REACH-MI Minutes

Minutes of September 27th Consultation with Mark Stege In Attendance: Lani (International Relations), Rosania (President), Chichi (left early/VP), Desmond (Interim Secretary).

Meeting commenced at 7pm Sharp and the subject of the consultation was to go over the OCDP. Lani expressed her sentiments of not knowing what the OCDP was. She assumed that the OCDP was a paperwork process to be completed by Mark Stege to expedite the grant process. However, upon asking Mark, she finally found out that REACH-MI was supposed to participate in its development to properly reflect its directions, priorities, and institutional identity. Mark assured that this OCDP is supposed to be for REACH-MI after Lani’s blunt remarks as to who has creative control in determining the contents of the stipulated actions in the OCDP. Lani & Desmond wanted to go over the OCDP especially Lani to see the stipulated actions. It was identified that the third draft of the OCDP as done by Oxfam Resource Person Mark Stege listed several responsible agents among whom Lani Kramer was one and Kianna Angelo. Lani, immediately pressed the issue that she didn’t agree to the action because of a distancing relationship with Kianna Angelo who initially came up with the project concept. Lani also confirmed that the Concert Vendor being Daniel Kramer is perfectly capable of implementing the said action.

Efforts to alter or amend the OCDP in response to the demands of the General Meeting were met with Resistance by In Country Resource Consultant Person being Mark Stege. Questions by Lani Kramer in regards to the budget was ignored and responses were delayed. Additional resistance to the suggested amended actions were also met with Resistance with Mark Stege not entertaining the idea of REACHMI wanting to do the act themselves to assure proper ownership takes place and to take into consideration REACH-MI’s current capabilities/capacity which need to be sustained through these opportunities of leadership.

Initial efforts to address a possible conflict of interest in regards to maintaining the institutional integrity of REACH-MI in accordance to its bylaws where executive board decides funding direction was also met with resistance by Mark Stege despite the fact that executive board was merely acting in good faith to the stipulations directed by the General meeting of September 24th to alter the OCDP and tailor it towards REACH-MI’s existing capacity to fulfill the intended outcomes. For ease of reference, the following photo of the General Meeting with Officers is provided

below.

Although the meeting ended with Mark Stege taking REACH-MI concerns particularly the direction stipulated by the General Meeting in accordance to the following bylaw procedures, the general feel of the meeting left members a bit uneasy because it seems the consultant was listening to respond and not necessarily making an effort to understand how REACH-MI operates given how it is poorly endowed with resources, both human and physical. The only concern of REACH-MI members in attendance was how actions that were not fully approved are to be implemented with REACH-MI envisioning a different approach to implementation as opposed to Oxfam via Resource Person Mark Stege.

The original intent to push changes in the OCDP reflect REACH-MI’s current organizational policy built in the bylaws in regards to finances particularly Section 7.

A in established bylaw procedures which stipulates the following” a. Authority to Expend Funds. The Board of Director’s shall determine the appropriate use of funds provided for the operation of the organization, subject to any direction to the contrary by the General Meeting. All expenditures by the organization must be authorized by the President, or in the President’s absence, the Vice President, and the Treasurer.

As stated above, the Board of Directors/Executives being Lani and Desmond were merely subjecting themselves to the direction of the General Meeting in the picture above to ensure REACH-MI’s institutional identity, priorities, and direction was maintained as also agreed to in the drafted PWA which states the following: Autonomy and independence: Oxfam respects the right of each partner to determine their own institutional identity, directions and priorities. Oxfam recognises that power imbalances may exist in a funding relationship and will take measures to address this through respectful interactions and fostering two-way feedback loops and strong accountability systems.

And as also stated in the Finance Manual specifically Pages 1 in bullet point 2.1.1 that Resource Person Sushil gave members during the Finance Training conducted on September 15th (See Annex B for September 15th Minutes) which President Rosania, Atina Shutz, Lani Kramer (International Relations), Tita (Treasurer), and Desmond (Interim Secretary) were all in attendance to confirm. The following finance manual states the following in regards to the PWA: 2.1.1 The Financial Assistance Contract It is the responsibility of the Financial Assistance Recipient (REACH-MI) to ensure that they are fully aware of the terms and conditions of the PWA signed and agreed with Oxfam. The PWA is the legally binding document between REACH-MI and Oxfam. Failure to meet the stipulated terms and conditions will impact implementation/completion of the Financial Assistance funding (RPV) and may result in recovery of Financial Assistance funds.

The approach taken by REACH-MI specifically on retaining its autonomy and independence in accordance to established bylaw procedures was aimed at maintaining the institutional integrity of REACH-MI as also stated in the drafted PWA mentioned above.

This tailoring to REACH-MI circumstances is further solidified in Resource Consultant Mark Stege’s Terms of Reference which stipulates the following: Work closely with the RPV Capacity Building Advisor to develop a Capacity Development Plan (OCDP) specific for the Country CSO Partner

A tailored approach reflecting REACH-MI concerns addressed in the General Meeting was met with some resistance by Oxfam via Mark Stege however the initial approaches of REACH-MI leadership was not intended to point the finger of blame but rather to work together to take proper ownership of REACH-MI’s OCDP