The English-Speaking Union of the United States and its Branches

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1 The English-Speaking Union of the United States and its Branches The following is a June 2012 update to a May 2008 paper presented by The English-Speaking Union of the United States Board of Directors providing information on the structure and purpose of the national organization of The English-Speaking Union of the United States. Founded in 1920, The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charitable corporation with the mission to celebrate English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for students, educators, and members. The ESU, a non-profit, non-political organization: Advances global understanding by providing educational opportunities through programs and scholarship for students, educators, and members; Promotes communication and open exchange of ideas among the world s speakers of English; Enriches communities through active involvement of its branch members in outreach programs; Offers financial assistance to students and educators to further academic pursuits in English-related studies, and Develops common bonds through a shared interest in the English language and culture to strengthen friendship among members and those they serve. Headquartered in New York City and incorporated in the State of Delaware, the ESU undertakes its programs through its members in a network of 70 Branches in as many communities nationwide. An independent American corporation, the ESU-US works in fellowship with more than 50 independent ESUs around the world, all committed to the shared goal of creating global understanding through English. THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP The Board of Directors The business and affairs of the corporation are under the supervision of the Board of Directors. The Board is the locus of accountability and is held responsible for the organization, and has a fiduciary responsibility to see that the organization functions properly including responsibility for the mission, the chief executive and the budget. The Board is made up of two categories, Directors At Large and Regional Chairmen (who are ex officio members with full voting privileges). The Board meets twice a year. Between Board meetings, its Executive Committee, comprising officers and members of the Board of Directors, exercises all the powers of the Board of Directors except those expressly reserved to the Board, including the approval of the national portion of membership dues. Board members are required to be National Patron Donors. The English-Speaking Union of the United States 144 East 39 th Street, New York, NY fax info@esuus.org

2 Headquarters Staff Executive Alice Boyne, President & Executive Director Dorothy Fiedler, Assistant to the President & Executive Director Administration Christopher Broadwell, Deputy Director Kari Reynolds, Director of Development Mary Nicoll, Coordinator of Speaker Programs (part-time) Kathryn Morrisett, Membership Secretary Grant Hamel, Branch Services Administrator Caitlin Murphy, Branch Revitalization Coordinator Education Carol Losos, Director of Educational Programs Tanzilia Oren, Manager Immigrant Support Program Alice Uhl, Manager, International Programs Karen Ruelle, Manager, English in Action Kathryn Moran, Manager, Shakespeare PRograms Accounting James Lloyd, Comptroller THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS/BRANCH RELATIONSHIP The English-Speaking Union of the United States is the non-profit corporation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service under 501(c)(3) of the Tax Code. Because the Branches are component parts of the organization, they are not required to submit reports to the IRS but their activities must be covered in a group return which the National Headquarters files on their behalf. Because of this relationship, members and donors may claim a tax deduction for dues and contributions paid to the Branch. This imposes a requirement on all Branches to conduct their business in a way that does not jeopardize this status. For example, Branches must have an education program compatible with the mission of The English-Speaking Union, and each Branch must submit an annual financial report (known as the 990) to the National Headquarters by the date specified. The National Board of Directors has the right to accept or veto any materials proposed by any Branch or individual bearing the name or trademark of The English-Speaking Union, proposed by any Branch, region or individual.

3 How National Headquarters Supports the Branches Headquarters provides the Branches with the framework and materials for undertaking these national programs in furtherance of the mission: The National Shakespeare Competition, Shakespeare Set Free Symposiums, Books as Envoys, English in Action, British Universities Summer School and Walter Hines Page Scholarship Programs. Headquarters also subsidizes speaker presentations by the Branch through the Evelyn Wrench Speaker Program. Headquarters staffers also undertake research and development on new programs such as the ESU middle school debating program, currently in pilot stage in five Branches, and the Shakespeare Set Free Mini Institutes in cooperation with the Folger Shakespeare Library. Headquarters also administers the Secondary School Exchange and Lucy Dalbiac Luard Scholarship and, in conjunction with the host Branches, the Annual Conference. The Development Department is available to support your Branch by providing funding templates/ tailoring proposals to local prospective funders for all ESU partner programs administered by National Headquarters. The National Patron Program is a structure for individual giving to your Branch and the National organization, it is vital to Branch and National programming and provides ESU members with the means to become a stakeholder in local, national and international ESU endeavors. The administration of the National Patron Program by National Headquarters provides ESU Branches with funds for general support and offers benefits such as membership to the ESU, exclusive patron events and national recognition. The Branch Services Department also supports Branches membership and publicity efforts providing: membership renewal mailings for all members, an on-line membership roster of all members by Branch, free customized membership brochures; mailing lists; press releases; free Branch website and support; list serves for Branch Presidents and regional officers. It also coordinates the visit of authors on book tours to Branches and provides the Mimi Wilson Sourcelist of Speakers of available, affordable Speakers and assists with their booking. Headquarters also significantly assists Branches enrolled in centralized membership renewal billing, undertaking the entire process and underwriting the printing and mailing costs. Headquarters also provides the Branches liability insurance with greatly discounted rates under its umbrella policy and files a group 990 return with the IRS on behalf of the Branches. How the Branches Support National Headquarters The ESU Branches are the delivery system of the ESU locally, furthering in their communities the mission through their programs. The committed volunteers dedicated to undertaking the educational and fellowship functions of the Branch are invaluable in bringing the mission of the ESU to fruition. The Branches are also the main engine for generating membership. By creating and hosting interesting member programs, Branches attract and retain members whose involvement, dues and contributions benefit the ESU on both the Branch and the national levels. Membership Dues While the national portion of members dues is integral to our operating budget, in fact, dues only provide approximately half of the funds needed to support national Branch partnership programs and Headquarters direct services to the Branches. The other funding needed for Headquarters to support the Branches in their programs must be raised from sources other than members dues. The Headquarters/Branch relationship is symbiotic: National Headquarters supports the Branches and the Branches support Headquarters.

4 ESU Chair, Josiah Bunting III Josiah Bunting III was elected Chairman of The English-Speaking Union of the United States on June 11, Mr. Bunting was selected to lead the English-Speaking Union of the United States for his experience as a scholar, educator, military officer, college president, author and speaker on education and Western culture. Following graduation from the Virginia Military Institute, Mr. Bunting studied Modern British History at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He served in the US Army in the 82nd Airborne Division, in Vietnam and at the Military Academy at West Point, where he taught British History. His teaching posts and professorships also include the Naval War College, Princeton University and VMI. He has served as Head Master at the Lawrenceville School, President of Briarcliff and Hampden-Sydney Colleges and Superintendent of his alma mater, VMI, where he oversaw its transition to a co-ed institution. Mr. Bunting served as a director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, from 2004 to 2009; as a Director of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation since 1986 and its President since 2004; as President of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute s National Civic Literacy Board; and as President of the Lerhman American Studies Center. Mr. Bunting has authored several novels including The Lionheads, cited by TIME as one of the best novels of the year, and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. He is completing a biography of George Marshall for Knopf. He was principal curator for the Grant and Lee in the Civil War exhibit at the New- York Historical Society and lectures and publishes articles on leadership for them periodically. He established the Wye Faculty Seminars that assist professors to relate their teaching to broad issues of citizenship in the American polity and beyond. Mr. Bunting assumed the Chairmanship of the English-Speaking Union upon the resignation of former congresswoman and educator Patricia Scott Schroeder, J.D. who had served as Chair of the ESU since Prior Chairmen of The English-Speaking Union of the United States have included President of the United States Dwight D.Eisenhower; Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.; Attorney General George W. Wickersham; Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Alfred M. Gruenther; Security and Exchange Commission Chairman J. Sinclair Armstrong; former President of Yale and US Ambassador to the Court of St. James s Kingman Brewster; as well as and six other ambassadors to the UK, one to Canada and one to Turkey. ESU Vice Chair, Mark Stollar Mark Stollar was elected Vice-Chairman of the ESU in The Ad-Hoc Search Committee for the Vice Chairman, under the honorary chairmanship of The Hon. Edwina Sandys MBE, in its recommendation of Mark Stollar cited his energetic personality and his skills in educational technology and marketing that made him a highly qualified and complementary candidate to the prior Chair, Patricia Schroeder. Mark Stollar supports the Chair and in his absence presides over meetings of the National Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. Mark directed marketing programs at several educational publishing and testing companies and created a direct marketing business distributing educational software to children. In addition to his career in marketing, he has for twenty years been Adjunct Professor of Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

5 ESU President & Executive Director, Alice Boyne Alice Boyne came to the ESU as the assistant to the Deputy Director and worked up to its highest executive post. She was the guiding force in establishing the ESU National Shakespeare Competition and, as Director of Programs, she initiated many programs including the reformatting of the Page Scholarship Program, the Summer Program for high school teachers at London's Globe Centre, the Treadwell Challenge Grants for teachers and the Ambassador Book Awards, building into it the Books as Envoys program. She also restructured and expanded the National Speakers Program. Alice Boyne became the first woman Executive Director of the ESU in 1999 and, in recognition of her thirty years of service, was elected President in Under her directorship, the Margaret Thatcher Lecture Series was inaugurated and has netted nearly one million dollars in revenue for the ESU. While ultimately responsible for the operations of The English-Speaking Union of the United States, she has also laid the groundwork in developing multilateral international programs with all of the ESUs abroad

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