Board of Directors Meeting

Board of Directors Meeting

October 24, 2013

Members Present

Rev. Dr. James Simms, Chairman

Henrick Harwood, Vice Chairman

David McAdoo, Treasurer

Rev. Dr. Toussaint King Hill, Jr.

Cheryl Floyd

Jesse Scheck

Michael Harle

Peter Luongo, PhD, Executive Director

Members Absent

Arthur C. Evans, PhD

Bruce Kraus

Susan Weiner

IRETA Staff

Julius Habjanetz

Piper Lincoln, recorder

Call to Order: Rev. Dr. James Simms called the meeting to order at 11:06 AM and thanked the board for attending. Rev. Dr. Toussaint King Hill, Jr. asked if a quorum was present and Rev. Simms replied that there was. Peter Luongo specified that Cheryl Floyd and Henrick Harwood were participating via conference call.

Approval of Minutes: Minutes from the June 2013 Board of Directors meeting were reviewed and unanimously approved.

Cheryl Floyd shared that her name recently changed to Cheryl Floyd-Brown and was congratulated by the other board members.

Recommended Slate of Officers: Michael Harle made the following recommendations to fill board officer positions; Rev. Dr. James Simms as Chairman, Henrick Harwood as Vice Chairman, David McAdoo as Treasurer and Jesse Scheck as Secretary. Rev. Simms asked for nominations from the floor. There were no further nominations and Dave McAdoo motioned that the roles proposed by Mr. Harle be approved. The motion was seconded by Jesse Scheck and the officer positions were unanimously approved. Mr. Scheck stated that he was very honored.

Financial Report: David McAdoo led the Review and Approval of the Financial Report. He stated that the finance committee had no significant changes to report for the first quarter of the fiscal year and that the committee feels that the state of IRETA’s finances is well in order. He reported that IRETA currently holds a $75,698 revenue to expenditure surplus and Mr. McAdoo complimented the staff on their effort. He reported that IRETA net assets continue to grow, with 11.2% added in the previous quarter.

Mr. McAdoo stated that the goal of the finance committee moving forward is to work on developing an investment plan. Peter Luongo added that he hoped the Gaudenzia plan would serve as a first step in that process.

Mr. McAdoo noted that the ATTC grant continues to be the lead funding source for IRETA, followed by contracts. Mr. Harle asked what the previous ATTC grant amount was and Julius Habjanetz responded that the previous grant was for $625,000 and the current grant is for $675,000. Mr. Harle then asked about the duration of the grant and Mr. Habjanetz replied that it is a 5 year grant whose second year just began.

Mr. McAdoo also reported that grants other than the ATTC grant comprise an increasingly larger portion of grant revenue at IRETA, putting us closer to achieving the board’s revenue source diversification goal. He further noted that while we wouldn’t expect to see too much activity in terms of revenue versus expenses in the first quarter, he was pleased to see that expenses have held steady or decreased over this period. He complimented the staff once again.

Referring to a section of the report, Mr. Harle asked to whom IRETA donates. Dr. Luongo stated that we provide funding for Recovery Month activities. Mr. Harle pointed out that while IRETA had budgeted $10,000 for this event, only $8,900 was spent. Dr. Luongo replied that the Recovery Walk had been slightly over budged for. Mr. Scheck observed that this may have been because food was not provided this year, unlike last year.

During the review, Mr. McAdoo pointed out that the revenue opportunities described in the financial report are “birds in hand,” or finalized projects. Additional funding opportunities described in the Program Update are not included in the financial report. He also stated that the FY 2014 section represents a simplified budget. He then asked the board if it would be best for the first motion to be acceptance the report and the second to approve the budget. Mike Harle responded that he moved that proposal and Rev. Sims seconded the motion.

David McAdoo further asked for a presentation regarding salaries and stated that it is the responsibility of the board to review salaries. He mentioned that Dr. Luongo has plans to address this issue. Mr. Harle agreed that it is the responsibility of the board to do this and recommended that a compensation study of 990’s be conducted. He informed Dr. Luongo that he has access to those pages through Guide Star and could email the information to him. He further stated that a salary review was only necessary for the highest paid employee. He moved to approve the salaries as presented with the understanding that there would be a review of the highest salary consistent with the industry. Mr. Scheck and Ms. Floyd-Brown seconded the motion and it was approved.

Rev. Simms asked if the fringe benefit percentage didn’t seem too low. Dr. Luongo agreed with his observation and stated that the current percent is 21.76. Mr. Harle added that in government the percent is much higher. Dr. Luongo then discussed the current retirement plan, which is a 2-1 match up to 3%, is a 1-1 match in most places. He said that the current 403(b) plan is very constricting, and that it is possible for staff to move in or out of the plan. He stated that if IRETA wants to be an employer of choice, we should do something about that. He further mentioned that there are different approaches to retirement out there while the current plan is a holdover from the early days of IRETA.

Mike Harle asked who sponsors the retirement plan and Dr. Luongo said that it was Lincoln Financial. Mr. Harle asked what they do and was told by Dr. Luongo that staff manage their own policies. Mr. Harle also asked if there was any third party oversight and was told by Dr. Luongo that there is not. Mr. Harle expressed concern because in his experience, if a company provides a match they become a qualified pension plan and are therefore required to have a pension committee, third party oversight, and a board of director approved plan. He described an experience at another organization where they ran afoul of these requirements and in the end, needed to request amnesty from the IRS’s failure to comply penalty of $10,000/day. He mentioned that he would help in any way on this issue and would share the solution of the other organization if legally possible.

Mr. McAdoo began a conversation about starting a committee on this issue and Dr. Luongo suggested that its members could be a subset of the finance committee. Mr. McAdoo suggested that if this committee looks at benefits as a part of the review process, they should look at the whole compensation package including vesting and pension matching. Mr. Harle further suggested they might look at other plans for examples.

Dr. Luongo agreed, stating that IRETA is not a patient-oriented non-profit and its closest comparison organizations are probably universities. He offered the example that Dr. Dawn Lindsay came to IRETA from the University of Pittsburgh and Piper Lincoln from Carnegie Mellon University. Those are likely to be the types of places IRETA will look to for near-future hiring. Mr. McAdoo described designing compensation packages as a different process for clinical and technical positions, where one needs to compete for employees at the source, versus finance and clerical staff, where one can look more directly at costs.

Mr. Harle reiterated the statement that we should make sure that compensation is done correctly at IRETA. Dr. Luongo agreed, stating that while we do have a plan, he thinks it is an unfair one. Rev. Simms reiterated the need for a larger study looking at the full personnel policy. Mr. Harle again stated that he has access Guide Star to check the averages for Dr. Luongo’s wages and will forward him that information. Dr. Luongo stated to the board that IRETA’s day-to-day operations are not in danger.

Annual Report: Dr. Luongo started the Annual Report discussion by orienting the board to the Report’s layout, which follows the structure of the Program Updates. First, he described the areas of engagement in which IRETA is quickly growing its presence through the use of social media. He pointed to myIRETA subscriber growth as an example, and suggested that it is IRETA’s ability to produce new content every 7-10 days that keeps online readers interested.

Second, he drew attention to the simplified financial snapshot presented in the Report, which was done to provide information without duplicating the detail of a 990.

Third, he pointed out the section for new board of director and staff members and noted that it would now be updated with Ms. Floyd-Brown’s correct information. He also noticed an error in Rev. Hill’s entry and stated that that would also be fixed.

Fourth, he noted that the list of IRETA clients and partners on the back page continues to become more diverse.

Finally, he stated that the Annual Report would be delivered electronically and posted online rather than printed. He also observed that the Annual Report becomes less difficult to produce each time as the process becomes more familiar.

Mike Harle said that he likes the use of client and partner logos rather than text and congratulated the editors on a good idea. Dr. Luongo agreed, stating that the staff helped identify the talented graphic designer who produced the Annual Report. Mr. McAdoo agreed that he liked the Report, but suggested that IRETA might print a few copies for key clients. He also asked about the presentation of net assets, wondering whether the graphic sends the right message when asking for money. It could show that IRETA is financially sound and stable or imply that “we’ve got money” and lead people to ask why we are looking for more. Dr. Luongo stated that he felt it sent the positive message that IRETA is capable of carrying out a client’s mission.

Dr. Luongo segued into a discussion of investment strategy and wondered why organizations would give IRETA money for reasons other than working with us. He stated that partnerships with groups whose interests merge with our own seems to offer a possible explanation. He pointed to a recent partnership with PEW Charitable Trust as an example.

Rev. Simms continued this discussion and stated that rather than spinning our wheels about a development strategy, we should build on our strengths of partnership. Jesse Scheck restated this by asking if we should develop partnerships first and then ask for money. Rev. Simms agreed, reiterating that we shouldn’t spend energy figuring out why people would just give us money.

Rev. Hill asked Dr. Luongo for an update on the project with the University of Chicago. Dr. Luongo stated that a great deal was learned in the first year of subcontracting with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). The motivation for partnering with NORC was to strengthen the position of the National ATTC grant application and to gain access through NORC to a large hospital system and EAPs. He observed that while NORC’s Behavioral Health section has great scientists, we strengthened the partnership through our ability to implement. He observed that IRETA is better than most at the “doing of things” and answering questions such as “is your counseling program doing anything?” because we have a protocol to examine this in place.

Rev. Simms observed that this sounded affirming and helping at the same time. Rev. Hill asked if our financial obligations with NORC had changed over time. Dr. Luongo stated that it had not. Rev. Hill also asked if we have a contract with NORC and Dr. Luongo answered that we have an annually negotiated contract.

Rev. Simms asked the board if they had further comments on the Annual Report. Mr. Harle requested that some acronyms be spelled out in the text. Rev. Hill also asked if a glossary of acronyms and terms could be provided for the board and Dr. Luongo answered that it could be done. Mr. Harle also pointed out that Ms. Floyd-Brown now works at the Miracle Group and Ms. Floyd-Brown agreed, requesting that her name and agency be updated.

Mr. McAdoo asked if a motion to approve was needed and Rev. Simms clarified that the motion was to accept the Annual Report as presented with the changes suggested by the board. The motion was seconded and approved.

Rev. Hill then informed Dr. Luongo that his title is incorrect and that he holds a Dr. of Ministry. Dr. Luongo stated that he would include this change and thanked the board.

Executive Director’s Report: Dr. Luongo began the Executive Director’s Report by reviewing IRETA’s Program Updates. He described the progress so far in launching a Community Epidemiology Workgroup with partners in Allegheny County government. He observed that it usually takes a few years for these kinds of projects to develop, but that the end goal was to routinize the process of looking at data, making it more accessible and actionable. Rev. Simms wondered if there were any political overtones to the current process and Dr. Luongo said that he had not observed any so far.

Dr. Luongo commented on IRETA’s social media presence and informed the board that we are hiring two new interns, one for 20 hrs/wk and one for 10 hrs/week, to replace an outgoing Social Media Intern. He observed that having interns has caused IRETA to think differently by introducing regular infusion of new ideas and technology.

Dr. Luongo then described a recent project with PEW and mentioned that he would be meeting with them further to discuss other opportunities. He also described a meeting with Cindy Shapira of the Shapira Family Foundation who is interesting in learning how they can get involved in opiate overdose prevention. The board discussed some possible ideas such as the prescription drug monitoring program, access to Narcan and Good Samaritan Laws.