March 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

IMIYA BOARD MEETING

Thursday MARCH 16,2023

7:00 PM

ATTENDING

President: Joanne Pearson

Vice President: open

Secretary: Rebecca Wallace

Treasurer: Cecilia Huisman

Scholarship: Mandy Coates

Membership: Suki Kim Koyoung

Communications: Melisa Sweet

Regional Rep to IYNAUS: Avery Kapala

Guest: Charlotte Hardwicke (possible secretary position)

AGENDA

BOARD

  • Update on IYNAUS Regional IMIYA Representative: Avery Kapala attended an in-person meeting with other IYNAUS reps and staff in San Diego at the site of the National Convention that will be held in May 2023. Avery joined the IYNAUS board as IMIYA’s Regional Rep in October/November 2022. They reported most of the IYNAUS board members are volunteers. There is a desire to hire a professional social media person, and it would be a budgetary consideration given that the membership nationwide has diminished. Avery also reported that they will most likely join the IYNAUS communications committee. They feel as though IYNAUS needs to reach out to underserved people (BIPOC, etc.) and that they can lend a hand in this area. Assessments for 2023 will all be via Zoom. IYNAUS is still seeking sponsors for the May convention.
  • IYNAUS update: New EC (Executive Council) liaison to Regional meetings—no report at this time
  • Melissa has been invited to Basecamp and will represent IMIYA at these meetings. There will be a Basecamp meeting on March 22, 2023 @6p. Joanne will attend. Melisa is not available that day.

Transference of President title through Secretary of State Colorado in progress—in process, Theresa (Past President) is assisting with this.

  • Bylaw Update: Due to time constraints, there was no discussion regarding bylaws at this meeting. 
  • IYNAUS is providing scholarship money of $950 to each region. Per Gloria Goldberg, IYNAUS President, the money can be split up any way the region decides; however, no IMIYA board members are eligible.

1) SCHOLARSHIP (MANDY)

  • Update on scholarship applications/ recommendations: Mandy has sent the letters out to the people who have received a scholarship.  Update on regrets and candidates for IYNAUS funds.  Update on candidates for IYNAUS monies is in progress. The deadline for IYNAUS convention scholarships has been extended to March 30th and agreed to by the IMIYA board. Joanne will send out an email vote to the board once qualified members submit the scholarship application form.

2) MEMBERSHIP (Suki) – Thinking about interviewing scholarship recipients and posting on social media. Do some reels and/or photos at the National Convention to post. 

3) TREASURER (Cecilia)

  • Update on payment of IYNAUS Registered Trademark Fee- will be handled through an online App in the coming days

  • Cecilia has updated the proposed budget – There was discussion regarding what was budgeted in 2022 vs what was actually used. Only half of what was budgeted for scholarships was given out. For 2023 the board would like to commit a total of $3200 for scholarships. There was a brief discussion about how much money should be budgeted for website updates. Some feel the website needs a significant change, however with low member numbers, it is hard to justify spending money in this area when our mission is to give scholarships. More discussion on this at another meeting. Currently, IMIYA has approximately $16,000 in bank accounts.

4) YOGA AND EQUITY (Joanne) 

  • Review the updated IMIYA website statement and book list. How can IMIYA make this better? Should the board update the statement to align with IYNAUS® Equity Training (found under TEACH tab on IYNAUS website)?  Melisa will write a statement and send it out to the board members. Melisa asked Avery about IMIYA’s book list posted on the website. IMIYA will also look at what Avery has on their website.

  • The board is still unsure what to do with the library resources. They are currently in 3 boxes at the past president’s home. We could reach out to IMIYA members or contact IYNAUS Archives for ideas.

  • Some thoughts from the board: the resources could expand beyond race. However, maybe best to keep things yoga related and to focus around the yamas and niyamas.  Melisa could post on IG something like, Check out these amazing resources available though IYNAUS  Melisa volunteered to assist in rewriting a statement for IMIYA regarding equity and yoga.

5) WEBSITE (Rebecca)

  • The website needs updating. Continue with WordPress and find resources or look to another direction. Perhaps there is an IMIYA member who has knowledge of WordPress. Rebecca’s term as secretary ends in March 2023. Charlotte, who is attending today’s meeting, has previous experience with WordPress.

6) OUTREACH/COMMUNICATION (Melisa)

  •  Basecamp: March 22, 2023
  • Social Media communication—further update and discussion about our goals and use
  • We have 691 followers on IG, our views are 10-20. 
  • Suki and Melisa will collaborate on social media ideas

7) OTHER

  • IMIYA gathering(s) for 2023: TBD
  • IYNAUS Convention-May 15 – 20, 2023 – IMIYA May meeting could be scheduled during the convention (TBD).

Yoga is when every cell of the body sings the song of the soul.BKS

MISC:

Mission Statement: The Intermountain BKS Iyengar Yoga Association is committed to serving the Iyengar yoga community by offering both educational and financial resources to current Iyengar yoga teachers, Iyengar yoga students, and the wider yoga community.