Minutes of the Meeting of the Bank Information Center Board of Directors- January 18, 2005

8 June 2005

Present:

Jonathan Fox (chair)
Frances Seymour
Atila Roque
Marianne Ginsburg
Robin Broad
Manish Bapna (ex-officio)
Bruce Jenkins (reporting)

1. Call to order: Jonathan Fox convened the meeting at 2:15pm at BIC’s office building at 733 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC.
2. New Board member: Jonathan Fox reported that David Hunter has accepted the Directors’ invitation to join the Board. The Directors made note of several Board business and procedure issues: as BIC expands its Board, the organization should be clear on the number of Board meetings that members are expected to attend; minutes of previous Board meetings are to be available at subsequent meetings; Board meeting materials are to be sent to the Board at least one week in advance of meetings.
3. Executive Director Update: Manish provided an overview of financial, administrative, personnel and programmatic developments. He reported that 2004 organizational expenses were lower than budgeted and that potential new sources of funding have been identified. These developments could lead to consideration of expanded staffing in several areas in 2005, including hiring staff members in regions in which BIC works intensively, such as South Asia, the Mekong, and the Amazon. Manish also indicated that BIC’s current lease would expire in February 2005 and that plans were underway to relocate in early 2005.
   
   Board members welcomed Manish’s report and the positive financial picture of the organization. Several members noted that hiring regional staff was an interesting development, though noted that BIC staff should be cognizant of the management needs of decentralized programming. Further, it was noted that BIC would need to ensure that BIC regional staff work to strengthen exisiting organizations in the region and not draw resources or attention away from them. Regarding office relocation, Board members noted that BIC would be well served to secure a space that would allow possible expansion options in the coming period; sublet options should be considered in the near term.
4. Strategic Planning: Manish presented the staff generated draft strategic plan 2005-2008. The plan has been developed over the past year and involved a survey of partners, targeted interviews, guest presentations, and commissioned thought pieces. Manish requested Board members to carefully review the plan and to provide comments and revisions. Manish requested to Board to help the organization to sharpen its focus, to identify potential partners for initiatives contained in the plan, and to assist with identifying potential funding opportunities.
   
   The Board welcomed the plan and acknowledged staff members’ significant efforts and contributions. Directors provided substantive comments on refining the organizational mission statement contained in the plan. Board members also provided suggestions on clarifying the range of international financial institutions on which BIC devotes significant attention.
   
   Next steps: It was agreed that Board members would provide comments on the strategic plan until January 31, that BIC staff would work further on the plan until February 21, and the Board would reconsider the plan for formal approval by the Board’s next meeting in March. Manish was requested to include a summary paragraph in the plan’s introduction that would highlight the themes of continuity (maintenance and strengthening of current programs) and change (calling attention to new initiatives and directions). Manish was also requested to provide a short rationale statement to the Board on the reasons for hiring regionally-based BIC staff that would outline some of the terms of engagement for such staff and the logic for focusing on particular regions. Manish was also requested to identify evaluative criteria that would allow the organization to judge the success of this initiative after 2 years.
5. Board Development: Manish indicated that there was interest from BIC staff to expand the size of the Board and to include more Directors from civil society organizations based in countries that borrow from the IFIs. Perspectives were shared on how to structure a larger Board with more international members, including the use of committees and teleconferencing. Board members indicated that they have been considering Board expansion and welcomed staff input. Several Directors indicated that the organization should set modest goals regarding overall Board size given both financial constraints as well as management time requirements to coordinate a larger board. The Directors supported inviting new members from organizations in borrowing countries, but also emphasized that BIC would need to seek members that would be able to commit significant volunteer time to the organization. Further, it was noted that BIC should also be seeking to diversify its Board among U.S. communities engaged in social justice and environmental rights and policies. A major goal would be to seek engaged individuals that will help provide a diversity of opinion and experience. In considering new international Board members it was noted that members would need to be comfortable in making decision by email and conference call, as it would not always be possible to convene all members in person. Board procedures and the number of meetings would need to be streamlined as not to prove too onerous for international Board members.
   
   Next steps: the Board agreed that it would try to identify 3-4 potential candidates by the next Board meeting.
6. Next Board Meeting: The next meeting of BIC’s Board of Directors was scheduled for March 22, 2005.
7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:30pm