PREAMBLE:

We, the Kannada loving community in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia in order to promote literary, educational and cultural activities, facilitate charitable activities, and to further the intercultural understanding among the people of the United States of America and Kannadigas in other parts of the world, do hereby join together to form an association.

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of the association shall be KAVERI KANNADA ASSOCIATION (Washington DC, MD and VA)

ARTICLE II: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Section I: The aims and objectives of the association shall be to promote literary, educational, cultural activities of Kannada loving people, facilitate charitable activities, and to create an opportunity for the cultural exchange between the peoples of the United States of America and Karnataka in particular and any other part of the world where Kannadigas may reside, in general.

ARTICLE III: Activities Forbidden

Section I: No substantial part of the activities of the association shall be for carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the association shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Not withstanding any other provision of these articles this association shall not, except to an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of the purpose of this association.

Section II: No part of the net earnings of the association will inure to the benefit of any individual or individuals except when the executive committee decides to grant honoraria to distinguished scholars and artistes.

ARTICLE IV: MEMBERSHIP

Section I: Any person eighteen years or older who subscribes to the objectives of the association and pays the dues, is entitled to be a member of the association.

Section II: Each dues paying member shall carry one vote. In the event dues are established separately for "single" and "family" memberships, the definition of "dues-paying-member" shall be as follows. The individual and his/her spouse shall both be dues paying members when he/she pays for the family. Dependent parents and children living with the dues-paying family member/members are entitled to all the benefits of membership except voting rights. Life Member is defined as a member who decides to pay the prescribed amount that entitles him/her to receive all the benefits of Family membership for life.

Section III: Annual Membership dues for "single", "family" and dues for "life" membership shall be decided by the voting members at the annual general body meeting.

Section IV: Membership may be revoked for a period not more than twelve months with due notice of a month for conduct considered not compatible with the aims and objectives of the association, by the two-thirds of the assembled voting members at the General body meeting of the association, provided that an explanation from the member being revoked has been obtained and considered unacceptable to the majority of the executive committee.

ARTICLE V: THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section I: The executive committee shall consist of seven office bearers, minimum of four and maximum six members and two non-voting youth members. Youths between the ages of fourteen and eighteen are eligible to be youth members.

Section II: The office bearers to be elected by the general body shall consist of: a president; a vice president; a secretary; a joint-secretary; a treasurer; joint-treasurer; youth coordinator and an auditor.

Section III: The term of office for the executive committee and the auditor shall be one year.

Section IV: None of the members of the executive committee including the office bearers, youth members and the auditor shall receive salary or take remuneration of any kind for his/her services.

ARTICLE VI: GENERAL BODY MEETING

Section I: Executive committee shall decide the date and time of the general body meeting. The notice of the annual meeting shall be communicated to the voting members of the association at least two weeks prior to the meeting date.

Section II: Special general body meeting of the association may be held at the call of the executive committee or by the written request of at least twenty-percent of the voting members.

Section III: The quorum for any general body meeting shall be fifty voting members.

ARTICLE VII: DISSOLUTION

A resolution to dissolve the organization adapted by two thirds of the voting members in a general body meeting can result in the dissolution of the association. In case of such a dissolution, the executive committee shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all the liabilities of the association, dispose of all the assets of the association in such a manner, or to such organization or organizations operated exclusively for charitable, educational or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United states Internal revenue law).

ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

The following procedures shall be followed if and when need arises for the constitution amendment:
In order to amend the constitution the following procedures shall be followed:

• 1. The proposed amendment shall be submitted in writing to the executive committee, by a voting member and supported in writing by nine other voting members of the association at least six weeks prior to the general body meeting;
• 2. The executive committee shall appoint a committee to review the merits of the proposed amendment and receive recommendations as to the merits of the proposed amendment. The review committee shall consist of equal representation of the proposers of the amendment, current executive committee, and neutral members, and;
• 3. The review committee shall consist of a minimum of three senior Kaveri members in good standing and without any conflict of interest;
• 4. The executive committee shall reproduce the proposed amendment and the review committee recommendations and distribute it to all the voting members of the association at least two weeks prior to the general body meeting;
• 5. After a thorough debate in the general body meeting, the two-thirds majority of the voting members present in the general body meeting may approve an amendment to the constitution.

ARTICLE IX: Types of functions to be organized

1. In additional to the general body meeting, there shall be at least two major functions during the year. In addition to holding the usual functions the executive committee shall make an earnest attempt to receive and honor visiting artistes and scholars considered in high esteem by Kannadigas. The executive committee shall make every effort to accommodate and involve youth/children in all functions of Kaveri.

ARTICLE I: LOCATION OF THE ASSOCIATION

For official purposes, the headquarters of the association shall be located in the state of Maryland where it is duly registered.
The logo of the association will be:
"yet to be adapted"

ARTICLE II: MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section I: The executive committee shall meet at least four times between the annual meetings. The quorum for the executive committee meeting shall be five members of which at least three shall be office bearers.

Section II: The president shall preside over all meetings. The vice president, in the absence of the president, or the secretary in the absence of the president and the vice president shall preside over such meetings.

Section III: The secretary shall prepare the proceedings of the meetings of the executive committee and keep minutes of the meeting.

Section IV: Each person in the executive committee, except the president and the youth members, shall have one vote.

Section V: The president shall vote only if there is a tie in the voting.

Section VI: In the event decisions are made based on telephone, emails or personal discussions with members of the executive committee, such decisions and opinions of the members should be properly documented. The documentation should be saved along with the minutes of the meetings.

ARTICLE III: COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES

The executive committee is empowered to appoint members to the sub-committee and ad-hoc committees to accomplish such tasks and operations as to realize aims and objectives of the association, to investigate specific problems, and to make recommendations to the executive committee.

ARTICLE IV: FISCAL YEAR AND FINANCE

Section I: The fiscal year of the association shall be the calendar year.

Section II: The executive committee shall be responsible for the finances of the association.

Section III: A financial account in the name of the association shall be maintained in a bank and operated by the treasurer or the joint treasurer.

Section IV: The auditor shall review the accounts of the association and certify, with his/her comments, not later than the first week of the following year.

Section V: The executive committee shall make it available to all its voting members upon request, the certified financial statements of the preceding fiscal year.

Section VI: Only the members of the executive committee are empowered to make expenditures on behalf of the association.

Section VII: All expenditures made by any individual or individuals on behalf of the association shall require the approval of the executive committee. Expenditures of more than fifty dollars made by an individual shall require prior approval of the executive committee.

Section VIII:

• 1. All efforts should be made by the outgoing executive committee to pay all outstanding bills for the current year before handing over the office to the new committee.
• 2. In the event the outgoing executive committee, under conditions beyond their control, cannot pay any bills, the new executive committee shall pay these bills provided these bills are individually identified with sufficient funds earmarked for these items by the outgoing executive committee.
• 3. Any reasonable and legitimate late bills that could not be accounted for or identified, as bills to be paid by the outgoing executive committee shall be paid by the new committee provided the amount is less than or equal to $200.00. For bills of amount larger than $200.00, the general body should approve the payment. However, a provisional decision can be made to pay bills larger then $200.00 at the discretion of the executive committee pending approval by the general body.

ARTICLE V: VACANCIES

The executive committee shall take appropriate action to fill any vacancies in the executive committee, no later than one month of such occurrence. A reasonable attempt shall be made to solicit interest from the general membership.

ARTICLE VI: DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section I: The President shall be the spokesperson and chief executive of the association.

Section II: The secretary shall keep a full and complete record of all meetings and transactions of the association. The secretary shall be responsible to execute with the help of other members all decisions taken by the executive committee.

Section III: The treasurer shall be responsible for the receipt, disbursement, recording, and safekeeping of all funds of the association. The treasurer shall pay all bills, which have been approved in the manner prescribed by the executive committee. The treasurer should facilitate auditing of the financial records by the auditor.

Section IV: The youth coordinator shall be responsible for forming the youth committee and conducting all youth related activities authorized by the executive committee.

Section V: The polling officers shall solicit nominations for all the positions of the executive committee and the auditor. Polling officers will be responsible for conducting elections during the annual general body meeting for the year. They are empowered to resolve any conflicts during the election process.

ARTICLE VII: ELECTION RULES

Section I: The election of the office bearers and members of the executive committee and an auditor (as stated in Article V, Section II of the Constitution) shall be held at the time of the annual general body meetings of the association, youth committee representatives to the executive committee shall be elected by the youth committee within one month of the formation of the executive committee.

Section II: The executive committee shall appoint three polling officers approximately one month prior to the elections. Polling officers shall be members in good standing of the association.

Section III: Any member (see Article IV, section II for definition of member) may be nominated and each nomination shall be signed by the candidate and one other member of the association. Self-nomination is allowed.

Section IV: To ensure fair election process, the ballot should be coded and the voting shall be conducted by secret balloting. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted.

Section V: Under extra ordinary circumstances polling officers can also seek nominations from the floor.

ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS

The bylaws of the association may be amended, altered, or repealed by a majority of all the members voting at the general body meeting, provided the procedures mentioned in Article VIII of the constitution "Amendments to the Constitution" is followed.

ARTICLE IX: BOARD OF TRUSTEES -   BOT Guidance Document

The role of BOT is to develop investment approaches for the Corpus, administer strategic programs utilizing the income generated from investing the Corpus, and monitor the program's implementation. The BOT will also provide an annual report to Kaveri's General Body. In general, the BOT will serve as a source of advice and counsel to KEC. However, both BOT and KEC will report only to the GB, and no hierarchical relation is envisaged among the two. While KEC will be fully responsible for planning and implementing Kaveri's day-to-day activities, it will consult with BOT on any major initiatives which impact either on the use of the Corpus or on Kaveri's Constitution, or span multiple years., all of which are subject to final approval by GB.

Section I - Primary Functions: The BOT is a body created by the General Body of Kaveri to advise the latter and also KEC on the following matters, with a view to serving the best interest of the association.

• * Develop a long-term vision for the next five to ten years for Kaveri for the guidance of successive KECs, and recommend actions and programs that contribute to the fulfillment of that vision.
• * Prepare a plan for investing the Corpus and any other funds generated as a result of special events such as WKC 2006 that may be undertaken by Kaveri, or donations and grant which the Corpus may receive from Kaveri members or other sources. The disposition of any surpluses that may be generated as a result of Kaveri's year round operations will not come under the purview of BOT, and will be the responsibility of KECs.
• * Review proposals from individual Kaveri members, KEC, or non-members whose advice BOT may seek concerning projects, programs or institutions for possible support from revenues generated from Corpus investments. BOT would be fully responsible for the final selection of all activities to be supported from Corpus revenues and also for decisions concerning the amounts and duration of such support.
• * Conduct an annual review of BOT supported programs and activities under implementation with a view to monitoring performance, recommending corrective actions if needed, reviewing priorities when appropriate, and providing an annual report to the GB.
• * Advise the General Body of Kaveri and/or the KEC on such other matters as either of these bodies may seek.

Section II - Number, Tenure and Qualification: The total number of Trustees shall be seven (7), all of whom shall be members of Kaveri. BOT members shall include:

• * The President of Kaveri who will be an ex officio member during her/his tenure; and
• * Six Trustees appointed by the GB. KEC will recommend the initial members, subject to the approval of the GB. In the event the GB feels that additional names should be considered, it will determine the procedure, subject to the overall limitation of seven members, including the President of Kaveri.
• * The Trustees shall elect a Chairman (other than Kaveri's President) from among themselves to serve for a term of two years;
• * The BOT members, other than the Kaveri President, will be appointed for a term of three years. However, the initial BOT will have a different term as described below.
• * The initial BOT, other than the Kaveri President, will be appointed for a maximum of 4 years with trustees having staggered term appointments as follows:
  • a. In order to encourage rotation among the trustees while maintaining some continuity, two trustees will voluntarily retire at the end of two years, two more at the end of three years and the remaining two at the end of four years;
  • b. Trustees elected at the end of year two and beyond will serve a term of three years. This will allow maintenance of rotation and continuity as desired, with two new trustees added each year; and
  • c. If trustee retirement and rotation do not take place on a voluntary basis as stipulated above, the President of Kaveri will arrange to draw lots in the presence of trustees to decide who among them will retire at stated intervals.
• In the event of a vacancy caused by resignation or other causes such as a trustee's repeated failure to attend meetings or actions deemed detrimental to the interest of Kaveri, the trustees shall select a replacement, who would be subject to confirmation at the next GB.

Section III - Meetings of Trustees: The Board of Trustees shall meet at least thrice a year. A majority of the trustees shall constitute the quorum. The business of BOT may be conducted either at meetings or through conference calls.

Section IV - Disbursement of Funds: The Corpus shall be held by Kaveri in an account which is separate and distinct from its other accounts, but will be overseen by the KEC Treasurer. BOT has sole responsibility for all decisions concerning the use of Corpus resources. When BOT reaches specific decisions on the allocation of funds, its Chairperson will authorize the KEC Treasurer to issue checks or use other means of transferring money to the intended recipients. (The funds which will make up the future Corpus are currently invested by Kaveri in CDs which are scheduled to mature on or about July 31, 2008. At that time the funds will be transferred into newly created accounts which will constitute the Corpus which will henceforth be administered by BOT. Pending the creation of the Corpus accounts, the interest accrued is being transferred to Kaveri's general revenues).

Section V - Compensation of Trustees: No Trustee shall receive any pay or emolument for their service.

2001

• 1. GB voted to keep the Certificate Deposits within US. Interest from the CDs can be used by the committees.

2003

• 1. KEC 2004 should get the adopted constitution reviewed by a qualified attorney
• 2. Logo of Kaveri should be redesigned to include Karnataka map with Kaveri river and artistically designed Kannada "kA". Logo should then be registered in Maryland by KEC 2004
• 3. Kaveri should be registered in Maryland by December 31, 2004
• 4. Life membership amount should be kept in a separate CD. No part of Life membership amount can be used by any committee without authorization by general body. Only the interest from the CDs could be used by KEC.

2009

• 1. Elections have to be conducted according to the guidelines formulated in the document - Election Guidelines
• 2. The charity funds raised by KEC2009 should be exclusively used for the specific purpose it was raised by all future committees. This would be overseen by the BOT (Flood-relief and DC Central Kitchen)
• 3. The General Body hereby resolves that Kaveri shall make available a sum of up to $10,000 from its general reserve to serve as a matching grant in the ratio of 1-1 for contributions from Kaveri members or amounts they may raise from any other souces, the funds generated thereof to be utilised for the rehabilitation of victims of the recent floods which have brought death, devastation and unprecedented hardship to people of Northern Karnataka. The allocation of Kaveri's matching grants shall be effective from the date the appeal for funds is issued through April 30, 2010

2014

• 1. Regarding disbursement of annual dividends. Click here for more details
• 2. Regarding preservation of Kaveri's historical documents on the website & other repositories.

2017

Proposed Resolution for GBM 2017

• 1. The incumbent executive committee shall follow fiscal year finance policies as per Kaveri Constitution Article 1V Section VII regarding the approval of expenditures incurred by the committee.
• 2. In addition, the executive committee shall record the approval of expenditure above $500 in the minutes of the meeting prior to the event. Upon request, the minutes of the meeting shall be provided to the Board of Trustees or the Auditor or presented to the General Body as a proof of consent by the committee for the incurred expense.

2018

• 1. Resolution was passed to accept the KEC 2018 Audited financial summary as presented
• 2. Resolution passed to accept $1800 donation by BOT to Kodagu relief.
• 3. Resolution passed to refund the initial seed money to Team Spandana members.
  Team Spandana requests the GB to approve the safe keeping of the excess funds in a separate account to conduct similar events/functions if desired by majority members of Team Spandana in the near future. In the event of their inability to do so, KEC can form a separate committee to organize and manage a program. If such programs do not occur until the year 2022, Kaveri Kannada Sangha may utilize these funds to conduct an event during its 50th anniversary celebrations proposed to be held in the year 2022.
• 4. Scholarship for the12th grade students who are Kaveri members.
  Mr. Kaveri Krishnamurthy proposed that a subcommittee be formed to discuss the scholarship proposal Scholarship and make recommendations to the GB to be discussed at the next AGM meeting.
• 5. Resolution passed to extend the work by the subcommittee along with one representative from KEC 2019 for the next 12 months to have Kannada language registered as world language in the local county schools and provide a progress report to the GB at the next AGM meeting.
• 6. Motion was passed that BOT will give KEC $3500 starting 2019.
  Meanwhile KEC will form a committee to discuss the membership fee issues to be reported at the next AGM meeting.
  
  • 1. Increase the Annual Membership fee by 15% or rounded to $40 per year.
  • 2. Life membership due: $350. Portion to KEC = $35 + $3.5 (10%) = $38.5. Amount to be transferred to BOT= 350-38.50 = $311.50.
• 7. Guideline to elect a new member to BOT when a vacancy arises.
  Motion was passed in the 2017 AGM authorizing KEC 2018 to form a committee to review the present constitution and bylaws to represent the present conditions and also other items to discuss and make recommendations regarding donations and the process to follow to disburse the donations etc.
  As per the above resolution, KEC 2018 president did send an email soliciting nominations to review the above process. The feedback was, BOT should be authorized to send this email since it is a long term project and needs expertise from all age groups of the membership.
  Resolution was passed authorizing the BOT to spearhead this activity. However the KEC president can send these solicitation emails on behalf of BOT, since the president has access to all the emails.

2019

• 1. Resolution - Passed :
    a) Asset transfer and knowledge transfer from the current committee to the next committee should happen within a reasonable time. We have seen in some of the instances earlier, the new committee were hindered because of this. I would like to propose the following to make a smooth transition
    b) After the General Body Meeting, the following should happen within a week :
      - All hard assets should be transferred
      - All ID/Passwords should be transferred (if not within a week after the GBM, at least a week before the new year)
  
• 2. Proposed resolution - Not considered as a resolution. These are operating guidelines all nominees needs to follow :
    a) The President nomination shall be in writing, and shall contain endorsement from at least two Kaveri members with good records
    b) Only Washington DC metro resident is eligible to apply for any position in KEC. Theterm of any elected member shall automatically expire if that person shall cease to be a resident of Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia. No remote service
    c) Kaveri events, programs, stage should not be used to promote KEC members's personal activities, family benefits
  
• 3. Resolution - Passed :
    a) KEC in consultation with BOT to form Steering committee by 2020 August for Kaveri's golden jubilee
• 4. Resolution - Due to time constraint the review is not complete, email feedback has been requested :
    a) BOT Nomination Resolution, Election Guidance Resolutions and Kaveri Website Resolution brought forward by Kaveri constitution review committee
    b) Members to give feedback in 8 weeks. KEC 2019 to send out emails to all members
      **Note** : Several feedback have been received for this resolution no 4 that requires further consideration, hence it will be discussed in the next General body meeting

2021

• 1. Resolution - Passed :
    To conduct the 50th Golden Jubilee Celebration
  
• 2. Resolution - Proposed :
     Provisional Exploratory Committee requests the general body for approval of up to $100,000.00 as a seed money to conduct Kaveri Golden Jubilee celebration in 2022
  
• 3. Resolution - Passed : ( BOT Nomination Resolutions)
     Board of Trustees (BOT) nomination resolutions were passed.
  
• 4. Resolution - Passed :
     Kaveri Annual membership to increase by $5 dollars was passed.
  
• 5. Resolution - Passed :
     A resolution was passed to dissolve Spandana funds and transferred to the Kaveri 50th year celebrations account.
  

2022 ( Kaveri AGM Minutes December 2022)

• 1. Resolution - Passed :
  Increase the seed money KEC gets from the BOT to $5000 from the current $3500.
  
• 2. Resolution - Passed :
  Increase the Lifetime membership amount to $500 (from the current $350).
  
• 3. Resolution - Passed :
  Increase the Family membership amount to $50 and the individual amount to $25, inclusive of the square fees if using Square for payment
  
• 4. Resolution - Passed :
  Increase the Lifetime membership amount to $500 (from the current $350).
  

2023 ( Kaveri AGM Minutes December 2023)

• 1. Resolution - Passed :
  Disposal of the obsolete and non-functional Kaveri assets.
  
• 2. Resolution - Passed :
  Provide $1000 to Kannada Kaliyona every year from BOT account.
  
• 3. Resolution - Passed :
  Impana team to use remaining funds till June 2025 to conduct event with Kaveri
  
• 4. Resolution - Passed :
  Pricing guidelines for advertisements.
  

Special AGM Jan 2024 ( Kaveri Special AGM Minutes January 2024)

• 1. Resolution - Passed :
  Kaveri along with RKS to host the Akka convention in 2024.