Results of 2018 CIC elections and your new Officers

We are happy to announce the new officers who will be joining the CIC organization. This was the result of the elections that were announced recently. We had three applicants for three different roles which made the need for an election moot. All three contestants were elected unopposed. These three officers will serve their roles for a period of 2 years (until March 2020) barring unforeseen circumstances.

So here are your new officers and their brief statement they provided as part of their application for the role.

President - Nekzad Shroff

"I strongly believe that being part of a community takes work and commitment. I consider myself lucky to be a member of a thriving, active and vibrant CIC, and as such, I have no hesitation in giving back to be a small part of its evolution and growth story. My focus in this role would be on 3 key areas: Outreach - to reach and grow the number of active participants and volunteers who proudly count themselves as part of our family, Engagement - to encourage free and open expression of diverse views and debate in our community and to build trusting relationships that propel our energy, Expression - to find avenues for our diverse community members to contribute in unique and creative activities and events which truly reflect the "unity in diversity" that is our biggest asset."

Vice President/Secretary - Rajesh Radhakrishnan

"I like to bring people together. Love it. Organized VB tournament with the help of our community. Getting things done on time, on budget, on schedule, being cognizant of the human elements, is part of my job. This role will require a similar skill set IMO."

Treasurer - Venkata Ramanan

"I am not big on declarations but I think I put others needs and needs ahead of me and will be a guide/help/fellow traveler for the community."

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the CIC Board will continue to stay to help guide the officers and ensure that the core charter of the organization is maintained. The Board consists of three members - Krithika Santhanam, Sachin Holla, and Rangaprabhu Parthasarathy.

We are very excited to welcome the new team. Please join us in congratulating them and providing them the support they need to continue our mission of building a wonderful community.

CIC Elections and Open House

Hello, Cambrian Indian Community. Hope 2018 is treating you well. As promised during last year’s Diwali event, the CIC Elections are here and we wanted to take this opportunity to explain the election process, roles up for election and the responsibilities that come with them. But before that, we want to also let you know there will be a CIC Open House this Sunday, 11-Feb-2018 at the Vineland Branch Library from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. 

Agenda for the meeting (in this order)

1. CIC Election Process and Logistics
2. Q&A on CIC Elections 2018
3. Feedback on CIC Diwali Mela 2017 (see this post for actual feedback we will be discussing)

Election Logistics
The Election process will happen over the next few weeks. Here is the timeline.
Feb 07: Announcement of Elections in the CIC Website.

Feb 07: Filing of Nomination starts (Contestant form: https://goo.gl/forms/lhgmm6ilvhbssxBk2)
Feb 11: Elections Open House (2:30-5:30 pm, Vineland Branch Library)
11:59 pm, Feb 12: Filing of Nominations close.

Feb 13: Voting Form available on the website.
Feb 17: Votes drop off at board members residence (location to be confirmed. In person only- no proxy)
Feb 18: Voting in person at Lone Hill Park (time to be confirmed)
Feb 20: Announcement of results
March (Date TBD at Discover India): Introduction of Cambrian Indian Community Officers to the community

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Roles and Responsibilities of the Officers
The Officers of CIC will hold office for a 2-year period starting March 2018 and ending in March 2020. The Officers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization including but not restricted to
1. Event organization and management
2. Community Outreach
3. Volunteering and community participation
4. Event Sponsorships
5. Publicity and marketing
6. Balancing the books and keeping financial transactions accurate and consistent
7. Consult with Board when required.
8. Report to the board quarterly.
 

The CIC officer positions available for election will be:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or President
The president shall be the chief executive officer of the corporation. Subject to the control of the board of directors, the president will define the activities of the organization, supervise and direct the affairs of CIC and of the officers. At all times, the president will be the face of the organization and will be responsible for setting direction according to the CIC charter and bylaws.

Chief Operating Officer (COO) - Vice President and General Secretary
In the absence of the president, the vice president will perform all the duties of the president. The general secretary shall certify and keep the original, or a copy of these bylaws as amended. Keep a book of minutes of all meetings of the directors, and, if applicable, meetings of other committees.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Treasurer
The treasurer shall have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of the corporation.

• Receive, and give receipt for, monies due and payable to the corporation from any source whatsoever.
• Disburse, or cause to be disbursed, the funds of the corporation as may be directed by the Board of Directors, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements.
• Keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of the corporation's properties and business transactions, including accounts of its assets, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, gains and losses.
• File annual tax returns.

Chief Marketing Officer
As the Chief Marketing Officer, you will be responsible for creating innovative marketing strategies that will aid in building the CIC community presence, leading to increased awareness, fundraising revenue, relevance and respect among our target customers, donors and of course, the larger CIC community. In addition, the CMO will have ownership, direct or indirect, of the CIC website, blog and other social media channels as may be appropriate.

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Requirements to Contest in Elections
1. Each contestant will have

• lived in the community for 2 years or longer and,
• attended no less than 4 CIC events and,
• volunteered in at least 2 events in a significant capacity, as determined by the board.

2. Each candidate can contest for only one role.
3. Each family can have only one family member file for nomination. If one of your family members is a part of the CIC board of directors, you are not eligible to participate.
 

Filing for Nomination
You can file your nomination with the form here (https://goo.gl/forms/lhgmm6ilvhbssxBk2). Please note the following:
1. Nominations will be closed at 11:59 pm on Monday, 12th Feb.
2. In the days leading up to the election, we will share each of the nominee’s “What would I do in my role to help build a better community” so voters have an opportunity to read and understand what the candidates are offering
3. In the event that a specific role has no contestants, the Board reserves the right to nominate someone of their choice for the role.

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CIC Mission

• Foster a tighter community among the Cambrian Indian community including adults, children, and senior citizens.
• Encourage local talent and businesses
• Promote Indian culture targeting the Indian diaspora but not restricted to Indian families. All are welcome!

CIC Long-term Vision

• Host flagship events to promote a deeper awareness, knowledge, and demonstration of Indian music, cultural traditions, and dance.

• Facilitate events to allow for atypical community members’ interest, for eg. quiz, karaoke, etc.

• Conduct events that are very directly targeted to foster deeper relationships between children living in the community.

• Play a significant role in charitable giving and encourage philanthropic activities within the community and also external to the community.

• Engage in active community organizing to lend a voice to the larger Cambrian, San Jose, and wider communities as well.

  • Interactions can be a purely social, political nature as long as it doesn’t conflict with the CIC charter of not being unduly favorable to any one particular person or organization

• Provide a physical location for entrepreneurs in the community to host classes/commerce for the larger community

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Some FAQS
1. What is this election for and how does it change the current structure of the CIC organization?

When the CIC was originally conceived and formalized in 2014, the community was much smaller than what it is today. At that time, it made sense to have fewer members involved in the day-to-day running of the organization. The members of the board (1 chairperson of the board, two voting Directors, 1 Vice President/General Secretary and 1 Treasurer) also doubled up in taking operational roles of the Officers of the CIC.

The community is much larger now and it makes sense to separate the Board from the Officers who will be responsible for the daily operations. The Board will mostly remain unchanged but will take on an advisory role to the Officers (see next FAQ). The Officers who will be elected through these elections will execute on the responsibilities as outlined above. 

2. What then is the role of the CIC Board?
The Board’s role is to ensure that all the actions of the CIC are consistent with the vision of the CIC as a community to bring like-minded people in the Cambrian area. The Board will be available to provide support and guidance to the Officers as they execute on their roles and responsibilities. The CIC Board’s role is not to be necessarily involved in the day-to-day affairs of the CIC. Having said that, the board will weigh in very directly if it is felt that the officers are proposing action that conflicts very directly with the mission, charter or goals of the Cambrian Indian Community.

3. What is Cambrian Indian Families (CIF)? How is it related to CIC?

The CIF Facebook group was started by a few families who live in the Cambrian Park neighborhood. This is to allow a social gathering and as such is a private facebook group with memberships managed by the administrators of the group. You can apply for membership with this group directly, but CIC has no relationship, direct or indirect, with CIF. Since some of the families also attend, participate and are active volunteers at CIC events, the information about CIC events may sometimes be cross-posted in the Facebook group for visibility.

4. Why do we need an organization? Isn’t it just folks getting together and doing stuff?

We have always been about bringing the community together. However, with time, we have grown as a community and hence our needs, interests, and events have grown as a result. Becoming an organization gives many benefits like getting liability insurance for our events, having a bank account and getting tax exemption for donations received in our events. We are now an officially certified 501c3 tax exemption organization.

5. How do I become a member of the CIC?

There is no formal membership for the CIC organization. When we formed the organization, we took a conscious decision to keep the focus on community building and not a lot of paperwork and formality around memberships and such. Hence, at this time, we have no formal membership model and no yearly membership fee as well. We will review this periodically as the community grows and interest and participation changes.

6. What are the benefits of being involved with CIC?

The CIC organization exists to create events, foster community and be the voice of the community as defined in the CIC Mission and Vision. This allows the member to have the knowledge that there is always a set of folks who are driving events and other activities with this goal in mind. Apart from occasional fundraisers (2 in the past 4 years) which are scheduled on an as-needed basis, the only support that we look from our community is to be an active participant/volunteer in our community events. Besides, the CIC events give the community members a great opportunity to meet other like-minded people in the area and provides a sense of community involvement.

7. How can I learn about new events and how do I sign up to volunteer or participate in CIC events?

The CIC blog is always the best reference to hear about our events and understand how to register as a participant or volunteer. In the past, some of our members have cross posted to private Facebook, WhatsApp groups that they are part of. However, these are unofficial and private shares. In the future, we may employ other social media channels in addition to or in lieu of existing mechanisms to communicate our events and other activity, but at this time, the only official communication channel is our CIC website. We will communicate any changes to our communication strategy in this blog.