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Minutes of 2016 General Assembly

What is the HUTAC General Assembly and why does it matter?

Before you delve into the minutes of the 2016 HUTAC General Assembly (GA), we would like to briefly explain what the GA is and why it is important to you as a member of the HUTAC community.

The GA is an annual event that allows HUTAC members to:

  • Find out what the previous year’s Board achieved, including not only fun highlights of HUTAC events but also a thorough look into HUTAC’s financials!
  • Meet the following year’s Board candidates, listen to their motivations for wanting to lead and, if they convince you, vote them into office.
  • Ask questions, tackle issues and offer feedback – your input is always welcome and appreciated!
  • Reconnect with your fellow HUTACers over beers and bitterballen at the traditional borrel that follows the GA.

Although GA 2016 is over, we look forward to seeing you during the General Assembly next year as well as in the upcoming HUTAC events of 2016-2017!

Your 2016-2017 HUTAC Board

Minutes of the HUTAC Annual General Assembly 2016

Date: October 29th 2016
Location: Regardz Congress Centre, Waldorpstraat 13A, 2521 CA, Den Haag
Time: 18:05 – 19:25
Participants: 32, of which 20 are HUTAC members
Photos: http://bit.ly/HUTAC2016Conference
Presentation slides: http://bit.ly/HUTAC2016GA

1. Opening and Agenda

Andy Golkhandan, President of the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board announced the start of the 2016 General Assembly (GA) and invited all present HUTAC members to participate in the discussions. Andy first outlined the agenda of the GA, namely:

  • 2015-2016 highlights and financial statement
  • Discharge of the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board
  • Discharge of the HUTAC Advisory Board and Audit Committee members leaving office
  • Election of the new 2016-2018 HUTAC Advisory Board and Audit Committee members
  • Review of the 2016-2017 plan and budget proposal
  • Election of the 2016-2017 HUTAC Board
  • Q&A and closing

Although these minutes cover all of the above, it is important to note that they do so under different thematic headings.

2. HUTAC Activities 2015-2016

Andy Golkhandan, President of the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board, first reminded GA participants of the past year’s theme for HUTAC activities: Inspire through Innovation. He then proceeded to outline the contents of the 2015-2016 HUTAC events along with photos of each activity:

  • HUTAC goes climbing: Fun activity in Amsterdam with 18 participants (11 HSP, 7 Non-HSP)
  • How to build your own start-up: Workshop in Amsterdam with 46 participants (22 HSP, 24 non-HSP)
  • The art of hosting: Workshop in Amsterdam with 21 participants (14 HSP, 7 Non-HSP)
  • HUTAC conference & GA 2016: Multi-session workshop coupled with the General Assembly, organized in the Hague with 34 participants (22 HSP, 12 Non-HSP)

Andy also summarised the results of other activities of the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board, which were:

  • Updating the HUTAC value proposition: to more accurately represent the organisation itself (as an interdisciplinary association of ambitious young professionals) rather than its roots connected to the Huygens scholarship. The new value proposition is aimed at addressing both HSP and Non-HSP young professionals with a similar mindset.
  • Improving organisational continuity: the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board put in place an integrated handover process (documentation and handover meetings) in order to more efficiently pass on the internal knowledge and lessons learned from old to new leaders.
  • Increasing involvement with Nuffic: marketing HUTAC at Nl4talents, Holland Scholarship Welcome Event and through the Holland Alumni Network in line with the new value proposition.
  • Agreement with EP-Nuffic to extend the deadline for spending the subsidy reserves: EP-Nuffic agreed to extend the deadline for spending the subsidies HUTAC received until 31st December 2018 (from 31st December 2017).

Regarding the marketing of HUTAC at Nuffic events, Nilgun Yilmaz, HUTAC Advisory Board Member 2014-2016, asked about the content of the marketing material distributed and whether HUTAC was the only organisation that distributed flyers at the Holland Scholarship Welcome Event? The response to these questions was that HUTAC was not the only organization who took advantage of this marketing opportunity. The involvement with EP-Nuffic included sending hard-copy HUTAC flyers (featuring the new value proposition) to EP-Nuffic which, in turn, they handed over to all Holland Scholarship recipients as part of their welcome pack. HUTAC was not present at the event.

3. Financial Statement 2015-2016 Overview and Vote

Andy summarized the Annual Fiscal Statement of 2015-2016:

  • Budgeted Balance (Net): 275,00 EUR
  • Actual Balance (Net): 3749,52 EUR

Andy also presented the HUTAC Balance Sheet as per 31.08.2016, which shows that HUTAC has reserves amounting to 43451,46 EUR, including:

  • 25720,34 EUR: Remainder of Nuffic subsidies
  • 16843,99 EUR: Funds generated by HUTAC

Andy also pointed out that taking into account the costs of the HUTAC Conference & GA 2016, the available funds for the new HUTAC Board will be 35650,33 EUR.

Finally, Andy referred to the role of the Audit Committee and presented the Committee’s evaluation of the HUTAC 2015-20166 financial statement:  “The balance sheet presented for HUTAC’s fiscal year 2015-2016 gives a true and fair view of the financial position of the association as of August 31, 2016.”

Andy then invited present HUTAC members to vote that, to the best of their knowledge, the HUTAC 2015-2016 financial statement is accurate.

The voting proceeded as follows:

  • 19 present and eligible members voted yes
  • 0 present and eligible members voted no
  • 1 present and eligible members abstained (Giuseppe Manrique)

4. Discharge of the 2014-2015 HUTAC Board, and Audit and Advisory Committees members

Andy Golkhandan, President of the 2015-2016 HUTAC Board invited the remaining Board members to join him in front of the audience in anticipation of the voting procedure that would relieve them from their duties. The 2015-2016 Board members present were:

  • Syafri Bahar (Events & External Relations Coordinator)
  • Catalina Iorga (Marketing & Communications Coordinator)
  • Giuseppe Manrique (Treasurer)
  • Laura Tufis (Marketing and Strategy)

The remaining HUTAC members in attendance were ask to formally discharge the 2014-2015 Board. The voting was as follows:

  • 15 present and eligible members voted yes
  • 0 present and eligible members voted no
  • 5 present and eligible members abstained (Andy, Syafri, Catalina, Guiseppe and Laura)

Andy also asked the HUTACers in attendance to discharge Advisory Board Members Eleni Mantikou, Egemen Sahin and Nilgun Yilmaz. They asked to be relieved of their duties as their two-year-term has ended.

The voting was as follows:

  • 18 present and eligible members voted yes
  • 0 present and eligible members voted no
  • 2 present and eligible members abstained (Egemen and Nilgun)

Andy Golkhandan nominated himself as a new Advisory Board Member. The present members were invited to approve the candidate.

The voting proceeded as follows:

  • 19 present and eligible members voted yes
  • 0 present and eligible members voted no
  • 0 present and eligible members abstained

5. HUTAC 2016-2017 Plan, Budget and Board Elections

Andy Golkhandan, President of 2015-2016 HUTAC Board announced the 2016-2017 Board candidates, who were (in alphabetical order):

All 2016-2017 Board candidates were present and shortly introduced themselves, mentioning the positions they were running for and the contributions they would like to make to HUTAC.

Catalina Iorga, President Candidate, then presented the vision for the 2016-2017 HUTAC Board, should the HUTAC members present at the GA confirm the Board candidates. The theme for HUTAC in during the 2016-2017 Board is The Sharing Society, which will focus on solutions to societal problems through events and content driven by systemic thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit. In accordance with this theme, the Board plans the following activities:

  • Organising diverse professional events (including the HUTAC Annual Conference in May 2017)
  • Create a platform for gathering informally for fun, community-building activities (e.g. through Facebook events)
  • Create valuable online content (e.g. more frequent blogs with professional tips, webinars)
  • Experiment with strategies to grow and engage network while securing HUTAC financially

Kollol Aguan, Treasurer Candidate, then proceeded to present the estimated budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, which is summarized in the graphic below. In addition to the HUTAC Conference & General Assembly 2016, the budget includes 4 events in 2017, namely 3 smaller events, and the 2017 Annual Conference. A smaller event coupled with the 2017 General Assembly will also be organised by the 2016-2017 Board, however its costs will be accounted in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

HUTAC budget 2016-17

Regarding the 2016-2017 budget proposal, Arsham Farzinnia (HSP member) asked about the reason why the proposal amounted to 20600 EUR while earlier during the balance sheet review, Andy mentioned that the next 3 years are recommended to spend 12000 EUR each. The seeming discrepancy was explained by Kollol and Andy as the 20600 EUR includes the costs of the HUTAC Conference & GA 2016 (7400 EUR). The net budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year is around 13000 EUR.

After the budget overview, Andy Golkhandan, the former 2015-2016 HUTAC Board President, asked the present HUTAC members to vote the 2016-2017 Board candidates into office.

The voting proceeded as follows:

  • 15 present and eligible members voted yes
  • 0 present and eligible members voted no
  • 5 present and eligible members abstained (Catalina, Kollol, Laura, Melinda, Qing)

Thus, all 2016-2017 Board candidates were approved by the HUTACers attending the GA and officially became the 2016-2017 HUTAC Board. Read more about your new Board here.

Catalina Iorga, President of the 2016-2017 HUTAC Board, ended the meeting by highlighted the key strategic questions facing HUTAC that members can expect to discuss extensively in 2017. These are:

  • Financial status of HUTAC as an independent entity
  • Voting rights for HUTAC members who did not receive the Huygens Scholarship (HSP)
  • The right to be a Board member for HUTAC members who did not receive the HSP
  • Potential incentives for participation in Board leadership
  • Leadership accountability in the form of goals and targets

6. Q&A and Closing

There were no further questions or any other business. Thus, the HUTAC Annual General Assembly 2016 successfully came to a close at 19:25, October 29th 2016.