on their promises. Board feels like that the three identified priority groups (18-24 youth, 2Spirit and Queer Seniors) should have more priority/visibility over elected officials at Pride. More grassroots involvement is needed for community unification. Board has differing opinions on the level of involvement they should have with selecting Politicians. Ultimately, they are trusting staff to do the initial round of politician vetting, but want to know who is on the list of politicians (in case there are major flags with certain politicians) and want to approve an accountability plan for holding politicians accountable for their past actions, current support and future promises. Action items:
| For Approval: –Sherwin’s Strategy: Strategy to invite Elected Officials to Pride. Motion: Passed –Brian moved the Motion: split the vote for voting for politicians individually. Motion: Failed. –Maher’s amendment to Sherwin’s Strategy: Bring list of Officials and Accountability Plan to the Board in three months. Opposing: None. Motion: Approved. |
Community Advisor Group Meetings (Outreach and Comms) | Christin update: Board does not have enough outreach and community consultations; should be invited to events. Sherwin: Will be inviting Board to community meetings/ consultations (have to be posted 2 weeks in advance). Staff to be reminded to acknowledge high level staff and Board Members at meetings. | Action Item: Nipuni to send calendar invites to Board as *optional* to all community groups that are meeting. |
Board Approvals (Past Practices) / Membership Motions
| Executive Director | Deferred |
Board IT
| Brian (Email infrastructure): Currently two emails. Should switch [email protected] (costing us money) → [email protected] Ande (Slack Upgrade): Currently have free version of Slack. Board okay to have premium Slack for $100 to have access to historical messages. Board concerns: Privacy (admin would have access to private messages). | Motion to eliminate: [email protected] Mover: Christin Seconder: Sam Motion: Approved –Motion: to Upgrade Slack. Motion: Failed |
Training
| All Maher Brian/TiKA Workshops to be spread out over the year: May, August and Fall | Action item: Maher to email survey on board orientation. Discussion deferred. |
Other Items | Sherwin: Anti-Racism Session March 24, 2021 (with Dr. ABC) action item. LeZlie: Email contact for Dionne and Dr. ABC. | Action Item 1: Board Members to email Nipuni their action item if they haven’t yet. Action item 2: Sherwin to send info to LeZlie |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Board and Sherwin only. | Completed |
Upcoming Meetings
| Next Meeting: April 20th (regrets LeZlie) | Adopted |
April 20, 2021
Date: April 20th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, D!XON, Yuri Hernandez, TiKA Simone
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: leZlie Lee Kam, Maher Sinno
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: Agenda | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Christin Seconder: Samantha Motion: Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Board Minutes: April 6th, 2021 | Motion to approve the minutes. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Samantha Motion: Approved |
Board Decision Tracker | No items/decisions made between last meeting and today. | Discussed. |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. This document is meant to create a safer space for all on the Board. This will always be an item in the agenda to help set expectations and encourage respectful conversations. | Discussed. |
Standing Item: ED-SLT Report | Board members have reviewed and received the report. Marketing Launch update: hotel component is cancelled as per Public Health guidelines. Board Participation remains the same. Four grants have been submitted. We will receive 1 of the 2 Reconnect Grants (from Province). Based on 2021 Festival, so will impact this year’s budget.
New role for the Grant & Fund Development Manager posted on the website and Charity Village.. Nipuni to send calendar invites for upcoming Community Advisory meetings. New health restrictions prevent us from offering the studio space to artists until Mid May. All Festival recording will be done by the artists themselves. We will not be paying artists extra for filming. Our Production Team that will put together the videos. Processes will be put in place for safety. Equipment (such as Google Phones and other tech) going out to artists to use will be sanitized and left for 3 days at the office, before going to another artist. |
Received |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Internal Pride Toronto Fiscal 2021 budget document:
| Received |
ED Performance Management Process (PMP)
| Board would have received Workplan on Monday. Reflective of two year plan. It is a work in progress and will be a live document (change based on community advice, strategy, Membership advice etc). Any major changes need to be approved by the Board. Opportunity for full approval, after Strategic Plan is set in place. If Board has notes for Sherwin later on, please send to him. All permanent, full time staff (except Nipuni because she just started) have PMP to have processes in place for raises. Need to figure out a process for contract staff (because their contract ends in July). | Motion to approve in principle as a working document, while acknowledging it is a live document that may be changed from time to time. Mover: Brian Seconder: Samantha Motion: Approved |
Committees
| No questions for Brian. | Motion to approve. Mover: Brian Seconder: Yuri Motion: Approved |
Board Meeting Accommodation | Request from Maher for alternate Board Meeting dates because they are enrolled in a new program Tuesdays (6-9) and a later start during Ramadan. No consensus on alternative dates/times with everyone’s schedules. Topic to be revisited in August. Action Items:
| Discussed and unable to find consensus. |
Board Approvals (Past Practices) / Membership Motions
| Link in the ED Report to: Honoured Positions Selection Process This will be implemented in 2022 and moving forward. Sherwin will be part of the selection panel. Decisions will be captured in the meeting minutes. We will have this document to avoid any miscommunication. Selection of Honoured Positions and Charities of Choice: moving forward will not just be choice of Board and Staff, but also will include Community members. Positions will not be open every year, for example an International Grand Marshal can be expensive every year. Some positions are yearly, some are every other year. This year: only have charity of choice and not other groups because it is not a physical festival year. | Discussed. |
Training
| Update from TiKA and Brian: Teambuilding based on anti-racism and decolonization. Workshop details sent to the Board. Three workshops in total spread out in: May, August, September. 2 hours per session and includes homework. Workshops will include getting to know each other, but very different from meet and greet. Need to create a safer space and build trust, which is why it is a three 3 part process. Board expressed the need to also have a fun meet and greet, which will take place after the first workshop. Action Items:
| For Discussion and Approval. Motion to approve. Mover: Brian Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved. |
Standing Item: In Camera Session / Discussion Flex Time | Sherwin and Board | Motion to move in-camera: Mover: Brian Seconder: Yuri Motion: Approved – Motion to Move Out of In Camera Mover: Sam Seconder: Yuri Motion: Approved |
Upcoming Meetings
| Co-Chairs and Secretary | Motion to Adjourn Mover: Sam Seconder: Christin Motion: Approved |
May 18, 2021
Date: May 18th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, D!XON, Yuri Hernandez, TiKA Simone, leZlie Lee Kam,
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: Maher Sinno, Christin Milloy, Dave Lewis, Jad Jaber
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: May 18th Agenda | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Brian Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indegenous land. | Yuri |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: April 20 Meeting Minutes | Motion to approve. Mover: Sam Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | New addition to agenda, but will keep as a standing item because it is best practise to keep us accountable. No conflicts declared. | Discussed |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | No items/decisions made between last meeting and today. Standing item: petition (Maggie’s and Butterfly (www.butterflysw.org ) – please see email). | Discussed |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Discussed. |
Standing Item:
| Board members have reviewed and received the report. Festival Update from Sherwin re. the activation of LED Screens at High Park: They pulled out (due to uncertain covid regulations) and the Senior Leadership Team made the decision to pull out of Ontario Place (ROI is not there). We are also in limbo – Ontario Place can’t confirm with us until they get the greenlight. We haven’t lost any funds in deposits. The associated $75K can be better used to elevate the 2022 festival. ED-SLT report:
Action item: Bobby/Nipuni to follow up with Nicoy. leZlie (Bricks and Glitter) contacts BIPOC. Action item: Sherwin to follow up with leZlie. Festival Update from Bobby and Amber:
Action item: Nipuni to send over Amber’s presentation. Brian – 2Spirit Tales: official update meeting tmrw; they are launching website tmrw. Streetfair
Newsletter Board Member Spotlight:
| Received |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Things look good. We will have $480,000 in the bank and will have a lot of money coming in. By end of year, we should be sticking to our budget. Going to pay off CRA debt -we should be debt free soon. Going forward: build up surplus little by little. Standard contingency fund for pride?: 25% of our annual operating budget in a reserve (1.5 million). This will be 5-10% net income every year. This will be a 3 year goal. | Received. |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Mileage Policy:
Ande:
For Mileage Policy: add in a comments section. – Committee Terms of Reference
– RFP:
| Motion to approve Mileage (with the changes). Mover: Yuri Seconder: Sam Motion: Approved – Motion to approve Committee Terms of Reference. Mover: Sam Seconder: Brian Motion: Approved – Motion to approve RFP. Mover: Sam Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Board Communications
| Board-Staff Communications Policy ED Board Communications: If you’re unsure about who to go to: your go to is Sherwin (issues, feedback about staff etc, ). – Working with staff/Board working on specific projects together include:
– Specific Committee issues can go to staff that you are working with. Any concerns in general or related to committees go to Sherwin. Board Members Feedback doesn’t have to go through Co-Chairs to give Sherwin feedback. – Slack (Yuri) Sam: Slack was put in place when the Board was more operational. Not as effective anymore; okay to cancel. Frequent level of communication is not as needed anymore. – Action Items:
Action Item:
| For discussion and approval. – Motion: Grant put forward to eliminate Board use of slack Mover: lezlie Seconder: Sam Motion: Approved. Brian abstained from voting. |
Training Update
– July 13, August 10, September 7 | Brian/TiKA Tika had a call with the trainer recently regarding creation.
Action Item:
| Discussed |
Board “Get To Know You” Session | All. Get to know you games led by Yuri. | Discussed |
Standing Item: In Camera Session / Discussion Flex Time | All | No In Camera Session |
Upcoming Meetings
| Co-Chairs Secretary Next meetings will be on June 15th, July 27th and August 24th. All other meetings in between are cancelled. | Discussed and All On Board |
June 15, 2021
Date: June 15th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, D!XON, TiKA Simone, leZlie Lee Kam, Christin Milloy, Dave Lewis
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: Maher Sinno, Yuri Hernandez, Jad Jaber
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: June 15th, 2021 Agenda | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Brian Seconder: leZlie Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. Moment of silence for 215 Indigenous children. | Grant |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: May 18th Meeting Minutes | Motion to approve. Mover: Christin Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Standing item for accountability.
| Discussed. |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | No items/decisions made between last meeting and today. Standing item:
| Discussed Ratify these two items: Mover: Dave Seconder: Sam Ratification: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Discussed |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report | Board members have reviewed and received the report. Q&A on Sherwin’s report: Sam:
Action item Sherwin/Nipun: send job postings to Board Members. Sherwin:
Dave: Permanent location for Pride festival? That is being decided. Parade Day 27th. Immediately after the land acknowledgement, there will be a moment of silence. Toronto Police Service – New recruits will go through a one hour session with us as part of their training.
| Received |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Our bank account looks good, can pay all vendors, artists etc. $360K coming in from the City, and Federal govt. Next year’s budget 2021/2022: Sherwin/Bobby/Ande will work on the process for that. Once the Finance Committee reviews at the meeting on July 20, Board will review the budget at the next meeting. | Received |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Questions and Answers: Volunteer Policy Training (Accessibility Training):
Anti-Opression training and Anti-Racism training (already mandatory training) Volunteer Discipline and Termination Policy (does it apply to Board Members) No → it is in the By-laws (which supercedes policies) Action item: Sherwin to get hard copy bylaws to leZlie. | Motion to approve. Mover: Sam Seconder: Brian Motion: Approved |
Membership Approval | Brian to present new Membership requests for approval. Brian June 15th – list of Member Applications for Approval. | Motion to approve. Mover: Dave Seconder: Sam Motion: Approved |
Strategic Planning Update | Grant: RFP to secure a facilitator for Strategic Plan. 11 applications received. Who is on the strategic planning committee:
Action item: Brian to send a thank you to Bobby (for policy work) and to welcome Amber to Strategic planning. | Discussed |
New Business | To be a new standing item (media policy confirms – Dave is okay) | |
Standing Item: In Camera Session / Discussion Flex Time | All | Discussed |
Upcoming Meetings
| All | Mover: Dave Seconder: Ande |
July 27, 2021
Date: July 27th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Christin Milloy, Dave Lewis, D!XON, Grant Gonzales, Jad Jaber, TiKA Simone, Yuri Hernandez
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: Samantha Fraser, leZlie Lee Kam, Maher Sinno
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: July 27, 2021 Agenda | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Dave Seconder: TiKA Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Received. |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: June 15, 2021 Meeting Minutes | Motion to approve. Mover: Brian Seconder: Dave Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Standing item for accountability. | Discussed. |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | New item: Submission to Senate to support a Federal Ban on Conversion Therapy Action item: please look at the statement on encampment and approve; so that we can post. | Discussed Ratify item: Mover: Brian Seconder: Grant Ratification: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Discussed |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report | Board members have reviewed and received the report.
Grant that we did not receive (because we don’t hold charitable status) was too small for us to reach out to other orgs. for support. Brian – does not want to participate in October highlight. Recommendation: donate extra Pride bags to Moss Park encampment. Sherwin’s new update:
Staff Festival 2021 feedback session: two parts: in person at the office and online. September 7: next ED community meeting to be held (where general community able to ask questions, talk about strategic plan etc). | Received |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Ande’s update.
Accounts: we are using an external Accounting firm (for the past 3 years).
2021-22 Annual Budget
| Received Vote on the budget. Mover: Dave Second: Grant. Approved! |
Board Travel | Perceptions and Expectations Grant
Need to be aware about risks about travel, will have a work plan/itinerary and then free time. Christin: publish work plan in newsletter to let people know we’re going. D!XON: good to have mixture of Board and staff, networking. TiKA: we can also register for other festivals like SXSW, music festivals. Create alignments and partnerships – perhaps have our own performances, showcase Pride Toronto talent (Pride Toronto stage) and have more visibility. Dave: willing to sponsor a Board member. Jad: cautious of networking because it is hard to measure. Need to describe how it benefits sustainability of the organization and how it benefits the community. Yuri: deliverables, goals, activations, how to measure. Need to come back with something tangible for the community. Sherwin: intention is to get the biggest bang for buck (use via rail to get there, have Ops team scope out st) in Montreal.
Can look to invite other people from Toronto who are attending other Prides to come march with us. D!XON: Atlanta is great place to start (from an anti-black lens. Music festivals are also great to look at (how they organize their artists, stages etc.).
Brian: framework of how we decide to go to different places (Atlanta, reserves etc), inter-Pride. | Discussed |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Strategic Planning: Facilitator Recommendation Grant
Committee: recommends flexibility around bringing in additional expertise if needed. Late August – planning to move ahead with strat planning. Board Recruitment – not discussed. | Motion to approve Elevate Equity and REFLEX Urbanism as facilitators, (clause to bring in anyone for technical aspects) Mover: Dave Seconder: Grant Motion: Approved |
Membership Approval | Brian to present new Membership requests for approval. List of Member Applications for Approval sent in Board Package email by Nipuni on Thursday, July 22nd. | Motion to approve. Mover: Grant Seconder: Brian Motion: Approved |
New Business | Standing Item Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association came to Pride Parade in 2016 under false pretenses; to pass out homophobic materials.
Sherwin: as ED will need to have some involvement in case. Dave: need to be aware as a Board. Brian: our role is to get that report on what is going to be presented in court, and review it as well as possibly an victim impact statement. This conversation is around safety and hate crime, that we need to take part of. Grant: generally, it is an obligation for the Board to be aware/involved with legal matters. | Motion to approve getting briefing about the report from Toronto (seperate from Board Meeting and Optional for Board). Police: Mover: Christin Seconder: Dave Motion: Approved None opposed. |
Standing Item: In Camera Session | Board of Directors and Sherwin | Discussed |
Upcoming Meetings
| All Next Board Meeting: August 31, 2021 | Completed |
August 31, 2021
Date: August 31st 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Brian De Matos, Christin Milloy, Dave Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, D!XON (left during ED report discussion due to emergency)
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: leZlie Lee Kam, TiKA Simone, Jad Jaber, Maher Sinno
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: August 31, 2021 Agenda Amendments:
Sam: add ‘next training session’ as the last item before upcoming meetings. | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Dave Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Yuri |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: July 27, 2021 Meeting Minutes | Motion to approve. Mover: Dave Seconder: Yuri Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Standing item for accountability. Board Members who are complainants and respondents of investigation not to be in the in camera session, as per legal counsel. Brian: recuse himself for the in camera session. | Discussed. |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | 2 New items: Electing David Lewis to the ED Performance Review Committee and Political Activity Policy | Discussed Ratify item: Motion to approve two items Mover: Dave Seconder: Brian Ratification: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Received |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report | Board members have reviewed and received the report. Sam: volunteer for October Newsletter highlight. Sept 7: ED Community meeting; Board Members asked to attend. Action item: Nipuni to send the Board a calendar invite for the ED Community meeting. Sept 17: Board invited to attend staff retreat for Friday evening session. Sherwin: Two volunteers from the Board needed for the Honoured Positions Committee, to select International Grand Marshall. Action Item: Sherwin to send email to the Board about this. | Received |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Ande’s update. Financial summary sent in ED Report for fiscal year 2021. In the next two or three, the audit will be completed. Finances look good, no flags. | Received |
Governance and Policy Committee Governance and Policy Committee
| Grant: No decision points to be made. Trying to work well ahead of time to plan around recruitment, and AGM planning, so it’s not a rush. Some initial timelines, key dates have been set (and are to be confirmed). Board Recruitment:
Questions for the Board:
Timeline: Board Members need to advise before the next Board Meeting (before the end of September). Strategic Planning Update:
Next steps: walk through the work plan. Chair of Strategic Planning is Grant. Grant Planning is more on the planning side, while Sherwin will be more on the implementation. Christin: What kind of committee is the Strategic Planning Committee? Sherwin: it is a Board-led Committee/ responsibility, but staff are needed for administrative purposes and to operationalize. | Received |
AGM Planning | Grant: Already discussed AGM planning a bit during the Governance and Policy Committee Staff have done some initial work on setting some key dates; AGM to be held in late January. Must hold AGM 6 months after the end of fiscal year in July: August 1st – end of January 31. December is not a good time to hold AGM (with people being out of office, away on holidays etc).
| Discussed |
Board Participation in Operational Committees | Sherwin:
Brian: can be another appropriate platform/mechanism for Board Members to provide input on programming. Grant: for example to the above, have staff present their plans at Board Meetings at Board Members can provide feedback (that may or may not be used). Dave: Conflict of Interest when discussing items with community members (because of power imbalance as Board of Directors) Christin: in agreement with this and endorses a motion to withdraw board members from Operations committees. Action item: Grant, Yuri and Sherwin to send email to Board Members to let them know motion has passed. Brian: request to state what constitutes an Operational committee in the email. Grant: confirmed it will be written that approved motion is not applicable to advisory committees. | Motion: To have the Board withdraw from participating in any Operational Committees and develop a mechanism where Board feedback on Operations can be provided at a Board meeting. Mover: Christin Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Pride Response to Transphobic Open Letter |
Action Item: Christin to review opposition/response letter, and send the Board a recommendation if we as Pride Toronto should endorse the letter, retweet the letter or write our own response letter. Action item: Nipuni to create a meeting invite with Primeau, Ajay, Sherwin, Christin, Yuri, Brian and Sam for Wed, Sept 7th to discuss a Transphobia Series on social media for the last two weeks of September. | Discussed |
Membership Approval | Brian to present new Membership requests for approval. List of Member Applications for Approval sent in Board Package email by Nipuni on Thursday, August 26, 2021. Two members to approve. *Break and then move to in-camera session* | Motion to approve. Mover: Brian Seconder: Dave None opposed Motion: Approved |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Board of Directors and Sherwin | Discussed |
New Business / Extra Time | Discussed | |
Upcoming Meetings
| All Next Board Meeting: | Motion to Adjourn. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Ande Approved |
September 21, 2021
Date: September 21st 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Brian De Matos, Christin Milloy, Dave Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Maher Sinno
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: Jad Jaber, D!XON (on leave), TiKA Simone (on leave), leZlie Lee Kam
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business: September 21, 2021 Agenda Brian: update calendar with Dave’s announcement in-camera | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Dave Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Grant |
In-Camera Announcement | Dave announcement to All Board Members and Sherwin | Motion to move to in-camera: Mover: Dave Seconder: Sam – Motion to move out of in- camera: Mover: Dave Seconder: Ande |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: August 31, 2021 Meeting Minutes Christin: Revise adjournment names | Motion to approve. Mover: Dave. Seconder: Christin, Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Standing item for accountability. | Discussed. |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | 2 New items: | Motion to ratify tracker Mover: Dave Seconder: Ande Motion: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Received |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report
| Board members have reviewed and received the report. New Program Manager, Vernon, will be joining the team on Monday. Leanna will be leaving her role as current Program Manager to go back to school. ED Meet and Greet: 40 people registered, but just a handful showed up (we discussed that moving forward, we will need to send out a reminder the day before.) Global Black Pride is joining us this weekend. Please confirm by the end of tonight if you are coming to the Welcome Dinner on Friday – RSVP to Nipuni. GBP Itinerary:
Board Speaking Roles at GBP events: Friday night: Grant Saturday brunch: Dave Saturday evening artist event: TiKA Grant: motion needs to be put forward to approving accommodation expenses for TiKA. Yuri joined the Board Meeting. Sherwin:
| Motion to support cover of expenses of TiKA’s accomodation for attending Global Black Pride; to be managed by the Executive Director. Mover: Dave Seconder: Christin. Approved. |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Ande’s update.
Sherwin: Two interim audits: Province and Federal Brian – what are office renovations in cash flow document? Sherwin: all for setting up the new office (desks, shelves, art etc). | Received |
Sponsorship and Fund Development Committee
| Yuri
Action item: Yuri will send out an email to the Board Members, so those who wish to join the committee can advise there.
Terms of Reference:
Samantha: Committee reviewing the Sponsorship applications. In busier times (Pride Month), it would be hard for staff to wait for the committee to approve Dave: are we looking to operationalize? Yuri: Board Members won’t have finite decision making power, so Kat will be there to voice staff concerns. Sherwin: two staff will be on the Committee. Amber will represent Sponsorships, in addition to Kat. Kat (Grant and Fund Development Manager) – more hands on role (for exp a gala or a dance, an annual event) Grant: Amber is the first person that looks to review. Dave: how does the appeal process work? Yuri: committee is very new, so a lot of the items will be discussed at the Committee Meetings. Sherwin: pause this discussion and chat with the staff and committee. We will work on the process, and bring it back to the Board. Yuri: going to look over the Terms of Reference, and will like to move forward with motion. Then others can join the committee to work on details. | Motion to approve Terms of Reference. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Dave Motion: Approved |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Strategic Planning consultants (Karibu and Darian) came to the staff retreat on Thursday to touch base with staff. They will also be coming to the Board Meetings to give updates.
Maher question: what’s the Board’s involvement in strat planning?
Dave: Project timeline document for the Board to see?
Board Recruitment: Review Policy
Maher: use community engagement/outreach more than ‘advertisement’. Add advertisement and outreach in the title. Board Recruitment Process
Brian – Meeting Minutes on the website. Sherwin: in order for us to do a good analysis, if there are people are not running again, it would be best for people to declare their intention. Oct 28 is 90 days before January 26, 2021 (AGM tentative date) Grant: there is at a minimum 3 Board Member vacancies, so we can put the vacancies up and highlight considerations. Christin: We can be deliberately vague about the number of positions in the early stages of the recruitment process, so we can see what are candidates. Sam: might be good to make a call out for some experiences, so racialized women in particular can see themselves represented in the job posting. | Received – Motion to Approve Board Recruitment Policy: Mover: Yuri Seconder: Christin. Approved.
|
Working Groups
| AGM Planning Working Group (3-5)
Board Recruitment Working Group (5):
Honoured Groups Selection Committee (2)
Brian: If anyone wants to move into the Secretary role, please connect with me. It would be good for someone who is already on the Board to take over as secretary, as this is a better practise, rather than a new Board Member taking on this responsibility.
Maher: Orientation Policy recovers this. This is why we also sent out the Board Orientation survey. Action item: Maher to recirculate the survey. Also to include in onboarding: Grant: incorporate Freya’s volunteer trainings for new Board Members. Sam: Introduction to staff and roles. | Discussed |
Membership Approval | Brian to present new Membership requests for approval. List of Member Applications for Approval sent in Board Package email by Nipuni on Friday, September 17, 2021. Two members to approve. *Break and then move to in-camera session* | Motion to approve. Mover: Dave Seconder: Brian None opposed Motion: Approved |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Secretary Executive Director Dave Grant | Discussed |
New Business / Extra Time | All | Discussed |
Adjournment/Upcoming Meetings
| Co-Chairs | Motion to Adjourn. Mover: David Seconder: Christin Approved |
Signed off By Secretary of the board | Brian De Matos |
October 19, 2021
Date: October 19th 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Brian De Matos, Christin Milloy, Grant Gonzales, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Maher Sinno
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana, Katherina Symes
Regrets/Absent: Dave Lewis, Jad Jaber, D!XON (on leave), TiKA Simone (on leave), leZlie Lee Kam, Yuri Hernandez
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business:
| Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Sam Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Grant |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes:
| Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Sam Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Chair: Standing item for accountability. | Discussed |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | Secretary, Brian. | Motion to ratify tracker. Mover: Sam Seconder: Christin Motion: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Received |
Strategic Planning Update | Consultant: Darian.
Sherwin: posts will be promoted on social media and targeted towards queer and trans community in Toronto. Darian: working with contacts from Indigenous, 2spirit, Black, Elders, queer, newcomer organizing people, so that we engage with groups that may not have not feel heard in the past.
Harm reduction has been taken into account; data will be analyzed personally by Darian, Karibu and Strat Planning committee, so we’d be able to see if any one filled out the survey in bad faith. Strat Planning Committee: to look at metrics. | Discussed |
Grants and Fund Development Update and Brainstorm | Grant and Fund Development Manager, Katherina Symes. Initial discussion about the Board hosting a signature event in 2022. Action item: Kat to create a brainstorming document for the Board based on discussion notes from Nipuni; Board to input their ideas and suggestions. | Discussed |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report
| Executive Director, Sherwin
More community engagement: Thanksgiving dinner was successful; looking at holiday dinner. Operations and Sponsorship months ahead of where they usually are in previous years. GBP weekend dates for 2022 – up to the Community on what weekend we will end up going with. | Discussed |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report:
| Treasurer, Ande:
| Discussed |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Grant & Christin Board Recruitment update:
| Motion: To support legal review of By Law No.1 to ensure compliance with Ontario Not-for-Profit Act, 2010. Mover: Sam Seconder: Christin Motion: Approved |
Membership Approvals | Secretary, Brian: 8 people have applied to join Membership. *Break and then Governance discussion continued* | Motion to approve new Membership Applications. Mover: Sam Seconder: Brian Motion: Approved |
Governance and Policy Committee (continued)
| Grant Membership Policy: Membership has been free since January, but it hasn’t been updated in Policy and it hasn’t been updated in general in a while. Board to seek legal advice on requiring an affidavit for any requests to access Membership list contact information. Need clarity on requirements around sharing Member personal information. To post Membership Policy, make it explicitly clear to potential Members about what personal info we are collecting and give them options:
General discussion to amend ByLaws: 1) All future Pride spaces to be accessible in various aspects: gendered washrooms), flashing lights for smoke alarms) etc. 2) Holding ourselves accountable to making spaces where we hold events more accessible. Pride staff will do everything in their power to ensure accessibility, i.e. require Pride affiliated events to have gendered facilities (they must for the time of the event offer a non gendered facility). 2) Hold seats on the Board for racialized people. Designated board seats are not an Officer role, or any guarantee of an officer role. It just ensures that in order to get quorum, the future board must have at the minimum, good diversity represented (if we engineer the roles properly). Grant and Christin to work on the amendment ByLaws. Not for profit act, established in 2010 wasn’t in effect until it was proclaimed recently, so coming into effect soon. Our ByLaws currently do reference the Not for Profit Act. ByLaw amendments look at how long do Board Members have to wait until they can apply for a position at Pride Toronto. Membership Termination; to look at compliance with the Not for Profit Act. Board Staff Communication Policy Intention: Board Management role vs. ED role. Finances – go to Treasurer, Ande. Requests for Board should go to Grant, Yuri; not Sherwin. Be mindful of any personal conversations that you may have with each other, cause we are coworkers and have professional responsibilities. No policy change – just want to reiterate. Sherwin also responsible for ccing the Board when going to one Board Member. This will be an ongoing conversation. Action item: Grant to put this on email. | Defer any motions around Membership Policy until the next Board Meeting so the Board has time to seek legal advice around compliance of the newly proclaimed Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA). |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Secretary, Brian Maher | Motion to move in camera: Mover: Sam Seconder: Maher Motion: Approved |
Other Business / Extra Time | All | Motion to Move Out of In Camera Session included in In Camera minutes |
Adjournment / Upcoming Meetings
| Co-Chairs | Motion to Adjourn. Moved: Sam Seconded: Maher Motion: Approved |
November 23, 2021
Date: Tuesday, November 23rd, 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Brian De Matos, Christin Milloy, Grant Gonzales, Ande Clumpus, Jad Jaber, Yuri Hernandez
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets/Absent: leZlie Lee Kam, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno, D!XON (on leave)
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Ande |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Yuri |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes:
| Motion to approve the agenda. |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Chair: Standing item for accountability. | Discussed |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | Secretary, Brian. | No updates to Board Decision Tracker since last meeting |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Received |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report | Executive Director, Sherwin | Discussed |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report | Treasurer, Ande: | Discussed |
Annual General Meeting Update | Grant and Nipuni Harm Reduction – Freya is doing this via chat monitor. Get Quorum is being used again. | Discussed |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Grant Strategic Planning: Consultants have met with Strategic Planning Committee to review insights from community consultations. Currently on pause as committee is reflecting on next steps. | Motion to approve the slate of Board Member candidates. Mover: Ande Seconder: Christin Motion: Approved |
Membership Approvals | Secretary, Brian: 8 people have applied to join Membership. | Motion to approve new Membership Applications. |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Grant, Secretary (Brian) | Motion to move in camera: Motion: Approved |
Other Business / Extra Time | All | Motion to Move Out of In Camera Session included in In Camera minutes |
Adjournment / Upcoming Meetings
| Co-Chairs | Motion to Adjourn. Moved: Ande Seconded: Yuri Motion: Approved |
December 14, 2021
Date: Tuesday, December 14th, 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Brian De Matos, Grant Gonzales, Ande Clumpus, Jad Jaber, Yuri Hernandez, Samantha Fraser, D!XON, TiKA Simone, Maher Sinno
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana, Bobby MacPherson
Regrets/Absent: leZlie Lee Kam
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the Order of Business:
| Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Sam Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved |
Land Acknowledgment | Recognition of traditional Indigenous land. | Yuri |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes | Motion to approve the agenda. Mover: Brian Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | Chair: Standing item for accountability. Brian: on the list of Membership Approvals, so will not be a part of that discussion. | Discussed |
Board Decision Tracker (FYI) | Secretary, Brian. One Item: Strategic Planning contract with Elevate Equity and REFLEX Urbanism | Motion to ratify tracker. Mover: Yuri Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved |
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations | For Reference from the Chair. | Received |
Standing Item: Executive Director Report | Executive Director, Sherwin Operations update: new staff have started. KPMG – Bobby and Sherwin meeting with Auditors on Dec 22nd to go over Board recommendations. Action Items:
Directors Liability Insurance – went out after the recent case/verdict. Grant: New legislation on communicating staff after hours. Sherwin: we’re going to create a policy around this legislation that speaks directly to the uniqueness of Pride Toronto (events held after work hours). D!XON: Do artists have to register every year or just once? Sherwin: Artists have to register every year (to show that they are still interested in participating year after year). TiKA: GBP artists: is the talent going to be separate. Do artists register separately? Sherwin: artists will be managed separately, so yes they will have to register separately. Board can support by sending out applications/encouraging artists to apply. | Discussed |
Standing Item: Treasurer Report:
| Treasurer, Ande, joined by Ed Scheck and Kevin Thomas from KPMG, Bobby.
Review of Financial Statements
**In-Camera Session with auditors and only Board held**
Ande: Budget vs. Actuals review.
Brian: Other POS systems other than PayPal for donations? Sherwin: people can write cheques and send etransfers; donation app is sent out closer to the Festival season (donate app). | Discussed
Motion to approve audited financial statements. Mover: Ande Seconder: Sam |
Membership Approvals | Grant: 32 people have applied to join Membership.
Brian on list of Membership Approval (given his role on the Board is coming to an end) abstain from discussion and approval.
Any new Memberships that come in between December 14th and December 27th, will need to be approved on December 27th by Board so that they can have a vote at the AGM. Action Items:
| Motion to approve new Membership Applications. Mover: Ande Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved |
Annual General Meeting Update
| Grant and Nipuni
Needed: 2 Board Members to monitor Questions.
Initial notice to go out later in December and then full package to be sent in January.
Meet the Board Candidates Q&A TownHall taking place. Board Q&A Document being developed for AGM.
Voting Method for Board Directors: Four Open Position Up for Discussion. Same method as last year. | Motion to approve Voting Method: Mover: Ande Seconder: Jad Opposed: Brian Motion: Passes |
Governance and Policy Committee
| Grant
ByLaw Update: Ontario Not For Profit Act (we have 3 years to comply). We’re going to meet with the legal team in December that has been going over our ByLaws to go over specifics. Special Board Meeting in the first/second week of January to be held to go over AGM Items that need to be approved).
Membership Policy: As part of new legislation. We need individuals’ legal name (if different from the name they use), and home address. In particular, if any Members request Membership Registry access, we would need to provide address/contact info (need to build processes around this). | Discussed
Motion to approve Membership Policy. Mover: Sam Seconder: Yuri Motion: Approved |
Standing Item: In Camera Session
| Grant, Secretary (Brian) | Motion to move in camera: Mover: Ande Seconder: Jad Motion: Approved
|
Other Business / Extra Time | All | Motion to Move Out of In Camera Session included in In Camera minutes |
Adjournment | Co-Chairs | Motion to Adjourn. Mover: Sam Seconded: Grant Motion: Approved |
2020
Annual General Meeting 2020
Board Meeting Minutes 2020
June 9, 2020
Date: June 9th 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Notetaker: Brian De Matos
Attendance:
Board Members: Alyssa Mohabir, Shakir Rahim, Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Bobby & Amber, Nicoy, Brandon, Leanna, Mykle
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson
Anti Black Racism Strategy: Currently reviewing Edna’s proposal on Ally Training. Communicating with BLMTO – The board prepared a communication to BLMTO and will reach out to them for input for our statement but we will work in the statement
Artist: We are asking the black artist for paintings to decorate the office. Motion: To increase the budget amount by $5000 to Pride Toronto Anti-black Racism Initiatives to a full 20K. Motion: Passed A strategy that PT will take regarding our statement: We are ready to release the motion approved the statement and wait for input from BLMTO and or the Black Queer and Trans Identified community members. Action Items: Reaching out to BLMTO by tomorrow. The statement membership approved (?) |
Virtual Pride Update: Amber has updated the board on virtual pride programming.
Action items: The prime minister will not have involvement in the virtual parade. The board will have a meeting with Tory and discuss participation. |
Blood Ban: Blood Ban coalition update: PT is supporting this. |
Board Only Section: Announcement:
Finance update.
Action Item:
|
June 23, 2020
Date: June 23rd 2020
Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Notetaker: Brian De Matos
Attendance:
Board Members: Alyssa Mohabir, Shakir Rahim, Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Bobby & Amber
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson, Jad Jaber
Declaring Conflict of interest: Agenda Item Supporting NPPC Event. Shakir, Christin and Brian have declared a conflict of interest as being old and current or inactive members of NPPC. and all three board members have excused themselves from the conversation and voting of this item. Board next steps needed. Shakir and Alyssa are both stepping down and we are reviewing the exit strategy. An email will be sent out to membership and we will be reviewing next steps on board recruitment. Action item: Shakir will be drafting a membership email for approval. |
Potential Indigenous larger statement (post-Sunday’s small social post) (Written by staff) We have release a blur on social media regarding indginous programing and issues that arose. Bobby will be writing a sull statement regarding the issues and our next steps on creating a framework for addressing anti-indginous racism at Pride Toronto. Action item: Bobby will draft a statement and send it to the board for review. (This is due before the end of July) |
Defunding Police Statement: We will be releasing this member motion statement in July Support for NPPC event: NPPC has requested funding from PT for their event on defunding the police/Teach in. (Shakir, Christin and Brian excused themselves from this agenda item) Action item: The board approves to fund ASL for there event up to $1500 |
July 7 2020
Date: July 7th 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Notetaker: Brian De Matos
Attendance:
Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson
Approval of Agenda: Approved
Approved Approval of Minutes: Approved
Staff Request/Human Resources The Board has received a request from staff We are discussing best practices regarding staff compensations and ways to go forward to make sure there is no pay description regarding identities and power imbalances and best practices to HR Action Item: |
HR Strategy Samantha will create a questionnaire on HR issues, send it to the whole board for input and send it to staff for next steps. Action Item:
|
Strategy follow up: we are discussing the strategy on going forward with the strat plan. Action Item: Samantha will contact Amber and will be emailing Amber on sending the current strat plan and what they’re working on. |
Blackness Yes! Action Item: Brian will create a working document on their directives and send it to the board. |
Anti-Black Racism Strategy Action Item: Samantha will create a working document on next steps and send it to the board. |
Personnel Issues: Action: These issues will be transferred to the HR strategy |
Budget/Financial Report Andy gave us a financial overview. |
Membership Budget Survey Action Item:
|
Appointed Board Member: We will be finalising the questionnaire by July 8th and send out to staff and membership. |
| Harassment Policy: Deferred to policy committee |
| Co-chair elections: Deferred to another Board Meeting. |
| LGBTQ2+ Advisory Body at City Hall: Deferred to next board meeting |
Harm Reduction proposal: Action Item: Samantha will send an email response. |
| Email Logistics: The Board Email will be public. |
August 11, 2020
Date: August 11th 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Bobby MacPherson, Amber Moyle
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson,Jad Jaber
Volunteer Program Plan Update Staff have updated the board on the new volunteer structure. We will be meeting with team leads to get feedback on this new program. |
Blast Emails issue We have discussed the issues that have been brought by and due to email protocols. Action Item: Samantha and Christin will reach out to Leanna and Nicoy and discuss concerns that are in their email. |
Blackness Yes! Directives We will be meeting with BY! On August 18th to go through progress reports on their Directives. Action Item: Ande will be arranging the logistics of this meeting with Blackness Yes! |
Financial Update The board was given an update on PT finances. |
ED Search Update Christin and Samantha have updated the board on the ED Search. |
Policy Committee Update The board has been updated on the work of the policy committee. Motion: To communicate with our memberships to take input on Board agreement and also a call out to those who may want to join the committee. Passed |
Press Release We are paying 40k to artists due to many artists having a burden of finances due to COVID-19 and will announce it shortly. |
Anti-Black Racism Training Status Update. We had a meeting with a facilitator and have a tentative training session schedule in late september. |
Indiginoues Training for the Board Bobby will be sending out the details emails on this training we are looking Nov 14-15 to Nov 21-22. Motion: Attendance for this training is mandatory for all board members. Motion: Passed |
Board Only Items: — |
$5k Accessibility Grant We are discussing a new granting program that delivers scholarships to BIPOC QT ASL interpreters. We have allocated 5k of funds to initiate the program proposal. Action Item: Amber will reach out to colleges and universities to gather information and what partnership will look like for this grant/scholarships. PT will be organising a consultation with ASL/Deaf BIPOC QT community members to discuss the development of this project proposal. |
Board Candidate Recruitment Status Actions Item: ALL Board: We will be reviewing applications next week. |
LGBTQ2+ Advisory Body at City Hall Christin has advised us that she will not be applying to this committee. |
Board Meetings and Burnout We all did a check in with each other regarding workload etc. |
September 22, 2020
Date: September, 22, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle & Bobby MacPherson
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson,
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: September 15 2020 | Approved |
Grant Updates | The board received an update on the grants from staff. | Received |
HR Committee Edits Approval | The Board has edited and reviewed the ToR for the HR committee. | Motion: Approving the ToR for the HR committee. Vote: Adopted |
ED Search update | The board and staff were updated on the search committee. | Received |
Volunteer program update | Staff have updated the board on the volunteer program and will be meeting with volunteers old and new to do a review. | Received |
New board members next steps | We are appointing 4 new board members Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, Maher Sinno and Sheldon Dixon | Motion: To appoint 4 new board members; Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, Maher Sinno and Sheldon Dixon Vote: Approved |
Member approvals | The board is approving 9 new members. | Motion: To approved new members. Vote: Approved |
Complaint update | The board has been updated on a complaint. | Received |
Legal Consolidation re: firm | We discuss consolidating legal service and Bobby will be looking into firms. | Action items: Bobby will be doing research on legal firms. |
Board Only Meeting
External Discussion | We have discussed issues that have been brought forth to our attention and we will be discussing the best way to go forward. | Action Items:
|
Approval of board contract | The board has approved this sign on document for Board members. | Motion: To approved this on-boarding document |
Blocko ED question response | We got an email from Blocko and will be responding. | Action Item:
|
Staff Reviews Update | The HR Committee has given the board an update. | Received |
Anti-Black Racism Training DECIDE TONIGHT | We have reviewed a slate proposal and approved one. | Motion: Approving training from CFAC Vote Approved. Action Item:
|
Board Member Onboarding (different than next steps) | Documents and Training have synced for on boarding. We will be meeting with new board members at our next meeting. | Action Item:
|
October 6, 2020
Date: October 6th, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno,David Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Yuri Hernandez, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson.
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: September 22 2020 | Approved |
Director of Operations | Full report has been sent to the board by email. Legal Iler Campbell LLP Letter of Engagement is in the process of being retained. Dates for the weekend festival June 25th-27th 2021. The Festival footprint, if not digital, will be proposed and will be sent to the board. We will review how COVID-19 will impact this as it develops. | Action Item: Bobby The Festival footprint if not digital, will be proposed and will be sent to the board. |
Director of Sponsorship | General Update:
Campaign
| Action Item:
|
OHRC Complaint | We have received some concerns regarding some programs that are identity specific for the BI+ programs. We are reviewing the material that was sent to us. | Action Item:
|
Committee/membership approval | The Board has approved a new member. The board will be reviewing the committee structure and looking at needs and future committees needed. | Motion: The board has approved a new member. Vote: passed Action Item:
|
Training & ED update | Facilitator for Anti-Blackracsim is being booked – ED search update – final phase | Received |
Board Only Meeting
Longer introductions | We have spent time getting to know each other. | N/A |
Board Expenses | An overview of how we adhere to accountable measures when board members occur board expenses. | Action Item: Andy will send out by email the procedure on approving board expenses. |
October 20, 2020
Date: October 20th, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno,David Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting) Freya Selander (Agenda Item Volunteer Program Update)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson (On Leave) Yuri Hernandez
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Adopted |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: October 6th, 2020 | Approved |
Volunteer Program Update | Staff has updated the board on the new volunteer program. A working group will be formed to look at the volunteer structure: Yuri (Possible), David, Grant, Ande, Christin. | Action Item:
|
AGM | We are setting a date for the AGM January 21st. Grant will work with Bobby on logistics. | Motion: AGM date will be January 21st. Motion: Carried |
Director of Sponsorship items | Staff has updated on new programs Marketing Conference 2020 | Received |
Committees Updates | The board has been updated on the work of the policy committee and will have proposals reported to them at a later meeting. The board will be working on an overview of committees board members have signed on the Committee List to develop ToR | Action Item:
|
Air Italy Motion | Deferred to a later board meeting until a report regarding all the facts. | Deferred Action Item:
|
Board Only Meeting
HR Correspondence Update(s) | The board is discussing HR staff and pay grades | In Camera Motion |
ED Contract Plan | Samantha will send to the board the offer and employment and contract of ED and send it to the lawyer for review. | Action Item:
|
November 2, 2020
Date: November 2nd, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno,David Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson.
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: October 20th, 2020 | Approved |
Declaration of Conflict interest. | The board has discussed a potential conflict issue regarding Maher and Sheldon being performers. The board has discussed this and do not believe there is one. | Motion: There is no conflict of issue regarding Sheldon and Maher being performers at pride. Motion: passed |
Staff Updates | Amber: has updates on programming and sponsorship and the meet and greet with Sherwin. The new ED will be part of the new hires. (Social Media). Bobby: Sent around the new renewal contract for Production Manager | Motion: to extend the production manager role for 8 weeks and to have the new ED deal with that HR issue. Motion: Passed |
Meltwater | Social Media monitoring and engagement software is being discussed 14k a year we are contracted for this year. | |
Audit update | Bobby has given us an update, the audit should be done for November 21st. | |
AGM | Grant has updated us on AGM planning and recruitment. | Received |
Budget: Board Prof.Development | The board reviewed the line item budget. | Deferred |
Treasurer Update | We are talking about our current budget and a draft budget proposal will be sent to the board shortly. | Action item:
|
Board Only Meeting
Correspondence Update(s) | Samantha has updated the board on hiring an investigator. | Action Item:
|
HR topics | We are deferring this subject until Sherwin is updated and can work with the HR committee. | Deferred |
November 17, 2020
Date: November 17th, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/Cyberspace
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos, Yuri Hernandez.
Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson, David Lewis
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: November 2nd 2020 | Approved |
Staff Updates | Amber has updated us on: 1. The Pride Toronto Creative Studio & Artist Residency Program – – Event handbook – Applicant registration -Website – Booking program – Test run – Launch event – Yohomo
2. Newsletter Nov 23
3. Social media coordinator Bobby: Gave us an overview on Grants – We are in the middle of audits and Audits are going well. | Action Item:
|
Human Rights Update | Special Code on OHR | Report Received |
AGM Update | Grant and Bobby have updated the board on AGM planning. We are sending out applications for board recruitment and we will be sending a save the date before the official notification. A reminder of interim board members to send their intention of running at the AGM to the Secretary by november 23rd. A member of PT has made some concerns in the past about certain grants. | Action Items:
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Staff Bios on Site – Discussion | Staff and Board are setting out Bio’s for our website. Some staff wish not to be listed on the site. | Deferred to Sherwin |
Sherwin on-boarding | Samantha and staff are setting an onboarding plan for Sherwin. | Received |
Media strategy for ED news | Getting Sherwin ready for media inquiries. | Action Item:
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Treasurer Update | Had a finance committee meeting. Sherwin will be briefed on financial issues. | Received |
Community Engagement & Social Media | We spoke about our culture and social media posts, promoting more community local artists. | Action Item:
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Role Reviews Next Steps | Board has done a review of roles regarding staff. Sherwin will do a review on staff, organisational structure overview. | Action Item:
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Member Request | We received a request from membership. | Action Item:
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HR Updates | Samantha updated the board on HR matters. | Action item:
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December 1, 2020
Date: December 1st, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno,David Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson.
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: November 17th 2020 | Approved |
Senior Staff Updates | Amber has updated the board regarding: ED announcement, website update and social media. New staff for SM. We are also applying for a new grant for 25k to help with virtual Programing. Creative Studio & Artist Residency Program has been launched. | Recieved |
ED Report | The board has received the ED report. | Received |
Website Bios Positioning & Titles | We are discussing the best place where BoD bio should be and published board minutes should be on the website. | Action Item:
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Facebook Logo | Logo was posted on FB and we are discussing the marketing strategy and use on SM. | Action Item:
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AGM Update | We have received an update on AGM planning. | Motion: Approved $1,600 for agm cost. Motion: Approved. |
Board Recruitment | We strategically plan on outreach to priority communities. The Selection Committee is starting up on this. | Action Item:
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Queer Seniors Statement/Committee | We have been in convection, with senior 2SLGBTQ networks. We are discussing setting out a statement addressing these issues. | Action Item:
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Treasurer Update | We are updated on the finance committee. | Received |
Sherwin ED community/ Membership get to know online meeting | A meet and greet event will be organised so our membership and community can meet Sherwin. | Action Item:
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Pending Membership Approval | Pending members have been sent to the board for approval. | Motion: The board has approved and membership Approved 4 new members. |
Additional ED Report Items | Sherwin has recommended HR matters. Sherwin has been empowered to make HR decisions report to the board. | Motion: Cost of living increase to retroactive from september for volunteer coordinator. |
December 15, 2020
Date: December 1st, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online/teleconference
Attendance:
Board Members: Christin Milloy, Jad Jaber, Samantha Fraser, Maher Sinno,David Lewis, Grant Gonzales, Sheldon Dixon, Ande Clumpus, Brian De Matos.
Staff: Amber Moyle (staff portion of meeting), Bobby MacPherson (staff portion of meeting)
Regrets/Absent: Michael Erickson.
Agenda Item | Notes | Motions/Action Items |
Approval of Agenda | Approving the order of business: Agenda | Approved |
Approval of Minutes | Approval of Minutes: December 1st, 2020 | Approved |
Declaration of Conflict of Interest | No declaration of conflict of interest | None Declared |
Decisions Tracker (Between Board Meetings) | Decisions made outside of regular board meetings | Approved |
Senior Staff Update | Staff has updated us on the new grants they have applied to and specifically, an update to the 2S- tales funding grant, it is moving forward. Staff have updated us on our audited finance, this is completed and a report will be delivered to the board this week. | Received |
Branding Manual (Follow Up) | Primeau has given us an overview on the website outline. Board members have given feedback | Received |
Executive Director Report | The board has received the Executive Director Report and Sherwin gave us an oview on it. | Received |
Treasurer Report | Treasure has stated a verbal report and update on a finance committee. | Received |
Member Motion / Volunteer Restructure | We were updated on concerns from a member and discussed the best way to go forward. Regarding volunteer restructure announcement we are discussing | Action Items:
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Programming Presentation | Staff has presented us a report and overview on Pride Toronto’s current programming. assessing issues and changes that are being made. The board has had a chance to make input. | Received |
Annual General Meeting Update and Discussion | Board Recruitment Deadline application Jan 3rd for application deadline. We have an Interview/Selections Committee: Sheldon, Samatha, Grant, Brian, Sherwin. are on it. So far we have 6 applications. Community Outreach we have reached out to 200 agencies via email and staff are calling selective agencies. There will be a Q&A session regarding board recruitment. December 28th – 2pm. | Action Item:
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Policy Committee Report | By-Law Amendments (Executive Summary) By-Law Amendments, Package 1 By-Law Amendments, Package 2 Membership Structure Executive Director (ex officio) Removal of Director The Executive Committee item has been taken out of bylaw amendments. Sponsorship Policy has been deferred BoD Expenses and Reimbursement Policy item has been deferred. | Motion: Approving Package 1 to move forward to AGM for a membership vote. Mover: Grant Second: Samantha Motion: Passed – Motion: The Board has put forward the membership change package that will be voted on in the next AGM. Mover: Grant Second: Samantha Motion: passed – Motion: to move forward Executive Director officio – by law amendment moved to the next AGM for a vote. Mover: Grant Second: Samantha Motion: approved – Motion: Approve to move section remove the director amendment to be voted on, at the next AGM. Mover: Grant Second: Samantha Motion: Approved – Sponsorship and reimbursement policy has been deferred. |
Board Only Meeting
Social Media and Local Artists | Deferred | Deferred |
Master Services Agreement | We will be going forward with Natasha and Sherwin and Samantha will sign their contract. | Received |
Anti-Black Racism Training & Next Steps | Board has got input from staff and other options are being considered. | Action Item:
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Equitable Action for Change | Item Deferred | Deferred |
Committee Update | Item Deferred | Deferred |
Holiday Break and Next Meeting (January 6) | We will meet in the new year | Adopted |