DRAFT MINUTES. WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad Annual General Meeting

Transcription

1 WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad Annual General Meeting DRAFT MINUTES Liffey Hall 1, Convention Centre Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Tuesday 23 September :30-15:00 Present Chair - Carye Duffin (CD), CIEE Vice Chair - James Bell (JB), Alliance Abroad Group Member - Rose Dapul (RD), First Place Inc. Member - Philippe Kohn (PK), Intrax Parting Chair - John Lawler (JL), Madventurer Absent Treasurer - Veronica Zanotti (VZ), Coined Adjunct Member - Andy Woods-Ballard (AW), GVI WYSE Travel Confederation Director General - David Chapman (DC) Association Manager - Linda Bosschers (LB) Full voting members (26) Alliance Abroad Group BUNAC Canadian Federation of Students Services Coliseum-Studentland, TM Conservation Volunteers Australia & New Zealand Council on International Educational Exchange Cultural Exchange Network Cultural Homestay International Equipeople Ltd. First Place Inc. Global Vision International InterExchange International Student Volunteers Intrax Cultural Exchange Madventurer National Student Travel Foundation Smaller Earth SWAP Working Holidays SYTO Ghana TravelWorks/Travelplus Group GmbH USIT Ireland Volunteering Solutions WISE Foundation WorkTravelSA You2Africa Zip Travel International Proxy votes (2) COINED International Experiment e.v. Page 1 of 5

2 1. Call to order CD welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order, as the quorum was reached. CD introduced the WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad Executive Board members and the Association Manager. 2. Appointment of tellers CD asked for two volunteers to be appointed as tellers, Laurie Moxley (Alliance Abroad) and Tim Pogue (WISE Foundation) volunteered. 3. Adoption of draft agenda CD asked for a motion to adopt the draft agenda for the Annual General Meeting. The motion to adopt the agenda was moved, seconded, and approved. 4. Approval of draft minutes AGM Sydney 2013 CD asked for a motion to approve the draft minutes of the last Annual General Meeting in Sydney. The motion to approve the minutes was moved, seconded, and approved. 5. Executive Board elections CD outlined the board positions up for election and the election procedure, with PK (general board member, two terms) and VZ (treasurer) coming to the end of their term and JL stepping down, there are three vacant positions: Treasurer (full term) One candidate: Caroline Lane, Equipeople Board member (full term) Board member (partial term, one year) Three candidates ran for the two positions, Vicki Cunningham, BUNAC; Bastian Weinberger, Smaller Earth and Andy Woods-Ballard, GVI. The prospective board members presented themselves (AW was presented by Steve Gwenin, GVI), after which CD requested all voting members to submit their vote on the ballot form and hand it in to the tellers, who then left the room to count the votes. 6. Annual report JB presented some highlights from the annual report as distributed on 29 August, starting with emphasising the purpose mission of WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad and the integration of the four key pillars, in line with WYSE, that provide the structure to the association: Networking - More opportunities for our members to interact Policy work - Raising the association s and members profiles as the go-to- expert in the field Education - increasing knowledge, engaging and sharing with members Research Providing consumer and business insights Networking JB described networking activities during the 10 th WETM-IAC London, WYSTC 2013 Sydney as well as WYSTC 2014; kick-off reception, local volunteer project and the Global Youth Travel Awards. Education CD reported the educational sessions organised at WETM-IAC and WYSTC, the start of the revision process of the best practices and new website launch. Research JB recapped the WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad activities on research through the member survey; for which more responses are required to make it representative. Extract from New Horizons III on work abroad is in progress. Data collection is in progress for a volunteer consumer survey collecting characteristics from the volunteer community. Page 2 of 5

3 7. Membership PK presented details on membership, with an increase in new members across the sectors within the association, while the number of resignations has remained stable. A large number of the new members to be ratified are attending WYSTC. PK also presented the four member organisations to be disaffiliated to the audience. CD explained that the 18 provisional members now require ratification from the membership to become official members of the association. CD asked for a proposer to approve the new members. The motion for ratification was moved, seconded, and approved. All 18 new members were approved: 876 Career Source International Limited, 8 Jamaica - Center for International Career Development, USA - Category 3 China Service Center for Educational C Exchange, China - Category 2 Ciudad Universitaria, Argentina - Communicating for Agriculture Education Programs (CAEP), USA - Category 2 E Ecole Travel Ecuador, Ecuador - EF Mexico, Mexico - F FSL India, India - Category 2 I Intern NZ and Intern OZ, New Zealand - International Schools Viagens e Turismo LTDA, Brazil - Category 3 K L N S Khaya Volunteer Projects, South Africa - Latitude International Education Consulting, Canada - New Zealand Internships, New Zealand - Signature Resources PTE LTD, Singapore - Special Travel Agency, Serbia - Stepin Gmbh, Germany - Category 2 T Travel & Tuition, Spain - W Welcome-China/Shanghai Zhuozhuo Art & Cultural Exchange Co., China - CD asked for a proposer to disaffiliate the four members that are up for disaffiliation. The motion for disaffiliation was moved, seconded, and approved. The following four members were disaffiliated: I K Inter-Air Ltd, Russia Associate King George International College, Canada O OST Ltd., Russia T TransWorld Education, Thailand - Affiliate PK emphasised that for the member survey a larger voice is needed from our members to focus the association activities. Page 3 of 5

4 8. Finance CD provided a few background details on the issues with finances. LB, in absence of the treasurer, presented the finances. The 2012 and 2013 accounts were fully rebuilt and in the end audited, two years of loss due to lower number of members and higher cost for management. For 2014 there will be a negative result, due to a higher expense on unbudgeted items. For 2015 the negative result will be much smaller and from 2016 the association is looking to have positive figures at the bottom line. CD asked for a proposer to approve the 2015 budget. The motion for the budget was moved, seconded, and approved. CD recommended to continue working with PWC for the audit of the accounts. The motion for the appointment of the auditor was moved, seconded, and approved. Questions from the audience: Elizabeth O Neill, CIEE for DC Can you say a few words on the challenges overcome? DC says it is satisfying to see the buy-in for all sector associations to get back involved in the Confederation. He sees there is now a lot more synergy rather than isolated activities; the associations are much more aligned and the Confederation is aligned as a group, resulting in a more homogenous message representing all facets from youth travel. DC is now looking forward to building forward again. Dearbhla O Brien, USIT The figures show an increase on membership which is great, but then why are the membership fees showing a drop. JB replied that the board put it together and it out after WYSTC. 9. Outlook 2015 The board provided an overview of their aims for 2015 covering the four pillars Networking CD elaborated that WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad are looking into incorporating trading profiles in the website to allow for virtual trading. Another aim is to look at organising smaller networking events in an informal setting. One other focus point is to improve on the work and volunteer presence at WETM-IAC. Ongoing conversations are going on with NAFSA in an attempt to set up an arrangement. For WYSTC we continue to look to make sessions dynamic and relevant. Education PK explained that webinars are an easy and accessible way to inform our members, committing to four a year, with a first one with the new visa regulations once they come out. WYSE Work and Volunteer Abroad are aware for the need to cover the various geographical and industry areas. Policy work JB spoke about the set-up of a working group that would be engaging with policy experts to explore the process to build bilateral arrangements. This requires members input to indicate the important countries. There needs to a realisation of these countries of the importance of youth and cultural exchange. Page 4 of 5

5 Research JL touched base on the research that will be presented in the period to come and the relevance of providing feedback through the member survey, as they can serve as the basis for our focal points. 10. Announcement of election results CD announced Caroline Lane as the new treasurer. Bastian Weinberger was elected for the three year board member position. Andy Woods-Ballard was elected for the one year position. JB thanks Vicki Cunningham for running. JB requested her to participate in the working group as her contribution will be valuable. 11. Any other business / Q&A Dave Dahl, WISE Foundation Commented that we should be happy with the board and follow-up, we re back on track and situated well to see a growth in influence and commended the board for their work. Sahil Sabharwal, Volunteering India Commented that there needs to be a bigger focus on Asia, besides the current European/US focus, as the market potential is huge. CD replied that we will look at our members to work with us on these initiatives and to ensure to cover all regions of the world. DC also Confederations working on WYSTC advisory committee Casey Slamin, Interechange Question if the draft of Best Practices will be shared to solicit comments? CD replied that there will be a working group created to work on the manual, and that revised version will be shared for member feedback. Dearbhla O Brien, USIT Commended the work of the board and to see how well the Confederation seems to be working There are a cohesion and joint approach that are good to see. CD thanks the audience for attending and a successful conference, and looks forward to the next AGM in Cape Town. Meeting adjourned. Page 5 of 5