Community Foundation for Oak Park

Governance and Administration

Leadership

The Community Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees. Nine trustees serve indefinite terms after being elected by a two-thirds vote of the existing Board. At the time of their election, they must be residents of Oak Park. Two other trustees automatically serve while they are chairmen of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council and the Recreation and Parks Planning Committee.

The current members of the Board of Trustees are:

The Board of Trustees meets on the second Tuesday of February, May, August, and November to establish policies, approve grants, review the operation of activity committees, and plan events (such as the candidates' forum for local elections). At its February meeting, the Board elects a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer for the year from among the trustees.

The Board may be expanded to 15 members without amending the Community Foundation's by-laws. We entertain applications from Oak Park residents to be considered for appointment as new trustees. Since we operate without any paid staff, trustees are expected to participate in hands-on administration of the Foundation and not merely in our quarterly meetings. Interested individuals should review the Trustee Job Description and then submit a letter to the Foundation, requesting consideration for appointment and summarizing past community and civic service.

Activity committees operate semi-autonomously, each with its own bylaws (approved by the Board of Trustees), officers, membership, and finances (supervised by the Community Foundation's treasurer). At least twice each year, each activity committee is required to report on its programs and events to the Board. Annually, the Foundation's treasurer reviews the financial records of all activity committees and prepares consolidated reports to the Board and to various government agencies as required by law.

Membership

The Community Foundation's charter gives the Board of Trustees the authority to define classes of members and to establish their powers and obligations. The original by-laws provided for three classes of members: regular, business, and lifetime. All classes combined elected trustees for staggered two-year terms.

Because of the costs and efforts required to maintain membership records and solicit renewals and also because of the costs and efforts for conducting elections by mail when a quorum of members could not be obtained for annual meetings, the members voted in favor of amending the by-laws in 1990. The amendments eliminated voting members and made the Board of Trustees self-perpetuating.

In recognition of the charter provision, the Board of Trustees enacted a policy defining the following classes of members:

• Voting members: This class consists entirely of the trustees.
• Activity members: This class consists of the members of the Community Foundation's activity committees.
• Associate members: This class consists of the members of the Foundation's administrative committees (e.g.: the Grants Committee).

There are no specific rights or obligations granted to any class of members. While the Community Foundation levies no dues on any class of members, individual activity committees might levy dues on their own activity members.

Operation

Both the Community Foundation and its activity committees operate entirely through unpaid volunteers and without any paid staff. The greatest administrative effort is expended by over 100 volunteers involved in the various activity committees. The administration of the overall Foundation is handled by the Foundation's four officers along with efforts from the other members of the Board of Trustees. Of course, the result is an operation with very little overhead, allowing the Foundation to devote almost all resources to support of the community and of our donors' goals.

Because of our dependence on volunteers and our lack of an office (let alone an office staff), the Community Foundation is unable respond to requests for urgent or prompt action. Our Board of Trustees meets only quarterly. Many of our activity committees do not meet during the summer. Thus, actions requiring an authorizing vote may be delayed.

Governing Documents

The Community Foundation is incorporated in California as a public-benefit, non-profit corporation. As such, it is governed in accord with the California Corporations Code, its articles of incorporation (charter), and its by-laws. Acting under those by-laws, the Board of Trustees has enacted various policies to guide the conduct of the Foundation's operations between meetings.

Last updated 12 February 2008