(OTS) |
Oklahoma Telugu SanghamBy-Laws of Oklahoma Telugu Sangham |
OKLAHOMA TELUGU SANGHAM, INC. (DBA OKLAHOMA TELUGU SANGHAM or OTS) (A NON – PROFIT ORGANIZATION – FED ID NO. 56-2608870) Mission To serve the Telugu community of Oklahoma City Metropolitan area through social, cultural, and educational activities; to preserve and propagate Telugu culture and heritage. Solicit, collect, and disburse funds for charitable purposes to meet above goals. BYLAWS Bylaws Inaugural Committee Venkat Chintala Rama Rao Goparaju Srihari Koneru Board Of Directors To be elected. Executive Committee Members To be elected. TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLE NO DESCRIPTION PAGE DEFINITION OF TERMS ARTICLE I NAME ARTICLE II PURPOSE ARTICLE III LIMITATION OF METHODS ARTICLE IV INAUGURAL COMMITTEE ARTICLE V BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARTICLE VI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ARTICLE VII COMMITTEES ARTICLE VIII MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS ARTICLE IX MEMBERSHIP ARTICLE X AMENDMENTS ARTICLE XI PROCEDURE FOR TRANSITION TO NEW BY LAWS ANNEXURE-1ACTIVITIES AND GUIDELINES DEFINITION OF TERMS Inaugural Committee: The Inaugural Committee shall be the interim committee of the OTS to assist with By-Laws until elections for Board of Directors and Executive Committee are held. Board of Directors: The policy making body of the OTS shall be termed “Board of Directors”. Chairperson: The Chairperson of the Board shall be the highest-ranking officer of the Board, whose rights and obligations are subject to the guidelines established under the relevant provisions of these by-laws. Executive Committee: The Executive Committee (EC) shall be the managing authority of the day-to-day operations of the OTS. Sponsor: Sponsor is a person that has donated a minimum of $ 500 in any given calendar year. Benefits include free membership (family) for that calendar year, participation in all the OTS annual events, activities, special recognition and conducting any business promotions in that calendar year, except special events such as music concerts. Grand Sponsor: Grand Sponsor is a person that has donated a minimum of $ 2,500 in any given calendar year. All Grand Sponsors (including spouse and children) shall get honorary lifetime membership for OTS, along with other benefits as a Sponsor, except special events such as music concerts. Family: Any person (along with spouse and children, where applicable) individually subject to the regulation of the income tax code shall be deemed a family. Children who individually become subject to the income tax code shall be deemed to constitute an individual family unit. General Body: The General Body consists of Members of OTS. Member: Any person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older, is a Citizen or legally residing in the United States, and pays a minimum donation of $ 50 for individuals and $ 100 for family, subject to the guidelines established under the by-laws, shall become a member of OTS for the following calendar year. Each individual Member is eligible for 1 vote and Family member is eligible for 2 votes in Election of the Board/EC. Officers Of The Board: The officers of the Board include a Chairperson and a Secretary chosen from the members of the Board unless otherwise provided for under the by-laws. Officers Of The Executive Committee: The officers of the Executive Committee include a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer that are elected from the members of the Executive Committee unless otherwise provided for under these by-laws. President: Highest ranking officer of the Executive Committee, whose rights and obligations are subject to the guidelines established under the relevant provisions of these by-laws. Vice President: Second highest ranking officer of the Executive Committee, whose rights and obligations are subject to the guidelines established under the relevant provisions of these by-laws. Secretary Of The Board: The Secretary of the Board, whose rights and obligations are subject to the guidelines established under the relevant provisions of these by-laws, shall also be subject to the advice and direction of the Chairperson of the Board. Secretary Of The Executive Committee: The Secretary of the Executive Committee, whose rights and obligations are subject to the guidelines established under the relevant provisions of these by-laws, shall also be subject to the advice and direction of the President of the executive committee. Treasurer: The officer of the Executive Committee responsible for the maintenance of accounts and the financial affairs of OTS. The Treasurer is subject to the applicable guidelines established under these by-laws. Voting Member: Any member of OTS who has been a member for at least one calendar year, immediately preceding the election year. ARTICLE I - NAME Section 1: The name of this corporation shall be Oklahoma Telugu Sangham, Inc. also DBA “Oklahoma Telugu Sangham” or “OTS”. Section 2: This organization shall be a non-profit organization, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Oklahoma with the principal office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, County of Oklahoma. ARTICLE II - PURPOSE OTS is established for promoting the social, cultural, educational, charitable and literary values of the Telugu people in Oklahoma. ARTICLE III - LIMITATION OF METHODS Section 1: No part of the earnings of the OTS shall benefit or be distributable to its Directors, members, officers, or other private persons. No substantial part of the activities of the OTS shall be the carrying on of a propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and OTS shall not participate, or intervene in, (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, OTS shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried out on, (A) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law). Section 2: Upon the dissolution of OTS, the Board of Directors shall, after paying or making provision for payment of all liabilities of OTS, dispose all assets of OTS, exclusively for the purposes of the Foundation in such a manner, or to such organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes shall qualify at that time as an exempt organization or organized under section 501(C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law), as the Board of Director shall determine. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the principal of the corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes. ARTICLE IV- INAUGURAL COMMITTEE Section 1: Role And Function The Inaugural Committee shall be the interim policy making body of OTS. The Inaugural Committee shall provide strategic guidelines to the operation and management of OTS as a newly registered non-profit organization, until the Board of Directors and Executive Committee members are elected. The primary responsibility of the Inaugural Committee is to develop Bylaws and also act as the inaugural election committee. The Inaugural Committee shall consist of community members that are past presidents and/or senior members of OTS with the total number of members as determined by the immediate past president. ARTICLE V- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Section 1: Role And Function The Board of Directors (hereinafter called the Board), shall be the policy making body of OTS. The Board shall exercise control over its real and non-real property making up the assets of OTS. The Board shall provide strategic guidelines to the Executive Committee in the operation and management of OTS. The Board shall consist of five (5) members with two (2) members elected every two years. Out of these five Board of Directors, the members of OTS elects four (4) and the remaining position will be filled by the President of the Executive Committee. The Board shall meet at least four (4) times in a calendar year. The budget prepared by the President, in consultation with the Executive Committee shall be subject to approval of the Board. In all cases, any expenditure exceeding $1500 shall be approved by the Board. The Board shall have the authority to revise the dollar amount of contribution necessary to be eligible as a Voting Member. Section 2: Eligibility And Term Of Office To be eligible to contest or to be considered for nomination as a Director of the Board, the contestant shall be a good standing member of the OTS,
Note: If no members become available or eligible for the donor and/ or past officers of EC (1st and 2nd requirements), the positions shall open up for those meeting the 3rd requirement. The general term of a Board of Director shall be two (2) years. No member shall serve more than two (2) terms. Only one member from any of the member families shall serve on the Board or Executive Committee. All the Board of Directors shall maintain their membership in the OTS current. Section 3: Rights And Obligations Except as noted specifically in other sections, the decisions of the Board shall be final and binding. Three (3) Directors shall constitute quorum for the Board meeting. Should a vacancy occur on the Board, that position should be filled from the respective category by a simple majority vote of the remaining Board of Directors. Appointed Board of Director shall serve the remaining term of the vacant position. Each of the Board Of Directors may represent only one proxy vote for an absent member. The absent member shall notify the Board of the proxy vote prior to the Board meeting. The proxy vote shall be for agenda items for the scheduled meeting only. Proxy vote shall not count for quorum or for votes on projects and expenditures over $1500. Section 4: Officers Of The Board The Board shall elect a Chairperson and Secretary within fifteen (15) days following the election of new Directors. Candidates for the position of Chairperson should have served on the Board for a minimum of one (1) year, except for the inaugural 2024-2026 term. Should a vacancy occur in the Board, a member of OTS, meeting any of the requirements under Section 2, shall be selected by the simple majority vote of the remaining Board members with the approval of the Chairperson. The new member shall serve the remaining term of the vacant position. A. Chairperson - The Chairperson shall preside over and conduct the meetings. He/she shall be the ex-officio member of all elected and appointed committees. The Chairperson shall also have the authority to constitute special committees as and when needed. All members appointed to these special committees shall be subject to approval of the Board. The Chairperson shall have the authority to convene meetings: a) As and when needed; b) Or when requested by at least two members of the Board; c) Or when requested by the Executive Committee. B. Secretary - The Secretary shall maintain records of all Board meetings and a copy of the minutes shall be maintained at OTS. In the absence of the Chairperson, the Secretary shall preside and conduct Board meetings. When directed by the Chairperson, the Secretary shall schedule a meeting by giving seven (7) days notice to the members, by telephone or in writing or by electronic message. Under special circumstances, meetings may be scheduled at shorter notice. Section 5: Election Committee The Election Committee is constituted specifically for the purpose of conducting elections of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee members. This committee shall also conduct the election of the officers of the Board and the Executive Committee. This committee shall consist of,
In case when there are not sufficient number of contestants to fill the positions on the Board or the Executive committee, the Election Committee in consultation with the Board shall have the authority to appoint Board of Directors and Executive Committee members. Under these circumstances, the term limits of the members may be waived for the purpose of re-appointment. The Election Committee shall be constituted by August 1st of the election year. The election process shall be completed by September 1st of the election year. New members and officers shall be in position after the day of Diwali function or by December 1st of the election year, whichever falls later. The old committee shall complete the transfer of responsibilities within a month to the new committee. The Election Committee shall be automatically dissolved upon completion of the elections. Section 6: Hiring And Termination Of Employees No employees shall be hired. Section 7: Expulsion Of Member Of The Board Or Executive Committee Or Member Of The General Body Upon receipt of a written petition from 25 % of the General Body members, the Board has the authority to investigate and expel any member of the Board, the Executive Committee or the General Body. The Board shall take following steps in this regard: A. The Board shall appoint a committee to investigate the merits of the case. This committee shall advise the Board of its findings and recommendations in writing. B. The Chairperson shall schedule a meeting with the help of the Secretary, for this purpose. Notice of this meeting shall be given to the General Body fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting. a) The General Body members present at the meeting have a right to consider the findings of the committee. b) The Board shall vote on the issue in this meeting. The Board of Director under investigation shall not vote on the issue. c) The Chairperson and/or Secretary shall be responsible for counting the votes and announcing the final decision on the issue. The decisions arrived at this meeting shall be final and binding. Section 8: Removal of the Entire Board and/or Executive Committee A. In the event a third of the General Body members, express a no confidence motion in the form of a written petition on both the Board and the Executive Committee, separately or collectively, the Chairperson of the Board shall call for a General Body meeting. The Chairperson shall schedule a meeting with the help of the Secretary, for this purpose. Notice of this meeting shall be given to the General Body fifteen (30) days prior to the meeting. a. At this General Body meeting at least 51% of the registered members shall constitute a quorum. b. To pass a no-confidence motion, at least 75% of the General Body members. present shall vote in favor of the motion to remove the Board and/ or Executive Committee or both. B. In the event of dismissal of the entire Board or the Executive Committee or both, the chairperson of previous Boards and/or previous EC presidents shall convene a meeting within five [5] days and appoint an interim Board with five members to serve the OTS either for the remaining term of the dismissed body or until re-election is scheduled, whichever is earlier. ARTICLE VI- EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Section 1: Role And Function Within the guidelines established by the Board, the Executive Committee shall manage the day to day operations of the OTS. The Executive Committee shall consist of Eight (8) members. The Executive Committee shall meet at least eight (8) times in a year. Section 2: Eligibility And Term Of Office To be eligible to become a member of the Executive Committee, the contestant shall be a member of OTS for two (2) consecutive years, preceding the election year. The term of office of an Executive Committee member shall be two (2) years. Four (4) members of the Executive Committee shall be elected every two (2) years from the members of OTS (*). The Voting Members of OTS shall elect the Executive Committee members. No member shall serve more than two (2) terms. Only one member from a family shall serve at the same time. (*)For the first term, the four outgoing members can be decided by consensus. If no consensus is reached, it can be resolved by lottery, and this decision shall be binding. Section 3: Rights And Obligations Five (5) members shall constitute quorum for the Executive Committee meeting. Should a vacancy occur in the Executive Committee, a member meeting the requirements under Section 2, shall be selected by the simple majority vote of the Executive Committee members with the approval of the Chairperson of the Board. New members shall serve the remaining term of the vacant position. Each member of the Executive Committee may represent only one [1] proxy vote for an absent member. The absent member shall notify the Executive Committee of the proxy vote prior to the Executive Committee meeting. The proxy vote shall be for agenda items for the scheduled meeting only. The proxy vote shall not count towards quorum. All members of the Executive Committee shall maintain their membership in the OTS current. Section 4: Officers Of The Executive Committee The Executive Committee shall elect a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer within fifteen (15) days following the election of new members. The candidate for the position of the President should have served on the Executive Committee or Board for a minimum of 1 year. A. President - The President shall have the authority to convene meetings as and when needed. The President in consultation with the Executive Committee shall prepare the annual budget for the operation of OTS. This budget shall be presented to the Board by February 1st for the following year. The President shall preside and conduct Executive Committee meetings. B. Vice President - The Vice President shall assist the President as and when needed in all the tasks as per the By-Laws, including the role as a Board member in the absence of the President. The Vice President shall also become the default head of the Membership committee. C. Secretary - The Secretary shall prepare the agenda and record minutes of each meeting. A copy of the minutes shall be maintained by the OTS. In the absence of the President, the Secretary shall conduct and preside over the meetings. When directed by the President, the Secretary shall schedule a meeting by giving seven (7) days notice to the members by telephone, electronic mail or in writing. Under special circumstances, meetings may be scheduled at a short notice. D. Treasurer - The Treasurer shall maintain statements of receipts and disbursements, at every event, from the operating funds approved by the Board in the budget. He/she shall be responsible for appropriate taxes. The Treasurer shall sign all the checks except checks in amounts greater than $ 500.00. These checks shall require an additional signature of one of the following members. a) Chairperson of the Board, or b) President of the Executive Committee. In the absence of the Treasurer, checks in amounts less than $ 500.00 shall be signed by any of the above-mentioned authorized officers. The money collected at events shall be counted and accounted by the Treasurer in the presence of a member from the Board or Executive Committee, provided, the member present is not a family member of the Treasurer. A person other than to whom the check is issued shall sign checks for reimbursement. The Treasurer shall participate in Board meetings as and when requested. ARTICLE VII - COMMITTEES The Executive Committee in consultation with the Chairperson shall appoint necessary committees for specific terms of office to conduct various functions of the OTS. These Committees shall be composed of members of the OTS. A member of the Board and/or Executive Committee shall serve on each of these committees. Membership Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to solicit membership, advertisements for the directory, update membership addresses, prepare membership directory. The printing and distribution of the directory shall be approved by the executive committee. The committee shall update the membership list as of the last day of the month, 3 months prior to the next election of board, or any General Body Meeting. The committee shall also update the membership list as at the end of Ugadi or the first OTS event in the calendar year within 30 days. Finance Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to solicit donations, provide the financial planning, and coordinate all fund raising activities. Food Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to coordinate food arrangements for all of the OTS activities. Planning Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to advise the board on long range goals and plans. Each event shall have at least one event coordinator accompanied by volunteers to ensure the proposed OTS program is planned and executed. Event coordinator(s) shall work to meet regularly with the executive board and update all activities in a timely-manner by conducting conference calls or by emails. Community Service Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to organize the community service events, including coordination of assistance to people that are in need due to accidents, health emergencies or such other emergencies. Language and Cultural Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to coordinate the cultural and language programs. The committee shall ensure the cultural programs organized, sponsored or conducted by OTS will follow the guidelines as explained in the Annexure-1. Newsletter Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to solicit articles, newsworthy items for publication, preparation of material for printing, proofreading and mailing to the general membership. Public Relations Committee: The primary function of this committee shall be to coordinate public relations activities and to organize, promote and coordinate OTS activities during all occasions using web, E-mail or social media as needed. Any communication with the community regarding the OTS event or any non-OTS must be communicated and verified by the executive board. Advisory Committee: Advisory committee shall consist of the OTS past presidents and senior members of the community that are nominated by the members of the community. The Advisory committee meets at least once a year with the Board and Executive Committee to provide guidance as needed. ARTICLE VIII - MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS Section 1: General Policy No funds of the OTS shall be authorized or approved for disbursement in violation of ARTICLE III: SECTION 1 of these by-laws. Section 2: Disbursement Of Budgeted Funds The Executive Committee is authorized to direct the Treasurer to disburse funds as approved in the budget. The Treasurer shall disburse funds as approved, directed and authorized by the Executive Committee. Section 3: Disbursement Of Special Funds The Board shall have the authority to designate and disburse special funds not in the budget to meet the needs of the OTS. Section 4: Investments Any investments into financial instruments/products shall be reviewed by the Board and authorized in writing. Section 5: Audit The Treasurer shall present audited reports yearly to the Board. The Board shall have the authority to commission an independent audit as and when needed. ARTICLE IX - MEMBERSHIP Section 1: Member Any person who is 18 years of age or older, and is a Citizen of or legally resides in the United States and pays a minimum donation of $ 50.00 for individuals and $ 100.00 for families shall become a member of OTS for the following calendar year subject to fulfilling the required application formalities, if any. Membership is subject to the guidelines established by the Executive Committee under the bylaws. The approval of membership is at the discretion of the Executive Committee. Should there be an adverse decision by the Executive Committee, the applicant has the right of appeal to the Board for reconsideration. The decision of the Board shall be final and binding. To be eligible to contest for the position of either as Board of Director or as member of Executive Committee, the contestant shall be a member of OTS by paying a minimum donation of $ 100.00 per year for at least two consecutive calendar years, immediately preceding the election year. Also, to contest for the position of Board of Director, the contestant shall meet the additional requirements indicated under Article IV, section 2. Section 2: Voting Member Any member who pays a minimum donation of $ 50.00 for individuals or $ 100.00 for families per year for one calendar year, immediately preceding the election year shall be a Voting Member (s). The Voting Members shall have the right to vote in the election of Board and Executive Committee members. Each individual Member is eligible for 1 vote and Family member is eligible for 2 votes in Election of the Board/EC. Section 3: General Body Collectively all the Members and Voting Members shall constitute the General Body of OTS. The General Body has the right to attend any of the meetings of the Board and the Executive Committee and shall have the right to express his/her opinion but shall not have the right to vote unless specifically provided for in the terms of the by-laws. Board and Executive Committee meeting schedules shall be posted in available media avenues. General Body meetings shall be held at least once each calendar year. ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS Section 1: The Board along with the Advisory committee may amend the by-laws, during a meeting specifically called for this purpose. A minimum of two-thirds of total votes of the Board and Advisory committee shall be required to amend the bylaws. Section 2: Notice of the meeting at which such amendments shall be voted on must be given to the General Body. A minimum of fifteen (15) days notice of the date of this meeting shall be required. During this meeting, the General Body has the right to express opinion and is not authorized to vote on the amendment issues. ARTICLE XI - PROCEDURE FOR TRANSITION TO NEW BY LAWS Section 1: The very first Election or Nomination for Board and Executive Committee shall take place before March 15, 2024, so that the elected members can be in office by May 1, 2024. This first EC and Board will serve an extended term until transition to the new team in November/ December 2026. ANNEXURE-1 Executive committee shall strive to conduct at least the following events in a given calendar year:
Additional events such as musical concerts can be proposed and approved by the Executive Board if the budget and schedule accommodate. Guidelines for OTS Cultural Programs
Guidelines/Rules for Participation to be followed
(Audio files should be sent in mp3 format with performance title as file name). Group Size & Program Length
Cultural Programs & Quality
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