Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State
Executive Board Meeting
August 7, 2024

Held on Zoom

ATTENDANCE

Present were: President Tana Hasart, Exec VP Cathi Lamoreux, Treasurer Gilbert Plascencia, Secretary John Strong, Past President Don Enstrom, State Program Lead Jennifer Marquis, Patricia Bosh, Erin Hoover, Debbie Benbow, and Kitty Lundeen-Ness.

OPENING

President Tana opened the meeting at 4:00 pm.

STATE LEADER REPORT

Jennifer shared a number of items, demonstrating the host of activities she and the Program Coordinators have been conducting!

Included are:

  • Program evaluation and telling our story – the public surveys are beginning to be used in a number of counties.
  • The Program Priority Toolkit can be found at the state program website, and all are urged to share it with their counties.
  • A group of Program Coordinators will accompany Jennifer to Santa Fe, NM for the National Master Gardener Coordinator Conference soon. They have been asked to make a presentation there.
  • The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion team is updating the MG application to remove barriers. They made a presentation to the greater group of PCs at their recent meeting in Ellensburg. This was followed up by an article in Seeds For Thought about creating a positive environment in your local MG program.
  • County program websites are beginning to update to the new WordPress format being rolled out. PCs have more information about how to get started in your county.
  • Jennifer has a slide deck to share about Microsoft 365, its benefits, and how to get started in your program.
  • The Basic Training curriculum update is near completion. There are several new chapters; there is a new title: “PNW Gardeners Handbook”; it is much more interactive; and it should be available for training classes beginning in January 2025.

TREASURER REPORT

Showing the financial reports for July, Gilbert noted that income continues to grow with the AEC registrations and sponsorships. All our CDs are performing well currently. Two of them will mature soon. Gilbert expects to roll them into one at that time. Very little activity on the expenditure side of the ledger.

ELECTIONS

Since both our president and vice president will be running in the election this fall, past president Don will be conducting it. Nominations, of course, are open, and will continue to be so through the election at the annual meeting. John has agreed to find out how best to conduct an online election, since the meeting will be held on Zoom.

BYLAWS REVISION UPDATE

Cathi will send out the proposed revised bylaws to the complete board on this Friday. Accompanying it will be a letter instructing members about the way the revisions were made, and announcing a special meeting on September 4th to discuss and adopt the changes.

Policy and Procedures and Job Descriptions still need some work. They don’t require a board vote; we can expect the new version in November.

Tana noted that these documents are solid, comply with state guidelines and RCWs, and will serve as very good examples for local chapter foundations.

AEC 2024

To date, 434 paid registrations have been received. With instructors and sponsor registrants, our total attendance is now at about 470, nearing the limit of our Zoom license (500).

The conference committee is recommending we upgrade our license to the next level (several thousand) at a cost of $3,800. Past history, our excellent marketing, and the aggressive growth in registrations indicate a likelihood that we will easily exceed 500, and we don’t want to have to close registrations and turn people away.

The cost of the upgrade is approximately equal to 30 registrations. Our counts are higher than budgeted, as is revenue from sponsors. It only makes sense to purchase the upgrade. It was determined that the decision to go ahead with that upgrade lies with the AEC team. The consensus of the members present agreed.

AWARDS

Patricia announced that the Awards committee has received 8 nominations for Master Gardener of the Year, 4 for the Ed LaCrosse Award, and 4 for the Media Award! This Friday the committee meets to make the selections.

AEC FORMAT TEAM

Cathi said they meet again next week. Four format scenarios for our 2025 AEC have been presented by Peggy Mahonia (Asotin). It is very likely that one of the combination regional / online ideas will be used. It has been learned that WSU has a format and staff in use for very similar meetings, and we may be able to avail ourselves of that.

The regional model will require regional planning teams, as well as oversight from the state level.

NEWSLETTER

Erin’s candidate for her replacement as editor of the Seed For Thought is still on the fence about accepting. Erin will try to push for a decision soon.

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

There is a person interested in the position of Development Director. Tana will meet with her soon. Tana asked for input from us for:

  • What does prospect need to know?
  • What is the initial focus of their work?
  • What support is available?

Suggestions included

  • A full list of current fundraising efforts, and the differences between them
  • Understanding of the relationships: state/local, and program/foundation.
  • Understanding of our history with WSU Development office.
  • Discussion of the new team at WSU Development and the positive vibes they have given us.
  • Who we are.

ANNUAL MEETING

Tana continues to work on the content for our Annual meeting. Her progress will be shared with us as she goes.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.