Date: June 29, 2021
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/91236302587?pwd=Slk3ZExiT3FKNk90M0pSK1lYYVcxZz09
The meeting of the Transition Board of Directors of the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund, Inc.
was held on June 29, 2021 via video conference.
Board Members in Attendance: Dion Cartwright, Chair; Erika Seth Davies, Vice Chair; Kirsten
Allen, Vice Chair; John Morris, Treasurer; Julia Baez, Secretary; Jacqueline Caldwell; Catherine
Benton-Jones
Board Member Absent: Earl El-Amin
The Meeting was called to order by the Chair, Dion Cartwright, at 6:36 p.m.
Welcome & Review of the Agenda – Dion Cartwright, Board Chair
Cartwright welcomed the Transition Board of Directors and public to this meeting of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, Inc. (BCYF, Inc.).
Cartwright reminded the attendees of BCYF, Inc.’s purpose: to create new opportunities for the city’s young people to learn, thrive and succeed. Cartwright also stated BCYF, Inc.’s status and responsibility as a nonprofit organization stewarding public funds.
Cartwright then shared the meeting’s focus: BCYF, Inc.’s final, revised budget for the 2022 fiscal year, financial policies and updates on committee work to advance the hiring of BCYF, Inc.’s first staff.
Cartwright outlined the following items of the meeting agenda: a review of the previous meeting’s minutes, a financial report, review and discussion of BCYF, Inc.’s budget and financial policy recommendations, and an update report from each Board committee.
Meeting Minutes from May 19th Board Meeting – Dion Cartwright, Board Chair
Cartwright announced that the Board had received the draft of the meeting minutes from the
May 19th Board meeting. She asked if there were any amendments or comments, and there were
none.
Baez moved for approval of the minutes. Caldwell seconded the motion. The May 19th BCYF, Inc. Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved with no abstentions.
Treasurer’s Report – John Morris, Board Treasurer
Morris began his report on BCYF, Inc.’s financial management status by stating that BCYF, Inc.
is committed to transparency and public accountability in the use of public dollars.
Morris stated that since July 1, 2020, BCYF, Inc. has disbursed over $5 million in direct grants to
organizations, in addition to program and financial technical assistance. These continuation grant
funds of more than $9.2 million have supported 78 organizations with programmatic support and
one-on-one financial and programmatic technical assistance.
As a part of the aligned grantmaking strategy, Morris stated, BCYF will be deploying another $5
million to support the infrastructure for grassroots organizations through Fusion Partnerships
and provide direct grant making through the Summer Funding Collaborative and BCIITY
partnerships.
Aligned Grantmaking
Morris reminded the Board that the aligned grantmaking strategy was approved during the May
Board meeting and as a part of the aligned grantmaking approach, the Board approved $1
million for YouthWorks. Morris informed the Board that YouthWorks has asked to be deferred
to FY22.
Morris stated that the recommendation is to increase the grant funding to BCIITY as a part of
expanding the opportunities for grassroots, participatory grantmaking. The proposal was to
increase the Health Department/BCIITY amount to $1.5M over two years.
Cartwright asked if there were any questions or discussion regarding this recommendation.
Allen raised questions about the capacity of BCIITY to distribute the grant funds to community-based organizations. Dana Cole Moulden, Lead for Operations, indicated that the Baltimore
Civic Fund will be the fiduciary for the funds and responsible for the distribution of funds to
support the partnership between the Health Department and BCIITY to build its capacity and
promote community-based participatory grantmaking.
Following the conclusion of the discussion, Baez moved to approve the grant amount. Caldwell
seconded the motion. The Board approved the recommendation with no abstentions.
Unspent Funds Policy
Morris announced that, after reviewing BCYF, Inc.’s grant closeout process, he is
recommending the adoption of a policy regarding use of unspent funds, to be applied to existing
grantee agreements.
Morris introduced the Unspent Funds Policy, as follows:
The Board received a copy of the proposed unspent funds policy. This policy reiterates the
language that has been included in BCYF, Inc. grant agreements that requires grantees to:
- request a modification to their programmatic activities or financial budget, if needed;
- request an extension of the grant if more time is needed with a timeline specified in
the request, or request to allocate funds to similar programmatic activities; or - return any unspent funds to BCYF, Inc.
Morris recommended the policy for Board approval.
Cartwright led the Board in a discussion of the policy.
Seth Davies moved for approval of the policy. Baez seconded the motion. The BCYF, Inc.
Unspent Funds Policy was unanimously approved with no abstentions.
Feedback from Grantees on Aligned Grantmaking
Allen asked if it is possible to include a survey of organizations that receive aligned grants to ensure that the ultimate recipients, grassroots organizations, have a means of providing feedback to BCYF, Inc. Dana Cole Moulden, Lead for Operations, indicated that this can be included as a part of the regular feedback process with grantees and this will be incorporated into the grant deliverables for aligned grants.
Financial Statement
Morris stated that BCYF, Inc. is continuing to be a good steward of public resources through its internal controls. He introduced Cole Moulden to review the current profit and loss statement.
Cole Moulden presented BCYF, Inc.’s current financial statement.
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Financial Plan– John Morris, Board Treasurer
Morris presented the revised budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which will begin July 1, 2021 and
end June 30, 2022.
Morris reminded the Board that they reviewed the draft FY22 budget in the May Board meeting,
and that the budget represents BCYF’s initial investments in strengthening the infrastructure that
supports grassroots organizations and establishing BCYF as a community resource.
Morris shared that during the public meeting on the Annual Financial Plan, one of the members
of the public raised the question of increasing the professional development budget line.
This suggestion was incorporated into the revision of the budget. The revised budget raises the
professional development budget line from $5,000 to $55,000 anticipating 11 employees over the
course of the fiscal year.
Morris concluded that BCYF, Inc. is proposing a more than $17 million budget for FY22, which
includes almost $14 million in grants and technical assistance. The approved version of the
budget will be filed with the Board of Estimates.
Cartwright asked if there were any objections to the budget line revision to the approved budget,
and all Board members indicated they were in agreement with the revised FY22 budget and
financial plan and unanimously adopted the revised budget for FY22.
Committee Reports – Erika Seth Davies, Dion Cartwright, Jacqueline Caldwell, Catherine Benton-Jones, Julia Baez, Kirsten Allen
Committee members shared status updates regarding each committee’s current work.
A. Audit Committee – Erika Seth Davies, Vice Chair
Seth Davies provided the following update on the Audit Committee.
The Audit Committee has requested proposals for the first audit firm. The Committee will
be reviewing submissions and beginning the initial audit engagement in the next month.
B. Executive Committee – Dion Cartwright, Chair
Cartwright stated that the Executive Committee does not have an update report since the
May BCYF, Inc. Board meeting.
C. Community Engagement and Communications Committee – Jacqueline Caldwell and Catherine Benton-Jones
Benton-Jones updated the attendees on the work of the Community Engagement and Communications Committee.
The Community Engagement and Communications Committee continues to support the work of the Community Engagement Team. The Community Engagement Team is offering community-based technical assistance and support with free public education on a range of youth development topics.
Benton-Jones asked attendees to please watch out for upcoming events via the email distribution list and to follow BCYF, Inc. on social media for updates.
D. Race Equity and Inclusion Committee – Julia Baez, Secretary
Baez stated that the Race Equity and Inclusion Committee does not have an update report since the May BCYF, Inc. Board meeting.
E. Hiring Committee – Kirsten Allen, Vice Chair
Allen updated the Board on the survey of Board and consultant team to inform the job description for the President. Cartwright then discussed the Hiring Committee’s review of search firm candidates and next steps to review job descriptions for the President and three Vice President roles. The leadership team will be four positions: President, Vice President of Investment, Vice President of Operations, and Vice President of Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships.
Adjournment – Dion Cartwright, Board Chair
Cartwright adjourned the Board meeting at 7:21 p.m. The next Board meeting will be on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
