Minutes of the 43rd Southern Area Conference

Sheraton Birmingham, Alabama

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The Southern Area of The Links, Incorporated

Minutes of the 43rd Southern Area Conference

Sheraton Birmingham, Alabama

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 – Saturday, May 15, 2015

Opening Ceremony May 13, 2015 ~ 7:45 P.M. EST Link Eneid A. Francis, Southern Area Director, opened the meeting of the Southern Area with the Presentation of Colors by Ramsey High School ROTC Color Guard introducing the Opening Ceremony and Welcome to Birmingham Program. Immediate Past Southern Area Director Ms. Mary Currie provided the response to the Welcome Program followed by the Opening Concert with Eric Essix. First Plenary Session May 14, 2015 ~ 8:06 A.M. EST The first business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference was duly opened and called to order on Thursday, May 14, 2015, at 8:06 am EST by the Southern Area Director, Link Eneid A. Francis, in the Chair, and Link Anne T. Herriott, Southern Area Secretary, present. Link Cynthia Hightower Jenkins, Shreveport (LA) Chapter, Southern Area Acting Protocol Chair, introduced members seated on the dais. Link Selma Robinson Ayers, St. Petersburg (FL) Chapter led the pledge and song. Link Patricia Russell McCloud Dogwood City (GA) Chapter, Eleventh National President, delivered the Linkspiration. Link Anne T. Herriott, Greater Miami (FL) Chapter, Southern Area Secretary, called the roll of delegates. The Southern Area Secretary presented the first credentials report: Executive Committee 28 Past Area Directors 03 National Executive Council 10 Past National Presidents 03 Host Chapter members 92 Delegates 77 Alternates 66 Attending Links 444 Connecting Links 29 Guests 01 Total in attendance 753

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By direction of the committee, the Southern Area Secretary moved the adoption of the Credentials Report. The motion passed. Link Natalie Fant, Arlington (VA) Chapter, brought greetings from the Eastern Area; Link Alice Strong Simmons, Oklahoma City (OK) Chapter, extended greetings from the Central Area; Link Constance Fitzpatrick Smith, Stockton (CA) Chapter, conveyed greetings from the Western Area; and Link Dianne Hardison extended greetings as immediate past Eastern Area Director. The Southern Area Director called for the report and adoption of the Standing Rules of Order for the 43rd Southern Area Conference. Link Margaret Winn, San Antonio (TX) Chapter National Parliamentarian, presented the standing rules for the 43rd Southern Area Conference, (Appendix A) as printed on pages 17 and 18 of the Conference Program Book. By direction of the committee, a motion to approve the adoption of the 43rd Southern Area Conference Standing Rules was moved. The motion passed. The Southern Area Director called for report of the adoption of the 43rd Southern Area Program. The Program is printed on Pages 10 through 15 in the Program Book (Appendix B). The Southern Area Conference Program was moved for adoption as printed, subject to necessary changes by the Area Director. The motion passed. The Southern Area Director appointed the following members to serve as the Committee to approve the minutes of the 43rd Southern Area Conference Link Shaniece Bickham, Pontchartrain (LA) Chapter; Link Abra Lattany-Reed, Brunswick (GA) Chapter; and Link Davetta Lee, Lefleur's Bluff (MS) Chapter. The Southern Area Director appointed the following members as timekeepers. Link Alma Stokes, Greensboro (NC) Chapter; Link Kelley Bolden Bailey, Tallahassee (FL) Chapter; Link Tamara Brown-Boone, Charleston (SC) Chapter; Link Vera Finley, Greater Mobile (AL) Chapter; Link Mary Joseph, Charleston (SC) Chapter; and Link Bettye Mitchell, Magic City (AL) Chapter. The Southern Area Director acknowledged the 200 first time attendees to the 43rd Southern Area Conference. Vice Area Director introduced the Southern Area Director to provide her State of the Southern Area Address. The Southern Area Director provided her formal report (Appendix C). The Southern Area Director called for the report of the Elected Officers as follows Link Tamara Lee, Area Vice Director presented the Membership Report: approved by voice vote. The Southern Area Director then announced that the minutes of the 42nd Southern Area Conference were approved by a Minutes Approval Committee consisting of Links Barbara Darby of the Bold City (FL) Chapter and Alison Summey of the Columbia (SC) Chapter. Without corrections, the minutes of the 42nd Southern Area Conference were declared approved. She then called for the Report of the Southern Area Secretary. Link Anne T. Herriott, presented the Area Secretary Report: approved by voice vote - followed by the Area Treasurer Report by Link Janice Nelson: approved by voice vote.

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The Southern Area Director called the Area Secretary to read the provisions of Article III, Elections Section 10(B) and Section 13 (b) and (c) Section B, of the Constitution and Bylaws of The Links, Incorporated, which governs nominations of Area Officers and the Nominating Committee. Link Kathy Jones Chair of the Nominating Committee reported the certified candidates for 2015 Southern Area Slate of Officers as follows: Area Director: Anne T. Herriott, Greater Miami (FL) Chapter Tamara Y. Lee, Tuskegee (AL) Chapter Area Vice Director: Linda G. Dilworth, Tallahassee (FL) Chapter Tequel Douglass Hager, Piedmont (NC) Chapter Sylvia Perry, Bold City (FL) Chapter Secretary Vanessa R. Falls, Birmingham (AL) Chapter Treasurer Lonneen M. Brown, Orlando (FL) Chapter Representative to The Links Foundation, Incorporated: Janine Rouson, Raleigh (NC) Chapter Nominating Committee: Robin Crawford, Triangle Park (NC) Chapter Kenyonn Demps, Jacksonville (FL) Chapter Yolanda Dixon, Baton Rouge (LA) Chapter Kathy Jones, Columbus-Lowndes (MS) Chapter Countess Haynes Thompson, Natchez (MS) Chapter Raynetta C. Waters, Ashville (NC) Chapter The Southern Area Director repeated the slate of officers and called for nominations from the floor. No nominations were received. In accordance with Article III, Section 7(b)(1), of the Bylaws of The Links, Incorporated, which provides “If there is only one nominee for any office, the vote may be by any method other than ballot, for example, voice vote…” The Southern Area Director called for voice vote for the three positions without opposition for Area Secretary, Area Treasurer and Representative to The Links Foundation as in favor “aye and opposed no”. Vanessa R. Falls received majority “ayes” vote thus newly elected Southern Area Secretary; Lonneen M. Brown received majority “ayes” vote thus newly elected Southern Area Treasurer; Janine Rouson received majority “ayes” vote thus newly elected Southern Representative to The Links Foundation. The Southern Area Director offered congratulations to the newly elected officers and called for the report of the Elections Committee Chair, Link Tamara Curry, Charleston (SC) Chapter who provided the election Rules for the 43rd Southern Area Conference and moved for the adoption of the Committee’s Report. The motion passed. The Southern Area Director called for the report of the Resolution Committee by Link Marguerite Archie-Hudson, Chair of the Legislative Affairs and Disaster Relief Committee followed by a call for announcements from the Southern Area Secretary (none); and without objection, she adjourned the first business meeting of the 2015 43rd Southern Area Conference until 2:00 pm. Plenary concluded at 11:11 a.m.

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Second Plenary Session May 14, 2015 ~ 2:01 p.m. EST The Southern Area Director Link Eneid A. Francis Called the second business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference to order at 2:01 p.m. with the introduction and welcome of the National President Link Glenda Newell Harris and Vice President Link Kimberly Jeffries Leonard. The Southern Area Director called upon Link Link Jacqueline Hrabowski, Director of Philanthropy, of the Harbor City (MD) Chapter to report on the Vision 2020 Campaign. (Appendix D) The Southern Area Director called upon Link Carolyn E. Lewis, National Treasurer, Pontchartrain (LA) Chapter to speak on new Chapter Audit Reports. (Appendix E) The Southern Area Director then called for the candidates for office to come forward for candidate speeches. Following the speeches, The Southern Area Director called for the Area Secretary to make announcements. The second business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference adjourned at 3:19 p.m. Third Plenary Session May 15, 2015 ~ 8:03 a.m. EST The Southern Area Director Link Eneid A. Francis called the third business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference to order at 8:03 with the Pledge and Song by Link Terry Bellamy, Ashville (NC) Chapter. Link Gwendolyn Lee 14th National President delivered the Linkspiration. The Southern Area Director called the Area Secretary to present the Credentials Report Executive Committee 28 Past Area Directors 04 National Executive Council 17 Past National Presidents 03 Host Chapter members 99 Delegates 77 Alternates 77 Total Links 591 Connecting Links 36 Guests 02 Total in attendance 930 Note: Registered Vendors 32

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The Southern Area Secretary, on behalf of the committee, moved for the adoption of the second Credentials Report. The motion passed. The Southern Area Director recognized Link Cori Cooper, Southern Area Program Chair, Pontchartrain (LA) Chapter, for presentation of the Program Report and Program Awards. The third Plenary adjourned at 9:34 a.m. Fourth Plenary Session May 16, 2015 ~ 8:10 a.m. EST The Southern Area Director Link Eneid A. Francis called the fourth business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference to order at 8:03 with the Pledge and Song by Link Pearl Maloney Fort Lauderdale (FL) Chapter. Link Regina Jollivette Frazier 9th National President and 9th Southern Area Director delivered the Linkspiration. The Southern Area Secretary presented the final Credentials Committee Report. Executive Committee 28 Past Area Directors 04 National Executive Council 17 Past National Presidents 03 Host Chapter members 100 Delegates 77 Alternates 77 Other Attending Links 620 Connecting Links 36 Guests 02 Total in attendance 964 Note: Registered Vendors 32 The Southern Area Secretary moved for the adoption of the Credentials Committee Report. The motion passed. The Southern Area Director Link Eneid A. Francis welcomed National President Link Glenda Newell Harris, Alameda-Contra Costa (CA) to deliver the State of the Organization. (Appendix F) The Southern Area Director called Link Tamara Curry for the Report of the Elections Committee: Official voting took place on Friday, May 15th, at the hours of 10:00 through 12:00. Voting was conducted by e-ballots. There were 77 delegates and alternates voting Results as follows: Area Director: Anne T. Herriott, Greater Miami (FL) Chapter, 43 votes; Tamara Young Lee, Tuskegee (AL) Chapter, 34 votes.

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For the Southern Area Vice Director: Linda G. Dilworth, Tallahassee (FL) Chapter, 3 votes; Tequel Douglass Hager, Piedmont (NC) Chapter, 33 votes; Sylvia Perry from the Bold City (FL) Chapter, 41 votes. For the Southern Area Nominating Committee: Robin Crawford, Triangle Park (NC) Chapter, 57 votes; Kenyonn Demps, Jacksonville (FL) Chapter, 70 votes; Yolanda Dixon, Baton Rouge (LA) Chapter, 70 votes; Kathy W. Jones, Columbus-Lowndes (MS) Chapter, 40 votes; Countess Hayes Thompson, Natchez (MS) Chapter, 48 votes; Raynetta C. Waters, Asheville (NC) Chapter, 72 votes. The Southern Area Director certified the vote and declared 2015-2017 elected as follows: Southern Area Director: Anne Turner Herriott, Greater Miami (FL) Chapter Southern Area Vice-Director: Sylvia Perry, Bold City (FL) Chapter Southern Area Secretary: Vanessa R. Falls, Birmingham (AL) Chapter Southern Area Treasurer: Lonneen M. Brown, Orlando (FL) Chapter, Nominating Committee and the Chair: Robin Crawford, Triangle Park (NC) Chapter, Kenyonn Demps, Jacksonville (FL) Chapter, Yolanda J. Dixon, Baton Rouge (LA) Chapter, Countess Hayes Thompson, Natchez (MS) Chapter, Raynetta C. Waters, Asheville (NC) Chapter. Link Eneid A. Francis declared that Raynetta C. Waters, Asheville (NC) Chapter, with largest number of votes (72) as Chair of the Nominating Committee and called upon the National President to official install the new officers. Members of the Atlanta Georgia Cluster extended an invitation to Atlanta Georgia as the site of the 44th Southern Area Conference, May 2017 The fourth business meeting of the 43rd Southern Area Conference adjourned at 10:30 a.m. to meet again at the White Rose Banquet at which the Closing Ceremony of the 43rd Southern Area Conference adjourned sine die. The Area Director recognized the sponsors of the 42nd Southern Area Conference: Florida Power & Light, Cox Communications, Wells Fargo, AARP, the Miami Convention Center, Pepsi Beverages Company, Bahamas Express Airlines and the Bahamas Tourist Office.

Anne T. Herriott 05.16.2015 Southern Area Secretary

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Minutes Approval Committee The2015SouthernAreaConferenceminuteswerereviewedandareapprovedwithoutanyadditionsorcorrections.

2-23-17Shaniece Bickham Date Approved Pontchartrain (LA) Chapter The2015SouthernAreaConferenceminuteswerereviewedandareapprovedwithoutanyadditionsorcorrections.

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Appendix A Standing Rules 43rd Southern Area Conference – Page 1

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Appendix A Standing Rules 43rd Southern Area Conference – Page 2

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Appendix B

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Appendix C

The Southern Area of The Links, Incorporated State of the Southern Area

Link Eneid A. Francis, Southern Area Director

Link Sisters, your Area Director is pleased to report on the State of the Southern Area. Four years ago you entrusted me with the leadership of the Southern Area with humility and enthusiasm. I thank you for your vote of confidence. I recognize that you had given me an awesome responsibility, and I knew that with your support we could do much for the Southern Area and for The Links, Incorporated. Our task was a tough one. I was charged with building upon the legacy of the 17 outstanding women who served as Southern Area Director before me. Their wisdom, vision and leadership set a standard for me to meet and to build upon. I knew that I couldn't add to their legacy alone. I needed you, my Link Sisters, to help me. When I asked for your support, understanding and dedication, you offered it freely. You did not disappoint me in any way. Link Sisters, without you, there is no Southern Area. Together, we have both added to the rich legacy of the Southern Area and accomplished many firsts. Thank you for your dedication and support, so give yourselves a round of applause. Our theme "Effecting Change Through the Power of Friendship and Service" was a call to action, and your response was outstanding. We have engaged in transformational programming that is sustainable. We have enhanced member services and engagement so that you are prepared for leadership. We have fostered alignment, and we are promoting The Links brand. Yes, my Link Sisters, we have "effected change through the power of friendship and service". And as I stand before you today, I proudly and confidently state that the State of the Southern Area is strong. We have accomplished so much since May 2011 and have a lot to be proud of, but before I list our accomplishments, I want to recognize a group of women who have helped -- I'm kind of blinded by the lights right now. I want to recognize a group of women who helped us all to get there. Those Links and many hours they gave in service to the Southern Area and The Links, Incorporated helped make the difference. I call them the A-Team, but you know them as the Southern Area Executive Committee. A-Team, please stand. These women are the wind beneath my wings. When I had a bright idea, they listened, made suggestions, and then took those ideas and made them realities. Two of our Executive Committee members couldn't be here today, but I didn't want to overlook their hard work. Link Sharon Reed, our Southern Area Parliamentarian, is taking time to mark an important family milestone this week. She's attending the graduation of her granddaughter. We congratulate Link Sharon and her family. Link Sharlyn Smith, our International Trends & Services Chair, is a proud mother of a brand new baby girl. Heir-O-Link Shayla Smith was born on April 13th. Link Sharlyn, as you can imagine, has her hands full. She is spending some much-needed time with the new baby and the rest of the family. We congratulate Link Sharlyn and grandmother Link Sharon Wilson and wish them and their families well.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-2

I didn't know many of these Links before they joined the Executive Committee, but a power greater than me brought them to me. They came together and formed what I call the "perfect storm". Now, typically, when we talk about a perfect storm, we're talking about a catastrophic event or a disaster, but this perfect storm falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. These women possess a rare combination of attributes. When they come together, an event of unusual magnitude is the result. That event is a list of accomplishments that you'll hear today and experience while you're here for the Area Conference. Please join me in thanking our A-Team, the positive perfect storm. Now, back to our accomplishments, let's begin with Programming. We all understand the need to prepare our youth for the future. We also recognize that many of our young people like positive role models in their lives. To address that, we decided to adopt Mentoring With a Twist as the Area's program focus. This mentoring program focused on pairing young people with mentors in the STEM field. We know that the United States is falling behind other countries in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, and we believe that in our own way that we can help to reverse this trend. The "twist" is that we ask chapters not only to mentor young people but also to provide programs that promote STEM through an arts-integrated approach. The goal of Mentoring With a Twist is to spark the interest among underrepresented and underserved youth in STEM education and careers. We want to use this approach to help our young people see themselves as future college students and professionals in these areas. Yes, Southern Area, we were one of the first in Links to turn STEM into STEAM. In the most recent Program Reports, you told us that 28 chapters, which is about a third of our 78, are mentoring young people. 34 chapters, or 38 percent, have STEM programs. Now, unfortunately, you weren't asked whether your STEM programs were also STEAM programs, so I can't give you any number for that, but I do hope you will heed Link Glenda's call to incorporate art into your STEM programs. And hopefully you have to answer that question on your next Program Report so that we'll know how many of you have STEAM programs after your reports are given in February. Now, when we asked chapters to implement Mentoring With a Twist, we also asked them not to abandon programs they already had in place. You're known for the programs you already conduct in your communities, and we wanted you to continue those programs. In fact, the Legacy Program Award recognizes longstanding chapter programs. Therefore, we asked chapters to find ways to integrate Mentoring With a Twist into their established programs, such as the Childhood Obesity Initiative. 44 chapters, now that's approximately 70 percent -- 54, I'm sorry. 54 chapters, or 70 percent of the Area's 78 chapters, have Childhood Obesity Prevention programs, and Link Mary, you should be proud of that. Now, if you haven't heard this message, let me tell you right now, if there's one area where the Southern Area chapters excel, that is in programming. Our chapters have been recognized for their transformational programs at both the 38th and 39th National Assemblies. At the 38th National Assembly in Orlando, the Gainesville (FL) Chapter won 2nd Place in Services to Youth, and the Birmingham (AL) Chapter won 3rd Place. The Greater Miami (FL) Chapter won 2nd place in The Arts, and the Fayetteville (NC) Chapter won the Legacy Award for National Trends & Services. The Wilmington (NC) Chapter took 1st Place in International Trends & Services, and the Fort Valley (GA) Chapter received 1st Place in Health & Human Services. Again, at the 39th National Assembly in

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-3 National Harbor, Maryland, four chapters were recognized for their exceptional programs. The Orlando Chapter won 1st Place for The Arts, and Birmingham won 1st Place in International Trends & Services. The Jacksonville Chapter was awarded 2nd Place for its Umbrella program, and the Atlanta Chapter received the Legacy Award for Umbrella programming. So give yourselves a round of applause. Now, we are also so very proud of the six Southern Area chapters that were selected to receive the 50,000 Links to Catalyzing Community Giving sub-grant, and that was just awarded about a month ago. This grant will enable these chapters to develop or expand ways to engage donors and increase philanthropic partnerships in their communities. Join me in congratulating the Atlanta (GA) Chapter, Birmingham (AL) Chapter, Charlotte (NC) Chapter, Le Fleur's Bluff (MS) Chapter, Magnolia (GA) Chapter and the New Orleans Chapter on being selected for this grant. So, those six chapters, we are expecting great things from you. Southern Area, you should be extremely proud of our Southern Area Program team. Each member of the Program team supported and guided our chapters. Members of the team helped develop and implement lasting and effective programs in organizational alignment, which positively changed our communities. They regularly contacted chapters through the communicator system. E-mails kept chapters informed about programming updates, answered your questions and provided programmatic support as needed. But at my request, they took on an additional task. As you know, training and educating our Southern Area Links was one of my priorities. Although we have a National Assembly and an Area Conference each year, one or the other each year, only a small percentage of our members are able to attend them. Many members aren't able to participate in the exceptional workshops presented at these conferences. Therefore, two years ago I asked the Program team to present Program webinars for our members. They took on the request and ran with it. They designed and implemented not one but two webinar series; Training For Transformation, which was an eight-part webinar series, and Training For Transformation II: Advanced Programming Tools, which was a ten-part advanced webinar series. These webinar series helped Southern Area Links understand programming across the facets in a practical way, and it reinforced their understanding of the Service Delivery Model. Now, let's address Member Services & Engagement. We are committed to enhancing member services in the Southern Area. We know that when we support and develop our members everyone benefits, our chapters and our communities as well. We also know that our focus on friendship makes The Links, Incorporated unique and different from every other service organization. So we placed a special emphasis on increasing friendship in the chapters and among Links members. We also focused on increasing our members' knowledge and understanding of our National programs and organizational operations. We are extremely proud of the series of program and operational webinars that we presented. And I'm not too proud to brag, we were the first Area to present webinars. These webinars were created and presented by the members of the Southern Area Executive Committee, all those wonderful women on the A-Team, and they were an overwhelming success. You registered, logged-on, dialed in and were enlightened.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-4 We began our webinar series in September 2013 with a webinar for chapter presidents, and this made them aware of what they needed to know after returning from summer vacation and beyond. We then moved full force into our program and operational webinars. The first program webinar series, Training For Transformation, began on November 13, 2013 with the first webinar Programming in Linkdom and continued through April 2014 with a webinar covering each of the Program facets. So you can see all those Program webinars on the screen. I know you're impressed, aren't you? Then we presented the next Program webinar series,Training For Transformation II: Advanced Programming Tools, which built upon the knowledge and the skill sets required from the first Training For Transformation webinar series. As you look at that list, I know you're even more impressed. But our webinars weren't limited to programming. We also presented ten operational workshops; the two Chapter Programming webinars that I previously mentioned; one Membership webinar, Expanding the Circle; three Communications webinars; a Protocol & Rituals webinar; and three Ethics & Standards webinars, one was for our Links members who are already here in membership, and then we have two webinars for the candidates for membership -- which I think is another first -- training by an area for our candidates for membership, and we thank Link Selma for doing all of that. I am so proud of what we have achieved through our webinars. As a result of these webinars, more than 4,300 Southern Area Links received training, which was vital to our chapter programming and chapter operations. This takes our chapters and communities to another level. This is how we transform. Now, let's talk about Friendship Month. We know that friendship is a special ingredient in The Links, Incorporated. With this in mind, for four years, we have celebrated Friendship Month daily friendship greetings sent to every Southern Area Link by e-blast. Link Sisters, thank you for your positive feedback. You told me how much you look forward to opening the e-mail each day and appreciated reading the friendship messages. I was particularly touched by one e-mail I received from a Link Sister who told me that the messages led her to reach out to a friend she had not been in touch with for some time. Now, let's turn to the Green Pages. On November 12, 2012, the Southern Area initially launched the Green Pages, and they were updated again in October 2014. This resource guide for the membership lists their professional and entrepreneurial skills as well as their hobbies and special interests. The Green Pages were an immediate and overwhelming success here in the Southern Area. And I recently learned at the Eastern Area Conference that the Eastern Area liked what they saw and they implemented its own version of the Green Pages. So, like that. Central Area too? I am proud to report that the Green Pages have been updated once again and have come into the age of technology. You can now search the Green Pages, and they will become more easily updated in realtime. I know you'll want to take a look at the Green Pages when you get a chance after the conference, so that's what they'll look like now. Now, let's turn to Organizational Effectiveness. As you know, the two pillars of The Links, Incorporated are friendship and service. And to help our chapters become havens of friendship, each chapter was asked to appoint an Organizational Effectiveness Chair. This Link serves as her chapter's point of contact for friendship issues. Just as the Program Chairs are concerned with chapters' programming efforts, the Organizational Effectiveness Chair was asked to focus on relationships and friendships in her chapter. We've taken three steps on our journey to increase harmony.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-5 First, Link Faye Hargrove, the Area Organizational Effectiveness Chair and her committee, trained at the Leadership Summit in Greenville (SC) in October 2014. Second, the committee also published the chapter Organizational Effectiveness Toolkit which was released at the Summit in October. Finally, when that wasn't enough and members or chapters just couldn't get along, Link Faye was asked to visit chapters and she conducted interventions when necessary, and we hope it has helped. So, turning to Leadership Development, equipping Southern Area Links with the skills needed to be strong and effective leaders was another priority for this administration. Southern Area leaders, particularly chapter officers, were given guidance and support to enhance their effectiveness. It is also important that Southern Area Links under the age of 45 are prepared to assume leadership roles at the Chapter, Area and National levels. On the first Monday of each month, chapter presidents joined me for the First Monday Exchange. Members of the Southern Area Executive Committee also participated on the calls. Now, this was something new for the Southern Area, so I wasn't sure whether the chapter presidents would want to spend a Monday evening each month on the telephone listening to me. In the beginning, I did most of the talking, but over time, the calls evolved and became what I had hoped they would become. The calls served as a time when the Southern Area leadership and the chapter presidents could share information and have a dialogue about issues important to the presidents and their chapters. Eventually, our calls became interactive with the chapter presidents sharing information with their sister presidents and with me. When presidents asked questions, sometimes another chapter president answered that question. And a few times chapter presidents provided information that I didn't know, and for that, I was very grateful. Now, presidents, I know that you appreciate the calls and even look forward to them. New chapter presidents even sent e-mails asking me when they would be receiving notice about those calls. I've been told that chapter presidents shared their notes from the calls and even have follow-up discussions. I thank you for giving up your evenings on the first Monday of the month and perhaps staying up a little later than you normally would. Chapter presidents, I know that your job can be a thankless one. Your chapter members have no idea how many hours you devote to Links business. They sometimes fail to understand that you have a life outside of Links. We know that you are the hardest working Links in Linkdom, and that's what our Area Directors call you, the hardest working Links in Linkdom. We hope that you know that, even though we don't always say it, we appreciate everything you do for your chapters and your members. We thank you for all of the time that you dedicate to your chapters and to The Links, Incorporated. Link Sisters, please rise and join me in letting our chapter presidents know how much we appreciate them. We thank you. You are the greatest. Our goal to provide first-class professional leadership training for members of the Southern Area was realized at our two Leadership Summits. In October 2012, we held Dreaming, Daring, Doing. And then again, in October 2014, we held Leadership By Design: Listening, Learning and Leading. For two, full days at each Leadership Summit, Link Faye Hargrove and Link Karen Dyer led Southern Area Links through an agenda designed especially for them. The attendees had the opportunity to reflect on their leadership skills, assess their roles and capacities as leaders, and take their abilities to the next level. Sharp tools are needed to do what we do to lead our Link Sisters so that they can "effect change through the power of friendship and service". Feedback was overwhelming for this training. It had a value of several thousand dollars, but in the world of Linkdom, it is priceless.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-6 Before we move on, I'm going to brag again. Link Glenda was so impressed with Link Karen's workshop on change that she had Link Karen present the workshop to the Executive Council last November when we met in Las Vegas. Another priority for this administration was to grow our younger members and prepare them to assume leadership roles in their chapters and the organization at large. To that end, we appointed seven members under the age of 45 to the Southern Area Executive Committee. In addition, ten fellows were nominated to Cohort V of the Scott-Hawkins Leadership Institute, and these fellows graduated at the 39th National Assembly in National Harbor. We also nominated eight fellows to the current cohort, Cohort VI, and these fellows will be graduating at the 40th National Assembly in Las Vegas. I understand that we have many members of Cohort VII here with us, so please rise so that we can see who you are. And for our graduates of Cohorts I through V, let's see who you are. Please rise. Because I know you're sitting in many of those seats out there. Link Sisters, our younger Links are the future of The Links, Incorporated. It's been said that it takes a leader to raise a leader. It is our responsibility to ensure that our younger Links are prepared to lead. We must nurture them and develop them. We have a new auxiliary bishop in New Orleans and he's Bishop Fernand Cheri, and he recently spoke at a mass at my church. Although his words were primarily directed to our young members, he did have a few words for the older members of the congregation. Bishop Fernand told the congregation a story about Ferguson and how the young people came in as only they can and got things moving in the right direction. And none other than Prince told the young people in Baltimore this week that it is their responsibility to fix what is wrong with their community. Link Sisters, we have got to first bring in younger members, but once they are members, we must allow them to do what they do only as they can do it. I love being around young people. They are innovative and creative and find ways to make your ideas even better than you could have ever imagined. And that's what happened with our Program webinars. Link Cori and her team, they just took it and ran, as I told you. So that's those younger members at work. Now, we also know that sometimes they can be opinionated and impatient. They want things to happen right now, right now. When this happens, I want you to count to ten, take a deep breath and gently guide them in the right direction, and you won't be sorry. They love The Links, Incorporated, and they want to play a role in shaping the future of this organization. And we're going to have three focus groups at this Southern Area Conference that will be directed by Link Susan Branch, who is Chair of the Next Generation Committee, and they're going to be asking questions of our younger Links about how we can make them, bring them in first, right, and then how we can use them more effectively. So we're looking forward to their words of wisdom from our older Links. So we'll be hearing from Link Susan's committee, I know. So let our younger members soar, and when they soar, so will we. Onto The Links brand, I believe, and I've been saying this I think since I was Southern Area Secretary, I believe that an informed organization is a strong organization. So getting information to all our members of the Southern Area was another priority for this administration. We established and maintained an effective flow of information to promote The Links brand through the use of technology.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-7 First, we established a Constant Contact account so that we could distribute information by e-blast to our members Area-wide. I think that we might have been a little bit too successful in getting information to you because I think you got kind of tired of seeing some of our e-mails, so what you did was you pressed "opt-out" for your Constant Contact and that meant that you weren't getting any of that information from us, and then you complained because you weren't getting the information. But Link Anne always helped you get back in the loop. She couldn't put you back in; you took yourself back in. I know you were able to do that with that information. A Southern Area newsletter was another priority. But our Southern Area Communications team under the direction of Link Sylvia Perry took my vision to another level. We launched The Advantage, Southern Area e-zine, on September 13, 2011. The Advantage exceeded all my expectations. First, it looks good. We have a professionally produced publication that can be read on your smartphone, your tablet or your computer, and you can even turn the pages like a magazine. Second, we were able to use The Advantage to help us achieve our other priorities, particularly our goal to increase our members' knowledge and understanding of our National programs and organizational operation. We published articles written by the Southern Area Program team to increase our members' awareness of the National Signature programs and National Initiatives and also, again, to increase their knowledge and understanding of the Service Delivery Model. Other members of the Southern Area Executive Committee wrote articles related to their areas of responsibility. There were articles on chapter finances, ethics, organizational effectiveness, rituals, protocol advocacy, public policy, archives, history, membership and, of course, communications. We even published articles written by our Southern Area living legends that provided lessons in leadership. Links Dolly Desselle Adams, Julia Brogdon Purnell, Regina Jollivette Frazier, Nancy Anderson and Joyce Dixon offered us their sage lessons in leadership in Linkdom. And you, my Link Sisters, expressed heartfelt appreciation for being able to receive their invaluable advice. We've also promoted The Links brand by publishing articles highlighting chapter programs and activities, and my Link Sisters, thank you for providing us so much information. I think we have more of your information about what's going on in your chapters than we put in, but that's what we wanted because we want to know what you were doing and we want all your other Link Sisters to know what you were doing. So we thank you for providing your articles to us. And for the first time, we have a hard copy of The Advantage. By attending this Area Conference, you have a keepsake, which contains The Best of The Advantage to take home with you. Now, it would be nice if you let some of your members to see it and hold it in their hands, but I know you're going to want to take it back. But be kind and let them see what they missed. After much hesitation on my part, we have a Southern Area Facebook page to engage members through social media. Yes, I was reluctant. I wasn't too thrilled with that. But even I have personally engaged in Facebook. Young members, you enlighten me. It was launched on July 16, 2014. And we also have a Twitter handle asmof October 10th. Now, I haven't gotten into Twitter, so I have to own up to that. And, Chapter Presidents, I have had the pleasure of reading information posted on Facebook about your Facebook pages. So it was good for me to get into Facebook. Because you have heeded the call to promote our Links brand and you have used social media so effectively, so continue doing that. And you also, many of you have your chapter Web pages which have provided so much information to the world at large about chapters and what you are doing in Linkdom. Because you are the face of the Southern Area, face of The Links,

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-8 Incorporated in your communities, and that is how across this country the people outside of Links learn what we're doing in Linkdom. We hope that you continue, because we do have a long way to go, in letting the world at large know who we are in The Links, Incorporated. Now, I have to brag on my baby; that's our totally updated Southern Area website, which was another priority of this administration. You waited patiently as we worked to make the new website a reality. After numerous fixes and starts and some aggravation on my part, which a lot of people know about, the website went live on October 28th. We have included anything and everything we thought would benefit our chapters and members. On the Members Only page, each member of the Executive Committee has her own page with information related to her area of responsibility. This includes Ask the Parliamentarian Questions You Ask the Parliamentarian, and the Ethics Advisory Opinions prepared by Link Selma, our Area Ethics & Standards Chair. We also have updated our Area history, included a page for each of our Southern Area's 18 Area Directors. I'm sure you may never have known much about our earlier Area Directors, but thanks to Link Jessie Jones and Link Kimberly Sweet, you now know more about them and you have an idea of what they look like. I know we're still experiencing problems with user names, but I want to let our new Area Director know that I'm going to give you a chance to focus on your other responsibilities. So, like an overprotective mother, I'm having separation anxiety. So I won't abandon this task until you tell me you have someone ready to take over the Southern Area website. Now, also as Link Tamara mentioned, finding a permanent home for the Southern Area archives was another priority. We have taken our archival documents out of our Area Archivist's homes and placed them at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. The Amistad Research Center is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive independent archive in the United States which specializes in the history of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Link Kimberly Sweet gathered, organized and categorized our Southern Area archival documents, and the collections core is comprised of official documents, including minutes, conference guides. Area history books, as well as chapter histories, updated biographies of the Southern Area Directors and photos enhanced the core documents. We now have a master list detailing what has been collected and what is needed. Link Kim also digitized the items from the archival collection so that they will be available electronically for members to assist and to share in our history. We have Link Jessie Jones to thank for starting the Southern Area efforts in collecting and preserving our archival documents. Link Jessie, if you're in the audience, would you please stand. Link Jessie, Link Kimberly Sweet has prepared a book, and included in that book is a compilation of some of the material that you collected. And we thank you for your insight and steadfast dedication and for your effort, and you will receive your own copy of that book. So thank you again for getting it started. Link Sisters, as I come to the end of my State of the Area Report, I really should have the A/V people play Pharrell's "Happy". I am happy because we have so many accomplishments for which we can be proud. Thank you, A/V. Serving as your 18th Southern Area Director has been a labor of love. This journey of love would not have been possible without each of you, and I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve.

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Appendix C: State of the Southern Area Link Eneid A. Francis-9

We have something to show you that shows pictorially what I just talked about. So it's about 12 minutes. So take a look. (Presentation.) LINK FRANCIS: Southern Area, thank you for everything that you do, and you got to see it for yourselves just a smidgen of what you are doing out there to "Effect Change Through the Power of Friendship and Service".

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APPENDIX D Report of Vision 2020

Jacqueline Hrabowski, Harbor City (MD) Chapter Director of Philanthropy

Madam Area Director, past National Presidents, members of the Executive Leadership team and all my Link Sisters, good afternoon. It is indeed a good afternoon for me because I am delighted to be home. I claim Birmingham as home, for it was here that I married my husband, you might know him as Freeman Hrabowski, 45 years ago at 6th Avenue Baptist Church. Give me a hand for that. So, Link Eneid, I thank you for inviting me to come home to participate in the 43rd Southern Area Conference, but most important, I thank you and your entire Leadership team for your gracious hospitality. Because there's nothing like good old Southern charm and hospitality to make you feel special, and you all have made us feel mighty special. And as Link Pat said, we 'preciate ya. The theme of my message today is giving with our heads and our hearts. We all make choices about how and when to spend our money, and most of the time we're guided by our heads. We analyze, compare prices, wait for bargains and rationalize sometimes about why we need to buy something or why we should spend. But often, and sometimes, our hearts will rule and tell us that "I should buy this because it's the right thing to do" or "I feel in my heart I should". So, today, I want to appeal to both your head and your heart by addressing three major questions, "what is philanthropy", especially in Linkdom; "what is Vision 2020"; and bottom line, "why should you give", "what's in it for me", "why should I do this". Probably one of the most nebulous concepts in Linkdom and perhaps the most confusing is philanthropy. And whenever I say I'm the Director of Philanthropy, I get this confusing look or question and they say, "Well, what is that". And someone will say, "Oh, that's the person that's trying to get your money". One person said, "Oh, she's our moneybags". I wish. Well, I want to bring more clarity to this important aspect of our sisterhood, and offer you the definition that you see on this slide. It is the total efforts undertaken by the organization to support, enhance and transform the lives of the people we serve in our communities. In other words, philanthropy is at the heart of our mission. It is a part of our DNA. It is what we are known for. It is our brand. The reason we hold the esteemed position we do in our society is because of our track record of service and giving back. So, when you say you're a Link, it means you're special because we make a difference. We transform lives. And yes, it takes money to do that, but without friendship connected with service, money alone can't define our philanthropic presence. We are known for giving back. We're known for giving our time, our talents and our treasures. And so when you wrap all of that together, Ladies, we're talking about Philanthropy in Linkdom. When our National President, Link Glenda Newell-Harris, asked me to assume the role of Director of Philanthropy, I must admit I was overwhelmed, how can I possibly do this. But when she started to map out all of the committees that would be engaged in this effort and the other groups that would support it, I realized that this is not just about me; it's about we. And so I thank Link Glenda for selecting and assembling an outstanding team of Link members who are experienced in philanthropy and committed to upholding the best practices in the field. This slide shows all of the Philanthropy Committees and their Chairs. A full list can be found on the website, and we have introduced our team in some of our recent webinars. I hope you've been able to participate.

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Appendix D: Report of Vision 2020 Hrabowski- 2

The Philanthropy Committee that I chair sets the overall strategy and goals around philanthropy throughout the organization, and Link Carol Goss is the co-Director. Corporate Linkages is held by Vivian Pickard, who has been doing this for over 20 years; Fund Development by Erika Salter. Grants and Grant-in-Aid, well, the Grant-in-Aid part is one that has been familiar to us throughout our organization, and we've added a new component called Grants. Link Glenda in her wisdom has suggested that we need a way of organizing, galvanizing and making sure that all of what we're doing in grants and grant administration works for the good of the organization. So Link Judith Batty chairs that part of it. Additionally, we're aligned with all of the Area Foundation Reps, and I'd like to thank Link Bessie Isom for the role that she's played in working with us on our committee and congratulate her for her years of service. And I welcome our new Area Representative from the Southern Area, Link Janine Rouson. This slide shows how our committees are structured and aligned to ensure that we're all in sync, that we are speaking from the same page, that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. Note also that there are other points of intersection with other teams. So, for example, we work very closely with the Program area and all of the facet chairs through Link Delores Bolden Stamps. We also work with Strategic Partnerships. Lavern Chatman-Brown has been very instrumental in helping us shape our strategy. We work with all of the Area Foundation Reps as they champion and support philanthropy at each one of the Areas. We also are here to support chapters, you, in your work for fundraising bringing in monies to develop, guide, and implement the best practice programs that you offer. One important group not listed, and I apologize for that, is one that we are aligned with and almost connected at the hip, and that's with the National Treasurer and her team, Link Carolyn Lewis. Because as Carolyn will say, if it has a dollar sign next to it, you need to see Carolyn. She is the one who ensures that all of the dollars that we raise are used appropriately and accounted for. We want to be accountable, and she is the lady who makes sure that that happens. I'm sure that all of you have heard by now of Vision 2020, and you've been able to see our booth out in the Vendor Hall. Well, Vision 2020 is the brainchild, as you know, of our immediate past National President, Link Margot James Copeland. She challenged us to adopt this goal of raising $10 million by 2020, and we voted "yes", all of us. She wanted this organization to have a secure and lasting financial footing and to preserve the legacy of this great sisterhood. At that assembly in 2014, Vision 2020 was just a dream. Link Margot believed in this dream, and so do I. But how do you translate this dream into reality? That's the test. And as Link Pat said this morning, a vision without action or without execution remains a dream. And so our team has been busy establishing strategic goals, building processes, outlining and delineating roles, in other words, looking at the very infrastructure around what we do in Philanthropy so that we can put in place best practices in securing and accumulating funds for this effort. We have to be knowledgeable and smart and strategic in today's philanthropic landscape. It's difficult. It's not like in the old days when you could just simply say "we want X number of dollars" and people will respond. They want to know "what difference are you making" and "how do you demonstrate that difference". So we're working hard to make sure that we can tell our story. So what funds will count? $10 million is a lot of money. So how are we going to get there? What are the funds that are going to count? Since Vision 2020 is a multi-pronged and comprehensive fundraising campaign, we will include all of the funds that flow through The Links Foundation over the next five years. These are all the funds raised and earmarked under a 501(c)(3) organization, which the foundation is. So essentially there are three buckets or categories of funds that flow through the organization. The biggest of which is Number 1, members and individual donors; that's you. So your dues, your member-giving campaign.

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Appendix D: Report of Vision 2020 Hrabowski- 3

Like the previous "1,000 From 1,000", those dollars will count. We have replaced it with a new campaign that I'll tell you about in a little bit. We're also looking at other ways to segment and appeal to members across the board, including things like estate planning and trusts and annuities and pledge processes and using corporate matching gift opportunities, all the possibilities where members can capitalize on their giving in a planned and strategic way. We're also looking at grants, all of the grants that come through the organization. Whether it is from your Chapters or Areas or even at the National level, those funds will count. We're counting Number 3, the third bucket, corporate sponsorships and other contributions. So, when you add all of these dollars, it does indicate that this dream can be translated into a reality. So this slide, Plans and Activities, yes, this is where the rubber meets the road. This slide highlights all of the deliverables, in other words, what will you see, what will we be doing, how will you be engaged in this effort. Let me - highlight a few of the things that we're listing in the two major categories; the audiences that we will be addressing, primarily you as members, and then to the external world. So, in the first group, we want to make you as members aware and knowledgeable about what we're doing and why we're doing it and why you need to be making a decision to consider giving. So we will be putting in place various communications to keep you aware, such as webinars and articles and toolkits. What else is here? Giving levels. We've instituted, and this is an important point, different giving levels so that everybody across the organization can give something. We added a new level, $1 to $999, which we're calling the Founders level, which says that any member of Links can be a part of the giving towards Vision 2020 according to how you are blessed and according to how your heart tells you that you should participate. We're also pleased that we are creating another component to appeal to new and first-time givers. So we want to get that number of givers up in our organization. So, based on my contribution at the last assembly where I challenged young ladies 45 and under that I would be matching their contribution with my $50,000, based on that idea, we've created a new program called The 1946 Society. This is a donor match program, again, intended to get new donors to step up to the plate, and the women who pledge 25,000 and above will become members of The 1946 Society. I am so pleased to report that Link Margot James Copeland, of course, I went to her first and said, "Margot, this is your idea", and she said, "Yes, I'll pledge that amount". So I was real pleased to hear that. And on top of that, our new National President, Link Glenda Newell-Harris, has also stepped up to the plate to become a member of The 1946 Society. Give Link Glenda a hand. So I know that there are some more 1946 Society member potentials in the audience, and if you will just raise your hand, identify yourself, I'll be sure to be right there today. In addition, we want to be looking at chapter participation in giving so that we'll be recognizing those chapters that are pacesetters, the percentage of participation in chapters. And under the external donor piece, the one opportunity that we want to capitalize on is producing I think what will be our first Annual Report of the Foundation, which will be a front-facing document for organizations for us to tell our story, here's how we are making a difference in the communities and here's how we're bringing funds into the organization and here's how we're demonstrating that members of this organization are supporting this effort.

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Appendix D: Report of Vision 2020 Hrabowski- 4 This slide speaks to the power of numbers. Freeman would not let me off the hook unless I did something or said something about math, and so this is my way of kind of putting together to show the power of numbers. In this campaign, we are interested as much in getting the percentage of participation up of our members as we are of bringing in dollars and to meet the goal. So we're at about 10 percent of our audience, our members. If we looked at not Alumna members but just Active members, 10 percent of our members participated in the previous giving campaign. Ladies, that's not a lot, and we can do better than that. I was just at Hampton where we were looking at alumna giving of our 45th anniversary, and Dr. Harvey announced that at Hampton the percentage of giving is about 22 percent. And though he wasn't proud of that, that is probably about the national average, 22 percent. We want to do better than that. So we've set a goal of trying to get at least 30 percent of our members engaged in this campaign. So, if you did the math and we had an average of 1,000 from 30 percent of our members, we'd be automatically at $3.6 million. And you can see how it plays out in Number 3 for 50 percent, 4 for 100 percent. But what if we really want to dream and talk about everybody participating and carrying their fair share and we said, "Okay, we want to get to $10 million. What would it take for all of our members to give to participate to get us there"? Well, if each member gave $833.33, we'd be there tomorrow. That is certainly an ideal. It's certainly a goal. It may not be reachable tomorrow, but it's not something that we are not going to give up on. Because we do believe that all members will be wanting to, interested in and compelled to give in a way that touches their heart because they believe in this sisterhood. All of the previous slides that I have mentioned appeal to your head. I presented information and facts and data and rationale to convince you to consider giving, but I know that it takes more than this to inspire you to give. You must feel in your heart that this is the right thing for you to do, that it is your responsibility. I know, too, that we are often compelled to give because we see role models and others around us, like our parents and our teachers who have inspired us, that in spite of the odds or even with the little that we have we can all do something. And being in Birmingham certainly has inspired me today to share with you my early lessons of giving from my mother-in-law, Ms. Maggie Hrabowski, who was a teacher in the Birmingham system for 48 years. And in fact, I ran into a couple of people who said, "Ms. Hrabowski taught me", and they said that she was always giving of herself, her time, her $10 checks. She would always say that you can't get blessings if you hold your hand in a fist. You got to open it up and let what you do go out there. Just put it out there, she said, and it doesn't matter that it comes back from the person who gave it to you because it probably won't. But it comes back. She said we touch eternity through our students, and she believed in them, and those encouraging words were all things that inspired people to want to be their best. So I'm saying to you, Link Sisters, we are passionate in what we do. We believe in the power of this sisterhood, and we are privileged to be Links. And because we work together on this, I know we can, I hope we can count on you. So, when you leave, please go out to the booth and get your vision checked, and when you write that check, I'm sure you'll walk away with 20/20 vision. Thank you.

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APPENDIX E Report of the National Treasurer

Carolyn E. Lewis, Pontchartrain (LA) Chapter

To our Area Director, Link Eneid Francis; to our National President, Link Glenda Newell-Harris; our past National Presidents; our National Executive Council members; members of the Southern Area Executive Board; the delegates of the Southern Area; and all my Link Sisters of the Southern Area, good afternoon. I'm like Link Jackie. I'm at home. So, when you're home and you see all the smiling faces, you know that whatever you do will be okay. So, today, I'm going to talk to you about a subject that has not always been okay with everyone. Contrary to our belief, we all think about audits and we all had our experiences with audits, but today, my task is to make you understand that an audit, in the words of Martha Stewart, is a good thing. So it is my honor and my privilege to have this opportunity to discuss an overview of the audit guidelines, the new audit guidelines for The Links, Incorporated. And the mantra of the National Finance Committee who assisted with presenting these new guidelines and coming up with what our guidelines will represent has been accountability, transparency and building a sound financial legacy for Linkdom. And to accomplish these three ideals, we must put a couple of things in place so that our donors and the persons who participate in our Vision 2020 and our fundraisers have a good feeling about us using those funds and the purposes that they have donated them to us for and that we will be accountable and transparent. With keeping that in mind, we will start our overview, and today, we will discuss on our agenda today: Why is it important to conduct a chapter audit? Why establish new chapter guidelines? What is our current process? The roles and responsibilities of the Internal Audit Committee. Chapter audit requirements. Audit definitions. Chapter audit guidelines. The Internal Audit Certification Form, which we have developed. And last but not least, thank you for taking your time to listen to us today. Why is it important to conduct a chapter audit? Well, we must demonstrate that our organization is committed to fiscal accountability and transparency. We must foster fiscal guidance with our confidence, with our members, and we must assure our donors and potential donors so that they will have confidence in us and they will trust that we will conduct our fiscal matters in a fiduciary responsibility and in a way that they can have trust in what we say we're going to do. Why establish new chapter audit guidelines? First of all, Chapters, you requested us to come up with new guidelines. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our Area Directors because they discussed with me many of your concerns about the current audit guidelines and asked that we look into a process that would be a lot more user-friendly for you. We have established these new guidelines because you asked us to come up with a process that was more accountable, that was more transparent, that was more cost-effective for you as chapters, and to help you to operate under the same, consistent and concise guidelines because many of us were operating under different guidelines. What is our current process? Our current process has the very same audit thresholds that we're going to have in the new process, but many of the chapters did not understand what we were trying to achieve. Our current process does not define clearly the requirements, what is required in an audit and how far should the auditor's conduct the process. For example, some chapters would go to an auditor and they would charge them in excess of 10 or $15,000 when that was not necessary. That process was not necessary. So we have clearly defined what you will need in an audit process. The old process did not foster chapter accountability. We had many chapters who had not had audits in ten years.

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Appendix D: National Treasurer- 2 Many of them -- chapter members were asking questions in reference to the finances of the chapter. So this process that we currently are under does not foster good chapter accountability, and of course, the process that we are under presently did not help us with the cost of the audits. It resulted in audits costing more than they should. So we needed to help the chapters to conserve their funds by participating in the audit process and exactly securing the type of audit they needed. Our new audit guidelines define the Audit Committee. Now, many of you are saying, "Well, why do I need to know this"? Because it is very important for you as chapter members, chapter officers to understand the requirements for chapter audits so that when you're in a chapter meeting and you're discussing information you can participate in the conversation and understand why. Our Audit Committee shall consist of three to five members and they're appointed by the president, and they shall review the chapter's records annually. Now, if you are a member of the chapter, you can still, if you want to join the Audit Committee, by all means, you can. It does not have to be appointed definitely by the President. If you want to sign up for the Committee, you can do that. You will review the audit records annually, and the chapter fiscal operations persons will be able to help the chapter to understand what internal controls are needed in the chapter. If we don't have vouchers, why don't we have vouchers? Why are we not using vouchers? Why are there not two signatures on checks? These are some of the things that the Audit Committee will be reviewing. It can include past financial officers as long as they are not auditing their own books and records. So, if it is a past treasurer, if the past treasurer is going to be auditing her own books and records, then she cannot be on the Audit Committee at that time. She will have to wait until her books and records have been audited, and of course, with her knowledge of fiscal policies, she would be able to get on the Audit Committee after that time. The Internal Audit Committee shall recommend an independent auditor for annual review of the books and records, if there is an external review that is necessary, and we'll talk about that in a minute. And if an external review is necessary, there will be two bids at least from two auditors in the city or in the surrounding area who will be able to audit the books and records. The Internal Audit Committee also will look at a variety of records and the books of the chapters and they will verify account balances, and we have developed the process by which they will audit the books and records so that every chapter is consistent. This grid that you see gives the audit requirements for an audit. If your chapter has gross receipts of 0 to $50,000, then you will be able to conduct an internal audit. You will not need an external audit. This will save the chapter lots of money. You can have an internal audit, and we will tell you who that person can be, okay, but you can have an internal audit. And you will also attach a financial report from the chapter treasurer that will be attached to it and you will eventually send that into the Headquarters office. If you're between 50,001 and $100,000, then you will have a financial review, which is less costly than an audit but it will do the job for that particular gross receipts threshold, and this must be completed by a licensed CPA. And you will also complete the Internal Audit Certification Form. Now, you say, "Why do we need to do both"? Because the Certified Public Accountant is looking for information that deals with generally accepted accounting principles, but your internal procedures, your Internal Audit Committee will be looking for those. And, therefore, you won't just get the external review but you'll have an internal review as well, okay. For $100,000 and above, you will need audited financial statements and the Internal Audit Certification Form as well. Both the Internal Audit Committee will conduct the internal audit, and the licensed CPA will do the full-fledged audit of your books and

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Appendix D: National Treasurer- 3 records. Now, you'll say,"Well, why do we need an audit"? Many of your chapters have federal grants, state grants, and these funds need to be audited. No matter how large your chapter is or how small your chapter is we must be able to certify to our grantee, grantors and our donors that we are handling their funds as they have deemed us to handle those funds. We have also provided definitions of what the audits should contain. This will help you to satisfy with the licensed CPA exactly what you need so he will not charge you more money or conduct processes that you don't need. So we've defined that, and on the website, we're going to give you exactly an example of what a financial review should look like and audited financial statements. This will tailor the audits and allow you not to spend funds on audits unnecessarily and on processes that they conduct that you will not need. The audit guidelines that we have reviewed, the National Finance Committee has reviewed have put in place, or when there's a change in chapter treasurers, an internal audit is required. Well, that has always been. That's not new. So, if the treasurer is elected in the April meeting and by September she moves to another city, you will have to have an internal audit. You should not turn over books and records to a new treasurer and the prior records have not been examined. We will not grant extensions for the submission of the Internal Audit Form. The formis completed by the Internal Audit Committee, and we feel as though we are going to give you enough time to get it completed and submitted. And once I go over the form you'll see it's very simple. So there will be no extensions granted for the Internal Audit Form. This form will be submitted September 15th. Now, we're not speaking of September 15th of 2015. We're speaking of September 15th of 2016. We're going to give you an opportunity to transition into this new process. And if the form is not submitted on time, there will be a little fine of $500. If your chapter requires an external audit, meaning you have more than $50,000 up to 100,000 or more, then you will submit that to Headquarters. And if you need an extension, we will gladly give you an extension of 60 days to get that in. If not, then there will be a little fine of $500. This new process that we're speaking of today, which I'm giving you a high level, -- I'm not going into all the little details, okay, because we're going to have training on the webinar to go over this for all of the Audit Chairs, Treasurers and Financial Secretaries -- will be effective May 1st in this fiscal year that we're in now through April 30, 2016. So your first Internal Audit Form and external audit required form will be due September 15, 2016. Now, you'll say, "Well, what do we do for this year"? We're going to follow the old process. Remember, we are transitioning to the new process, okay. So the chapters will prepare the Internal Audit Certification Form and follow the audit guidelines, and of course, it will be due September 15, 2016. And we just know that everybody is going to turn it in on September 15th, so there will be no need to assess the penalty. This is just a sample of the Internal Audit Form that we developed, and it's very simple. It just asks for your chapter, president and treasurer and internal audit chair, the total gross receipts and the total expenditures. And the Audit Committee will complete this form after they have completed their internal audit of your chapter. Then, of course, what I'm not going into today is what the Internal Audit Committee will do. I mean that will just take entirely too long, but we will have a webinar and they will know exactly what they need to look at. They will answer questions, and those questions are basically "yes" or "no". Now, when we see "no", the Committee is going to say that's a red flag if we see a "no"; I can tell you that now. All of this should say "yes". Now, I don't want you to just write "yes", okay. But if it says "yes", okay, that's fine. And we ask you questions like are you utilizing about your system or the budget line items adhered to. You know how we like to change the budget line items in the meeting? We want to know that.

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Appendix D: National Treasurer- 4 Are their bank reconciliations being performed? Are all the members notified by the Financial Secretary of their financial obligations? You know, I get a lot of calls, you know, "Well, they didn't tell me I owed the building assessment. They didn't tell me I owed the money from the White Rose Banquet. Even though ten of my friends attended, they didn't tell me that". You know, the findings that they presented to the chapter, did we put them into place? These are yes-or-no answers, okay. And then we ask the President to sign it and the Internal Audit Chair to sign it. Now, you say, okay, all of this is wonderful. Well, one of the things we are putting in place and one of the reasons why we are not going to implement it until or make the form required until September 15, 2016 is because we have to do a couple of things at Headquarters, and Link Glenda is helping me to do that by updating the website, which is going to be a wonderful thing. Number 1 is we want the form to be online because we're going paperless, okay. So the form is going to be completed online, so you will have it on the website. It will be completed online. You will actually submit it online. And those of who need an external audit, the nice document that the CPA gives you, you will be able to upload that instead of mailing it. So we're trying to reduce cost wherever we can and go to a paperless system, okay. So stay tuned for all of these wonderful things that our new website, right, Link Glenda, is going to provide to us. We're going to have a paperless system. So I want to thank you today for participating in this overview, for indulging me and listening to all of this stuff about audit that most people don't like to hear. But I just want you to know, just like Martha Stewart said, an audit is a good thing. Because it helps us to have confidence in what we do and it also helps our donors have confidence in what we do. So thank you so much.

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APPENDIX F The State of The Links, Incorporated

Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. Alameda-Contra Costa (CA) Chapter

National President

Link Eneid; thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. I have to start with all my disclaimers. I have to tell you I have had so much time partying while I've been here that I had to really get prepared this morning for sharing this message with you. But let me provide you appropriate protocol and say to our Area Director, Link Eneid, and to our fellow past National President, Link Regina Jollivette Frazier, -- did she not bless us this morning with a wonderful Linkspiration – to my partner in crime, Link Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, and to National officers past and present and Area officers past and present, to the delegates and to my Link Sisters, good morning. It is great to be back in the Southern Area. For those of you that know me, this is where I got my real start. I was born in the State of North Carolina just up the road, for the North Carolinians in the room. I was born in Raleigh and then later moved to the great city of Winston-Salem, where I continued my education. And I have to say that it was in this state that I think that I learned, in North Carolina, that I learned the fundamentals of what really have carried me and carried you, and that is, how to take my turn and how to really play in the sandbox; and little did I know what playing in the sandbox would really mean as I became older. So it's great to be in the Southern Area. I'm very comfortable in the Southern Area. I was just here about a month ago, and every chance that I can get to come back to the Southern Area I do. So thank you for your very warm and gracious hospitality. I am having a ball being here. Exactly ten months ago you elected me as your National President, and at the same time you elected a dynamic group of National officers and Chair of the National Nominating Committee. All have been working tirelessly to meet the needs of this one-of-a-kind, world-class organization uniquely dedicated to friendship and service. Last July, I introduced to you the theme of this administration, "Building Healthy Legacy: Our Prescription for the Future". I promised you that health would be a significant focus of my programmatic and operational agenda for the 2014-2016 biennium. As a medical professional, I am passionate about achieving a state of complete well-being for all, and that really must begin with us, healthy committees, healthy chapters, healthy Areas and healthy teams. As your leader, I now have the unique opportunity to merge my professional passion with the fulfillment of our organization's mission to develop and implement transformational programs while attaining a culture of wellness within our chain of friendship. But, today, I'm here to talk with you about the State of the Organization. How are we doing? Let's take a look. The Executive Council is up and running in full force. Approximately 85 percent of all Chairs have been appointed, and that figure will reach 100 percent by the end of all four Area Conferences. Most have been identified and will be announced soon. In addition, I would like to share with you a little bit about some new committees that I have developed for this administration. You have already heard about the areas of focus in the area of health, and I won't spend time going over that, but let me just start with the Mentoring Committee. This new committee of the

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -2 Executive Council is chaired by Angela Butler from the Eastern Area. It was created to support the needs of newly inducted, newly chartered chapters. This committee will assist newly inducted individuals with the understanding of our governing documents, our policies, our procedures, our protocols and traditions, to provide a smooth and meaningful transition into the full understanding of what being a Link is really all about. This committee is charged to work cooperatively with the Chapter Establishment Committee and each respective Area Executive Committee. Newly inducted chapters will work with the Mentoring Committee for a period of two years. We are excited about the energy and the enthusiasm that our new Link Sisters are bringing to our organization. So many of us know about the importance of mentoring. And let me just stop here and say that I hope that you had a chance to take a look at your e-mails I think it was last weekend. Link Ethel, let me just acknowledge her right now. Link Ethel Isaacs Williams, your own Southern Area, she is my Chair of Chapter Establishment, and she conducted the most fabulous induction for chartering a chapter. Last weekend in Colorado Springs we brought in 32 dynamic women. Thank you, Link Ethel. Next Generation, this is also your own. This co mmittee of the Executive Council is chaired by Susan Branch from the Charlotte Chapter, and she was here and had to leave. This committee was created to identify and attract new and younger members to help us to learn how to seek, to retain and recruit women that will be a great fit for our organization, and they are also charged with helping us improve our intergenerational engagement, how we remain relevant and current to those with whom we seek to join this body of dynamic divas we are. This committee is already working. Most of the preliminary information will be attained from focus groups, surveys and conference calls. I want to stop and thank your Area Director who graciously invited Link Susan to have her very first focus group, where? In the Southern Area. It happened here first. Stay tuned for more information coming from the Next Generation Committee. Branding, your brand is who you are and who you want to be and what you want people to perceive you to be. We know who we are, but we're always needing to look down the road to be certain that we remain relevant to the world and to those with whom we seek to invite to membership. Therefore, we will be engaging in dialogue to discuss our brand, what's working, what's not. Don't worry, I will not be encouraging us to throw out the baby with the bath water, but it is important that in every organization that we always periodically take a look at our brand and confirm that it is indeed our best prescription. This committee will be led by the one who coined the phrase, "Say hello to poppin' fresh dough", Link Carol H. Williams from the Oakland Bay Area Chapter. Grants and Grant-in-Aid, this new committee, and you heard a little bit about this already from Link Jackie, but this new committee chaired by Judith Batty of the Houston Area is tasked with working collaboratively with the Director of Philanthropy. She will oversee how we seek grants, who is applying for grants, how we engage with grant writers, and review and revise our current template regarding the distribution of grants-in-aid. This, as I indicated, this will be led by Link Judith, and you will continue to hear more about this. They are developing working on some guidelines for you. We know that many of you are applying for grants. And you also already heard from Link Jackie that, kind of like my mother says with the YMCA, you count them coming in the door and going out the door. We're going to be counting your money as it comes into your chapters because we want to capture the dollars. We're not taking the dollars from

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -3

you, but we want to capture those dollars. So, if you're applying for grants, you're getting a 45, $50,000 grant, we want to know about that because we want to add that. Because the truth of the matter is it goes on our, Carolyn, 990. We have to report that. Because you should be using our 501(c)(3). So we're going to be counting those dollars coming in, and we need to be able to have a place, a central area where we can know. We hope that we won't have multiple chapters applying for the same grants because it makes it difficult for any one of us to get them when everybody is applying for the same thing. So stay tuned to hear more about that. I'm also excited to announce today that I'm taking another Southern Area person when she is dismissed from her current duties, and that is Karen Dyer. Karen Dyer will be co-Chairing Organizational Effectiveness & Leadership Development at the Executive Council level. I had to get permission on the next one. And I'm taking another Southern Area person that is your leader, my new Chair, and you're the first to hear this, my new Chair of Elections will be none other than your own, Link Eneid Francis. Identifying and selecting these wonderful ladies, along with those whose names have not yet been mentioned, has been a process, with the emphasis being on the right person for the right job at the right time. I appreciate your patience as individuals continue to be identified in other capacities. Stay tuned as I prepare to announce the chair of the HBCU. Because when I wrote this, I could not identify. And I also have a new Chair of Archives, and you'll hear about that in just a moment. Let's move onto The Links Foundation and the Foundation Board of Directors. Similarly, our Foundation Board is also working diligently, and you have already heard from our outstanding Treasurer who is working to ensure that our systems for collecting and reporting money are in keeping with all financial guidelines that will continue to protect the integrity of our 501(c)(3) and (c)(4). And let me just stop here and say I want to thank you, Southern Area, for loaning, giving, sharing your wonderful dynamic Carolyn Lewis with me. She is absolutely wonderful. Carolyn, stand up and take a bow, please. She's awesome, and she is leading the financial team and she's doing it with distinction. So I am honored to be working with Link Carolyn. National Headquarters, we are fortunate to have some of the most committed and dedicated staff that work in our office as we work to build a healthy legacy within our organization. But as we do this, we must take a look at all aspects of our organization, and that includes our hardworking staff that we have engaged to support, and listen to this, our leadership, our membership, our programs and our finances. They drive our National Assembly and they are the lynchpin for our building, our communications, our social media, our fund development, our technology and our website. Last fall, we enlisted the support of Link Addie Perkins Williamson of the Metropolitan (NY) Chapter, who is President and CEO of her own firm, to conduct an organizational assessment of our staffing needs. Link Addie is helping us to identify opportunities to support current and future operational needs. We must ensure that we have the right support; the right skill set, the right tools and the most updated technology that we can afford to sustain our organization's growth and vitality. This means we must take a look, a closer look at our policies, procedures and the needs of you, our volunteers, to

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -4 ensure that we can afford to provide the support and meet the expectations of our membership in all of these areas. So how many of you in this room have a cell phone? Okay. How many of you have had your cell phones, this cell phone for seven years? Just what I thought. So, my Link Sisters, our website is seven-years old. And so we are charged with, by surprise, that it is time to do something different with our website. And for those of you that know anything about Web design, and I have had to get on a very fast, quick trajectory, it is expensive. And I'm going to throw some figures out there, I didn't do this in the Eastern Area, but I'm going to let you know from everybody that I'm talking to it's about 50 grand, and I've talked to all kinds of people and tried to crisscross and they must be trying to rip us off and so forth. We also have a membership side that's totally different from the website. That's old too. So right now -- it's not going to happen right now because I'm trying to, again, get the right people with the right job with the right skill set to make sure that we're spending your money in the right kind of way. So it may be that we have to upgrade the iMIS too, and that's separate and apart from the look and feel on the front side. And so I've kind of dealt with some people that would tell me if I do the new look and feel, is it CMS, technology people, am I right on that, CMS, we don't have that system, that means that we have people that can go in and make the changes. Right now the system is such that we have to pay somebody. Every time we put something on that website we have to pay somebody. We've got to change that, but it's going to cost us a lot of money to do it. In the end, it's going to pay off. But in doing that, I've got to make sure the iMIS system is going to talk to the new look and feel system. And the new look and feel, I've got to figure out can that come first or do I have to do the iMIS first. So it's a bit of a project. Because your phones are not seven-years old, we need to step that up. And I'm going to make every effort to try to do this without asking you for more money. I'm going to try. So we're looking at budgets and taking a little here and taking a little there. Membership: As our membership continues to grow, it is essential that we have systems that are current. And this is exactly what I have shared with you, the importance of providing membership-based technology that is going to be receptive to our membership. I've already told you about the wonderful induction that we had approximately a week ago, and I'm going to move on now to communications. We are also looking at how we communicate with you overall, and we're exploring opportunities to communicate, to increase member engagement, to share pertinent information and effectively to use each member's time wisely. In March, we relaunched the Link-to-Link e-newsletter. Stay tuned for what we hope will be a new look and feel in the future for our newsletter. That, too, may come with a price tag. But I am, again, working with Link Carolyn. I'm telling you, she does magic. I say to Link Carolyn, "Link Carolyn, this is what we need". She says, "Well, Link Glenda, I'm going to try to see if I can find it for you", and she does. You know, we may have to, you know, eat a little beans, but we'll do that because we know we want to provide for you what is best. And before, we hope, before the end of this year, we will be publishing and sharing with you our next issue of LINKED. Finance: I'm certain that by now you have all heard from Link Carolyn, and she will continue to keep you informed as we accept foundation funds, record and keep record of how we are raising funds. Most of all, she has led us in receiving, I guess you call it receiving, Link Carolyn, two unqualified

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -5

audits, one for The Links, Incorporated and one for The Links Foundation. And, truly, that deserves an applause. I can probably sit down right now because I know some of you are like, "What's going on with the money". So the money is good because it's in the hands of Link Carolyn. Vision 2020: By now you all know about Vision 2020, and I hope that you've been inspired to give to this campaign. We are hoping to reach our goal of 10 million by 2020. This effort is being led by Jackie Hrabowski, and you have already heard from her. Let's quickly move onto Programs. Now, beyond finances and operations, the most important thing in Linkdom in our future is how we are marketing and making a difference in our programming in our communities. We have just completed our programming webinars, and we thank you for tuning in. If you missed them, you can find them on the Members Only section of our documents. Our Program team is hard at work and ready to guide and support you as you continue to create and develop transformational programs that impact the lives of so many. Let's take a closer look at our accomplishments. National Trends & Services: Black Lives Matter. How many of you were able to tune into some of our webinars on that? Wonderful. Thank you. Well, as a mother of sons, like many of you, I could not help but be moved by the blatant police brutality involving our young black males, and therefore, I was compelled to take action this year. Because writing another position letter from me after that last death, and that was before Freddie Gray, was just not enough. This passion for action gave birth to our webinars entitled Black Lives Matter: A Call to Action. These one-hour webinars with distinguished thought leaders and influencers from across the nation address topics relevant to these cases. The goal was to increase our knowledge of these pressing matters so that we can educate our communities, especially our young males and, ultimately, rewrite the narrative of our future. This facet will continue to support you in efforts to develop and recommend solutions to changing the image of our black name, and it will continue to support you in promoting all of the other topics within National Trends & Services. And let me say to you, Link Sisters, this program about Black Lives Matter is not just about the community. If there are any of you in here that have male sons, they need to be listening in as well. Because when they get stopped by the cops, it doesn't matter whether they live in your gated community or whether they're driving your Mercedes, they're likely to get picked up more likely that way. So I encourage you, we do so much for the community and you're so busy out there doing that, I'm going to encourage you to invite your own children into some of these sessions so that we can -- while we're in the community, our children are getting arrested as well and we're not there to support them. Health & Human Services: Now, you know how passionate I am about health. That not only includes the health of our communities but it's also the health of our membership and our personal health. Don't you forget to get your mammogram, your colonoscopy, your cholesterol checked, and if things aren't just working right with you, just go to the doctor, get checked out. Last November, the Executive Council voted to approve three new National initiatives, and you've already heard about them, Hep C, HIV/AIDS and Mental Health. Why these areas? Because they are among the top health concerns for African American women in our age category. We will carry forth the Oral Health Initiative that was voted on in June of 2014. And through our partnership with Colgate, we will educate and improve the overall health of African American children and families.

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -6 Services to Youth: Because education is our passport to the future, we will continue to place significant emphasis on educating and engaging our youth in STEM, STEAM and healthy lifestyles. To strengthen our presence in communities, we are seeking to explore partnerships with the National Association of Black Engineers. And I do believe that MOU has finally been signed, Link Delores? It has been signed. Very good. It is our desire that all partnerships will be a win-win. We will continue to support mentoring and our HBCU. The Arts: Another one of my passions is The Arts. When I was in school, I was very focused on pursuing my medical degree, which left little time for me to explore classes in the arts area of study, but I've always appreciated all aspects of the arts. I am anxiously waiting to see the wonderful work that you are doing and continuing to do as we engage arts in STEM. Simply put, arts matter, and art is especially important to our children. The lack of funding and eliminating arts education in schools across the country is awful, and this is the gap that I would love for us to try to fill. Despite the fact that students that are actually --literature has supported that when students do well in music they do well in math. When they do well in math, they do well in music. So I really want to encourage you to continue to engage the arts in everything that you are doing as you do Integrated programming. Classics Through The Ages: Link Gwen has left, but I want to really bring that program back. Some of you it's never left because you've been engaged in it. But I really want to encourage Classic Through The Ages, and I'm going to ask you to take that one step further. So what happens when we get a young violinist and we start them, they're very young and they love it and you give them the classes, and then they go on and they may go to a conservatory and then they may go on to get a Master's, where do they get a job? Where do they work? When I finished medical school, I'm looking for an internship. When you finish law school, you go to a clerkship or you can find a job working as a new associate for a law firm. But where do our dancers go? Where do our visual artists go? They need to make a living. So there are many of you right out here, you're married to these people that have made it. So I'm going to ask you to help create a program that's going to help us identify a pipeline for people in the arts. Everybody can't do medicine and pharmacy, and what a boring world it would be. I love the arts. But we need to be able to make the arts be a viable opportunity for our young people. So I'm going to ask you to take a look at that. I am pressing on, but I know you want to know what's going on so I'm trying to hit every area. I know I'm lengthy, but I'm going to keep moving. International Trends & Services: In terms of international, well, for the Southern Area, you're not going to have to go far. Because, my Link Sisters, we are off to the Caribbean. We are not going to ignore the African diaspora, wherewe have been, and in fact, in October, our Health & Human Services and International Trends & Services Facet launched a campaign in response to the Ebola outbreak. As a result of their efforts, I was thrilled earlier this year to present a check in the amount of $30,000 to Africare to aid in the fight against Ebola in Liberia, West Africa. And I went to thank you for your contributions. In terms of expanding our international presence, our first stop will be Jamaica. I want to continue our international thrust with the support to our women and children who are just a short plane ride away. Education Across The Miles will be in Jamaica in January. Stay tuned. It will be a very quick turnaround because we didn't know how many people would want to go. So I already got people saying, "Oh, you didn't reserve that many rooms. It's not enough". So it's going to be a very fast turnaround. Already I called Eris yesterday, "Eris, please try to get some more rooms. I think we undershot". But in any case, stay tuned.

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -7

Now let's talk for just a little bit about the survey. In March, we conducted a survey to learn more about our membership, our skills and expertise, age diversity and growth potential. We gathered knowledge about your tenure as a member, how satisfied you've been as a member and your knowledge pertaining to our three new National health initiatives. And so I'm so grateful to all of you who have participated. This is one of the most comprehensive surveys that we have done in our history, and the information obtained is invaluable to the growth and development of our organization. We do believe that the results are statistically significant, and therefore, this information will be useful to us moving forward as we apply for grants and seek partnerships and examine ourselves and our programs and the financial health of our organization. So take a look at this data here, and I'm really going to run through this very, very quickly. Let me put out a few disclaimers. I am not a statistician. And time will not allow me to answer your detailed questions, but I will continue to be here. I want to just show you a little bit about the very high-level things. So take a look and you will see that our total membership is roughly about 14,000. We have approximately 10,400 Active members and 3,232 Alumna members. 30 members opted out of the survey. That means they got into it and then they got out of it. Okay? Look at this, 786 bounced back. Know what that means? That means you're not getting any of our e-mails from National Headquarters, not even one. So we've already asked you, but I'm going to ask you again, go home, go to your chapters, ask everybody to open up their profiles, go in, make sure your e-mail address is what you want it to be. Because when it's wrong, we don't get a bounce-back saying "here's the new e-mail". So you're missing a lot of information. So the membership that we were able to reach was 84 percent. The Active members that were reached, 93 percent. Alumna members reached, 60 percent. Our overall membership response rate, 36 percent. Now, I'm sure there are people in here that know a lot more about this than I. So, if you're doing an all-comer, I understand anything over 30 is good. But you're not all-comers, my sisters. You're my sisters. I know you on a first-name basis. I got your e-mail. I got your phone number. This is a targeted audience. So, while I'm so grateful to all of you that responded, we only got 36 percent. The Active membership response rate was 34, and then of course the Alumna response was 2 percent. Now, let's see what can we share with you? Where is the President of the Charlotte Chapter? Stand up. They were the highest number of responders in the Southern Area. Congratulations, Charlotte. President of Atlanta Chapter, where are you? Stand up. Take a bow. 29 of their members responded to the survey. Raleigh (NC), my birthplace, Edwina, there you are, 26. So I don't know if they brought their laptops to the chapter meeting or what, but whatever you did that's what we consider a best practice. So talk to these ladies when we have a survey next time and they'll try to find out. And then, of course, Dogwood City, Crown Jewels and New Orleans, stand up and take a bow, all of those delegates, presidents. Thank you. It's really important that we hear from you. Because when we don't, the numbers are skewed. Number of years in the organization: So you can take a look at these figures and there's nothing really earth shaking about that. They're all kind of about the same. Age of induction: This I thought was really interesting. Now, also, let me mention to you, Link Sisters, that this is data that is only relevant to the Southern Area. So, when I get, when I've done all four, then we are going to put together some statistics that will be made available to you online, it will probably take me a few months after all of the

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -8

Conferences in June, so that you can see where you are comparatively to others. But I do think it's noteworthy that the age of induction in the Southern Area is 40 to 49. I think you should give yourselves a round of applause for that. You are moving, I feel, in the right direction. This was a bit of a surprise to me. Anybody else surprised by this? Yes, I was. You know, I think Daughters of Links, I hear a lot about them, I'm one so I'll be quiet, but we're only 15 percent. I think the communication about it is somehow that it seems that maybe there are more, but maybe they didn't respond to the survey. That may be it. So just the point that of those that responded to the survey 85 percent were not Daughters of Links. This one is how you learned about The Links, Incorporated. We are very curious to know how you get interested in the organization, is it a friend or a relative, professional relationship or a Link event. So take a look at those figures. This hopefully will guide you as you are looking to bring in new members, what are the kinds of things that you need to be thinking about that might attract people to want to be a part of this organization and who in the Southern Area is really making this attraction, are they professional relationships or friends or whatever. This was great. Transfer experience. So, as a former National Vice President, I just heard a lot of things that were not so positive about transfers. So we were very curious to find out what's going on with transfers, and I'm delighted to report that it sounds like the Southern Area has it going on with transfers. They make it happen. 77 percent of those that surveyed said that their experiences were very welcoming and friendly, and welcoming and friendly. And let me give a shout-out to the Eastern Area. Same thing in the Eastern Area. It was exactly the same statistical report, 77 percent. So we are doing -- we obviously can always do better, but we're doing a great job of bringing our Link Sisters in and transferring them. Now this is an area where my Branding Chair tells me we're going to have to really pay some close attention. Why? Because as you can see, the largest number of us in these categories are showing married. Anybody surprised by that? Okay, I wasn't either. But my Branding Chair says, "How does that look to a young Link". I've heard a young Link say, "I'll do that later when I'm ready". What's "ready" mean? They have all this energy, all these ideas, and in fact, maybe we need to get them while they don't have all that other stuff. But this is something that she has told me we have got to take a look at. These are the real statistics, but what are we doing to make them feel that it's fine that they're single. We welcome them as well. Hopefully we can work them five or six years before they get married and start having children. Age category: Well, here we go. That hasn't changed since I was Vice President. We can do better, and we will. Highest education level: Of those that were surveyed, the highest number were in the area of a Bachelor of Science degree at 120. I think in the Eastern Area there were more lawyers, but in the Southern Area, we're showing Bachelor's degrees. I am bringing this to a close. The History Book, anybody want to know anything about the History Book? Yes, I figured you would. Alexia Hudson-Ward has just been identified and just been appointed, who is a member of the Eastern Area, as our Chair of Archives. In this role, she will be responsible for the History Book. It is critical that we are the authors of our incredible story of Linkdom and that our story is presented in a manner that makes us all proud. And for those of you who are authors, you know that writing takes time. The new edition of the History Book is in development, and with God's help, it is expected to be released for our National Assembly in Las Vegas. Thank you for your patience. We know you will be elated with the final product. The National Leadership Summit: Certainly high on our priority list is the

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The State of The Links, Incorporated Glenda Newell Harris, M.D. -9

upcoming planning of the National Leadership Summit which will take place November 5 through 7 in Houston, Texas. The theme is "Cultivating A Healthy Leadership: Our Prescription for the Future". Some of the session topics, just to wet your appetite, will be: So You Want to Be a College President, College Presidents Having Their Say As They Lead The Way. The next topic: Secrets From The C Suite. We're also planning a special session with you in mind. This prescription is designed to help your leadership journey reach the top of its game from the inside out. Can't tell you everything today. Just stay tuned. And, finally, our 40th National Assembly will take place June 29 through July 3rd in Las Vegas at the beautiful Mandalay Bay. Our prescription for the future will include: The integration of new Program initiatives; nurturing and growing our membership; the alignment of our governing documents; paying close attention to our finances; a review of our National Headquarters support; and the expansion of our reach to partnerships. Sound, please. And so you can see that the State of the Organization is thriving and working to build on the legacy of our past presidents and seeking to identify the best prescription to prepare for our future. In closing, I'd like to say how rewarding it is to lead this premier international organization with so many accomplished, dynamic and beautiful women, but remember, none of this can happen without you. I need you to help me make these things happen. I need you to continue to step up in your chapters and take leadership roles. I need you to assist and support members of your chapters who have offered to serve but need guidance and culture. I need you to read our communications and share information with your chapters that will help you to meet our requested deadlines. I need you to sign onto the webinars that were created just for you. I need you to support each other during these difficult times either within your chapters or in your personal lives. I need you to forgive me when I don't respond to your texts, e-mails and phone calls within 24 hours. I need you to walk with me along this journey simply for the benefit of friendship and service. This is our prescription for the future. Thank you.

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Proposed Southern Area Budget Appendix G