Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Foundation Board of Directors Meeting Minutes October 28, 2011 IN ATTENDANCE: Darryl Holter, Rhea Chung, Darlene Kuba, Rob Carson, Haig Armaghanian, Jack Ochoa, Frank Ortiz, May Poole, RJ Noonan, Randall Ely, Ben Wong, Chip Chapdelaine NOT IN ATTENDANCE: Jun Oh, Ram Sareen, Sean Foley, Javier Cano, Martha Saucedo GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE: David Ysais, Gavin Lee (Wells Fargo), Ron Visconti (Wells Fargo) CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by Darryl Holter at 12:10 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Darryl Holter thanked R. Carson and Patina for their help with the Gala and introduced the Wells Fargo representatives. Darryl Holter announced the change in date of the Board s November meeting because of Thanksgiving. Members were polled about date preferences. November 22 was chosen as the next meeting date. Darryl Holter discussed the possibility of changing the day of the Board meetings for 2012 from Fridays to another day, perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday. The Board members wanted to leave Friday as the designated day. Rhea Chung suggested revisiting the topic when more board members are present. R.J. Noonan proposed sending out a notice of meetings for the entire years in advance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: (D. Holter) Mr. Holter asked if the minutes required any additional corrections or revisions (documents were sent electronically for the Board s review). D. Holter requested a motion to approve the last Board meeting minutes. Motion: To approve minutes of meeting from September 30th, 2011 Moved by: D. Kuba Seconded by: RJ Noonan APPROVAL OF AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2011 FINANCIAL REPORTS: (D. Holter) Darryl Holter introduced G. Lee and R. Visconti of Wells Fargo. The Board reviewed balance sheets and monthly financial reports. Randall Ely asked about the Foundation s funding status of Open Academy. Darlene Kuba requested the amount of revenue generated by Open Academy. Rhea Chung responded that the Open Academy received a $10,000 grant from US Bank and fundraises around $10,000. Its budget is $100,000. Darryl Holter reiterated the Foundation s goal of making the Open Academy a self sufficient program. Randall Ely asked for the dollar amount approved by the Board in support of the program.
Darryl Holter replied that the Board had previously moved to fold Open Academy s budget into the Foundation s budget with a bridge loan of $30,000 to the program had been approved last summer by the Board and OA had brought in revenue to reimburse the Foundation. Darlene Kuba suggested reporting Open Academy s finances separately. Darryl Holter said that a new budget for OA was being developed and would be shared with the Board. Haig Armaghanian proposed creating a clear strategy and outline of how funds are distributed: A one page goal sheet for 2012 that compares 2011 figures and delineates how much money is allotted for scholarships, community outreach, endowments, etc. Darryl Holter discussed the goal of the Foundation s investments: retaining enough funding in money markets and CDs to run the operations and be prepared for emergencies, while also investing other funds in investments that generate enough revenue to cover all operating costs. Darryl Holter gave the floor to the Wells Fargo representatives. Gavin Lee shared the ideas he discussed with the Executive Committee and the decision to take greater risks in order to generate greater revenue, monthly income, and net yield. Gavin Lee referred the Board to their financial packets for review. The Foundation currently captures $76,000 in income from its $1.6 million savings. Ron Visconti reviewed corporate bonds and discussed the strategy: short term on maturities to ensure a stable monthly income and returns. May Poole asked about the allocation of bond types. Ron Visconti responded that $1.1 million is in corporate bonds and $500,000 is in bond funds. May Poole requested the Foundation s investment policy and its stance on going below investment grade. Gavin Lee responded that investments cannot go below investment grade. Darryl Holter shared that the investment policy is conservative and is meant to guide the Board s decisions and was approved by the Board several months ago. Frank Ortiz asked if the board consider the security of the banks that hold the Foundation s funds. Darryl Holter proposed reviewing the investment policy again with the Board s new members and suggested a fuller discussion in the future. Darryl Holter requested a motion to approve the September financial reports. Motion: To approve September, 2011 & August 2011 Financial Statements Seconded by: RJ Noonan CHAIRMAN S REPORT: (D. Holter) Darryl Holter shared that Lou Rivieccio of UPS has received a new position as head of UPS operation in Canada and will not be able to participate on the Board. UPS will be appointing another member to the Board. 2011 GALA: (D. Holter and R. Chung) Darryl Holter shared information regarding funds raised for the Gala, including funds that had been collected and others that had been committed along with comparisons for last year s event. Darlene Kuba asked why Rhea had included the KIA donation in the event total. Rhea Chung stated that the Foundation had obtained the donations from Kia but Kia could only give the donation to the College, not the Foundation. Although the donation will not be in the Foundation books, the donation is and should be credited to the Foundation. Rhea Chung added that Kia was invited to the gala to be acknowledged for their donation but the executives of Kia had conflict and hence did the video instead to show their support. Their donation is part of the in-kind donations and need to be reported accordingly. Haig Armaghanian suggested removing the Kia donation to avoid confusion. He asked for clarification on the figures.
Darlene Kuba said that Iris Caplan had done a very good job of organizing the event and should be sent a thank you note and flowers in recognition of her work on the Gala. May Poole agreed. Darlene Kuba asked about Korean Air and Chairman Cho s absence at the Gala and said that his absence created a serious credibility issue for the Foundation. Darryl Holter explained that Chairman Cho was confirmed by his staff and even John Jackson, who joined our Board. However, at the last minute Cho backed out with no explanation. Darryl Holter sent a letter to Jackson suggesting he resign from the Board. Randall Ely referred to the contribution sheet and asked for a clearer breakdown of alumni and honorees contributions. Rhea Chung explained that while much of the money was in, a lot remained to be collected and that the Board was looking at the donations collected and pledged by the Board members and the Dinner Committee. She recalled that last year all the donations were not received until February. Darlene Kuba requested clarity on M. Saucedo s contribution saying that she had heard Martha say she could commit to $10,000 but not the $50,000 that appeared in the commitment column. Darryl Holter explained that Martha had told him that while AEG would commit to $10,000 the organization, she believed that AEG vendors could contribute as well and perhaps add another $40,000. Ben Wong asked if the $567,000 total is based on commitments or is a concrete figure and whether or not the Board was looking at fictitious numbers. Rhea Chung explained that, except for the funds already collected, the numbers for commitments are based upon what Board members, Dinner committee members, honorees and others have promised they will try to get. Rhea Chung further explained that the word commitment denotes what people promised to give which is different from the word pledge. Rhea Chung added that the contribution summary was a working document is updated on a daily basis to accurately reflect the numbers. Ben Wong suggested adding another column to show collected versus projected collection. Darlene Kuba proposed changing the word commitment to projection. Randall Ely suggested including the terms pledge vs. actual donation and outstanding amount to make the presentation materials clearer. May Poole suggested the word projected vs. commitment. Haig Armaghanian requested more clarity with correct numbers and terminology. Rhea Chung reiterated to the board that the document was a working document and this is only one week after the event and will need time to further refine the numbers. Darryl Holter discussed the dinner committee, its success and contributions that will probably exceed $60,000. Dinner committee members who had succeeded in bringing in donations may be candidates for Board membership. Haig Armaghanian felt their involvement was helpful and good for morale. Darryl Holter introduced the silent auction comparison sheet. The 2011 figure is significantly lower than the 2010 figures. Darlene Kuba has observed that people are generally buying less silent auction items at events. Darryl Holter thought the pairing of some silent items by Iris Caplan may have been a mistake. Rob Carson proposed a longer, 90 minute silent auction time in the future and suggested text bidding that allows people to participate while in a different location. Darlene Kuba asked what had happened to the remaining silent auction items. Rhea Chung responded that unsold items could be used for future events, as was the case this year. One out of three Tadashi Shoji dresses was sold this year and she still had the 2 Tadashi Shoji dresses that weren t sold at last year s event. Darryl Holter offered information on expenses and highlighted the fact that expenses for this year s gala were reduced from approximately $175,000 to around $85,000.
Darlene Kuba stated that the program was too long. Darryl Holter said that this year s Gala was 25 minutes shorter than last year. Chip Chapdelaine added that he didn t think so because it was shorter than last year and the program needed all the components including the students. Darryl Holter also noted that the program ended at exactly 9:30 pm this year compared to 9:50 pm last year. Darlene Kuba said that 30% to 40% of the attendees had left by the time it ended and that the program was too convoluted. Chip Chapdelaine responded that that was not what he saw and all of the honorees stayed till close to 10 pm which is very unusual at events like this. Darlene Kuba questioned if an Emcee is needed in the future since Rhea and Darryl were on the stage so much. She added that Laura Diaz seemed out of place and decided to go across the stage to sit down since Rhea was speaking on stage. She added that Laura Diaz was miffed because Rhea was on the stage a lot and that Laura seemed disoriented on the stage and made mistakes on the stage with the script. May Poole stated that Laura shaed with many people that she had such a great time and learned so much from Rhea about the work Rhea s doing at LATTC. May added that when Laura and she came to WP24 for the mixer (which was cancelled), they had a great time sharing about the event and Laura s interest in joining the board. Darryl Holter said that Laura stayed at the event until 10 pm and expressed interest in joining the Board. Rhea Chung mentioned that per Laura s request, Rhea and Laura are having lunch in 2 weeks. Haig Armaghanian suggested shortening the honorees videos to one minute. Darryl Holter introduced D. Ysais, LATTC PR, and asked for his perspective on the Emcee. David Ysais said that an Emcee may not be necessary for future events as Rhea and Darryl did such a great job on the stage. Darryl Holter asked for Chip Chapdelaine s thoughts about the Gala. Chip Chapdelaine thought the event was by far one of the greatest events he s been to in his 20-plus years of experience as a CEO. He added that he was so proud of what he saw and many people came up to him during and after the event and had only good things to say about the event. He also added that having students at the event truly made it even more special. Chip Chapdelaine also shared that Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard stayed until the end of the program which is very unusual. Jack Ochoa indicated that the Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard was running for election again and that s why she was there. Darlene Kuba stated that the Congresswoman probably had nothing else to do. Chip Chapdelaine referred to D. Ysais to share the back-story of the students who attended the event and their preparation for the Gala. OLD BUSINESS (D. HOLTER) Darryl Holter introduced an old business item: the Foundation audit. The Executive Committee reviewed the audit and recommended it be sent to the district. Motion: To approve the Foundation audit and send to the district Moved by: Randall Ely Seconded by: Darlene Kuba Randall Ely asked if the audit must occur yearly. Rhea Chung stated that the District has called for it to be done annually. NEW BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS (D. HOLTER) Darryl Holter introduced a new business item: M. Poole will join the Executive committee and act as the Board s new Secretary. Motion: To elect M. Poole as the LATTC Board Secretary Seconded by: Jack Ochoa
Darryl Holter announced that through the work Rhea s been doing, both LATTC and LATTC Foundation have been getting a lot of media exposure especially with the Korean community. He shared that Chip, Darryl, and RJ were invited by Rhea to go on a one-hour live show on Radio Korea few weeks ago to talk about the College, Foundation and the Gala. Rhea s involvement with the Korea media is certainly increasing and raising the profile of the College and the Foundation. Darryl Holter introduced the faculty innovation grants. R. Chung reviewed the grants purpose: to enable innovative approaches that promote student success. Rhea Chung presented the finalists selected, whose projects total $14,400. The Board approved $15,000 in grant funds. Motion: To approve finalists and distribute $14,400 in Faculty Innovation Grant funds Moved by: Randall Ely Seconded by: Jack Ochoa Jack Ochoa asked how often innovation grants would be reviewed. Rhea Chung responded that the grants would be reviewed and distributed once per semester. Darryl Holter announced the 3rd annual Open Academy concert on December 10 and shared that the orchestra is increasing its involvement of students from the surrounding area. Jack Ochoa announced his involvement with Toys for Tots and asked Board members for their contribution of toys. He will provide additional information. ADJOURNMENT: (D. Holter) Motion: To Approve to adjourn the meeting Seconded by: Haig Armaghanian MEETING ADJOURNED AT 1:50 P.M.