Decide for yourself. Posted on his FB
IF YOU ARE A USA TRIATHLON ANNUAL MEMBER, PLEASE READ THIS - VERY IMPORTANT. THANKS!
Dear USA Triathlon Annual Member,
The USA Triathlon Board of Directors contracted an outside, highly experienced consultant nearly 18 months ago, to assist our Federation in updating our Bylaws to primarily reflect “best practices” for for-profits, non-profits, and particularly a non-profit National Governing Body. We also sought to “clean up” much of the extraneous and dated verbiage, which was written one and two decades ago, when the Federation was a much smaller organization.
The consultant set forth a plethora of recommended changes which the Board discussed, debated, and finally came to a vote of approval in early August. Many recommended changes were not accepted, and others were highly discussed and compromise positions were made.
The most highly debated - and important - change was the future composition of the Board of Directors. Today, we have three Athlete (“Elite”) Directors, eight Regional (“General”) Directors, and one Independent Director. The consultant - and virtually any book or paper you read on good governance - highly recommended an increase in the number of Independent Directors, while lowering the number of General Directors elected by Regions. This was coupled with the fact that fewer than 2% of our Members vote in our elections. This has been true for many, many years. As such, becoming one of the eight General Directors is largely a popularity contest decided by a very small minority of eligible voters (typically 200-300 out of 18,000-20,000 eligible), and is not the best way to ensure the needed spectrum of competencies required to govern an organization such as USA Triathlon.
In the early years of our Federation, this may have been OK. We were largely governed by Race Directors, as we were founded by Race Directors, and races were key to our sport. We were small - 10,000 members, 600 events, etc. Today, we are a $17 million, 4,000 event, 55 Staff organization. One of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Directors is to understand, monitor, and sustain the financial strength of our Federation. I can tell you about other Federations around the world who have failed to do so, and they are significantly suffering the consequences. Having certain expertise on such a Board is critical. This could include legal, financial, and even marketing expertise. The Board must be diverse and talented. The current system in no way guarantees that. Having more Independent Directors does; and, this is why the vast majority of non-profit organizations are absolutely moving in this direction.
With this in mind, from the recommendations of the consultant, recognized best practices and our Board discussions, we voted to move to 3 Independents, 6 Regional and 3 Athlete Directors (these 6 Regional Representatives do not in any way change the current Region structure for Region Councils).
To suggest these changes reflect “cronyism” or are self-serving cannot be further from the truth! Note that the current Board, including all eight Regional Directors, voted to reduce the number of Regional Directors to six. This reflects a bold, unselfish perspective, looking out and voting for the best interests of the Federation — not themselves. I commend the Board for taking this step to, in some cases, eliminate their own positions.
Two years ago, a small group of Athletes (“Elites”) quietly and in a coordinated fashion nominated several Athletes for General Director positions. Unabashedly, their effort was made to comprise a majority of the Board and, thus, “control" the Federation. This is why the Board is now recommending Athletes, as defined by the USOC, can only run for Athlete positions; and, only Age Group athletes can run for General Director positions. There are fewer than 300 “Elite Athletes” out of our over 160,000 Members. Thus, currently, there is one Board Representative for every 100 Elite Athletes, versus one General Director seat for every 20,000 total Age Group Members (roughly). It is absolutely in the best interests of the USA Triathlon that we continue to have a balance on the Board that clearly represents our Age Group athletes and our Race Directors. And, again, any Elite Athlete can run for one of the three Athlete positions at any time … just like today - no change.
The allegation that we are limiting who can run for positions is wrong and misleading, at best.. We, again, simply want to follow “best practices” by having a more engaged Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC). Anyone can submit their name to the NGC to be evaluated and considered for the General Director Board seats. The NGC will then make recommendations to the Board as to which 2-3 candidates per Region will then go to the vote of the membership. Again, the key here is to increase the focus upon competence and skill set … vs. simple “minority vote popularity.” The Board positions are open to anyone, the process ensures proper vetting of skills and talents, and ultimately the Members vote for their Board Representative.
Also, some have voiced concern over changes to our “Sunshine Policy,” which mandates posting our Board minutes and financial records, for example, in a timely fashion. This Board is absolutely committed to openness and transparency. We have just agreed with a broader statement as to those actions - one that, again, is commonplace in today’s non-profit organization Bylaws, and recommended by our outside consultant.
I am extremely proud to be part of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors - a Board where the majority continues to understand, listen, respect, and act on behalf of our large membership. It is our support that has helped grow Paratriathlon. It is our support that has grown the funding of our Elite program each and every year, helping establish USAT as one of the strongest programs in the world … and a Gold Medal! It is our support that has been able to help educate and certify over 2,500 Coaches, over 700 Race Directors, and continue to build programs for our youth. We are the ones who helped dedicate $2.6M to the Women’s NCAA program.
In short, we are a group of volunteers who give countless hours to the Federation because we care deeply about our sport, and simply want it to grow, and efficiently and effectively provide the services and programs to make that happen. I appreciate you taking the time to learn about our governance process, and I thank you in advance for casting your vote in favor of these important Bylaw changes. If you are a member in good standing as of 8/30/2016 you are eligible to vote in this election. To do so, please search your inbox for an email from USA Triathlon Election Coordinator [mailto:noreply@directvote.net]. The subject line of the email is “ Important Election Voting Instructions.” For election support, general questions or to request a paper ballot please email Sharon.Carns@usatriathlon.org.
Sincerely,
Barry Siff
President, USA Triathlon Board of Directors
ITU Executive Board
CAMTRI Executive Board
.
http://www.TriScottsdale.org
IF YOU ARE A USA TRIATHLON ANNUAL MEMBER, PLEASE READ THIS - VERY IMPORTANT. THANKS!
Dear USA Triathlon Annual Member,
The USA Triathlon Board of Directors contracted an outside, highly experienced consultant nearly 18 months ago, to assist our Federation in updating our Bylaws to primarily reflect “best practices” for for-profits, non-profits, and particularly a non-profit National Governing Body. We also sought to “clean up” much of the extraneous and dated verbiage, which was written one and two decades ago, when the Federation was a much smaller organization.
The consultant set forth a plethora of recommended changes which the Board discussed, debated, and finally came to a vote of approval in early August. Many recommended changes were not accepted, and others were highly discussed and compromise positions were made.
The most highly debated - and important - change was the future composition of the Board of Directors. Today, we have three Athlete (“Elite”) Directors, eight Regional (“General”) Directors, and one Independent Director. The consultant - and virtually any book or paper you read on good governance - highly recommended an increase in the number of Independent Directors, while lowering the number of General Directors elected by Regions. This was coupled with the fact that fewer than 2% of our Members vote in our elections. This has been true for many, many years. As such, becoming one of the eight General Directors is largely a popularity contest decided by a very small minority of eligible voters (typically 200-300 out of 18,000-20,000 eligible), and is not the best way to ensure the needed spectrum of competencies required to govern an organization such as USA Triathlon.
In the early years of our Federation, this may have been OK. We were largely governed by Race Directors, as we were founded by Race Directors, and races were key to our sport. We were small - 10,000 members, 600 events, etc. Today, we are a $17 million, 4,000 event, 55 Staff organization. One of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Directors is to understand, monitor, and sustain the financial strength of our Federation. I can tell you about other Federations around the world who have failed to do so, and they are significantly suffering the consequences. Having certain expertise on such a Board is critical. This could include legal, financial, and even marketing expertise. The Board must be diverse and talented. The current system in no way guarantees that. Having more Independent Directors does; and, this is why the vast majority of non-profit organizations are absolutely moving in this direction.
With this in mind, from the recommendations of the consultant, recognized best practices and our Board discussions, we voted to move to 3 Independents, 6 Regional and 3 Athlete Directors (these 6 Regional Representatives do not in any way change the current Region structure for Region Councils).
To suggest these changes reflect “cronyism” or are self-serving cannot be further from the truth! Note that the current Board, including all eight Regional Directors, voted to reduce the number of Regional Directors to six. This reflects a bold, unselfish perspective, looking out and voting for the best interests of the Federation — not themselves. I commend the Board for taking this step to, in some cases, eliminate their own positions.
Two years ago, a small group of Athletes (“Elites”) quietly and in a coordinated fashion nominated several Athletes for General Director positions. Unabashedly, their effort was made to comprise a majority of the Board and, thus, “control" the Federation. This is why the Board is now recommending Athletes, as defined by the USOC, can only run for Athlete positions; and, only Age Group athletes can run for General Director positions. There are fewer than 300 “Elite Athletes” out of our over 160,000 Members. Thus, currently, there is one Board Representative for every 100 Elite Athletes, versus one General Director seat for every 20,000 total Age Group Members (roughly). It is absolutely in the best interests of the USA Triathlon that we continue to have a balance on the Board that clearly represents our Age Group athletes and our Race Directors. And, again, any Elite Athlete can run for one of the three Athlete positions at any time … just like today - no change.
The allegation that we are limiting who can run for positions is wrong and misleading, at best.. We, again, simply want to follow “best practices” by having a more engaged Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC). Anyone can submit their name to the NGC to be evaluated and considered for the General Director Board seats. The NGC will then make recommendations to the Board as to which 2-3 candidates per Region will then go to the vote of the membership. Again, the key here is to increase the focus upon competence and skill set … vs. simple “minority vote popularity.” The Board positions are open to anyone, the process ensures proper vetting of skills and talents, and ultimately the Members vote for their Board Representative.
Also, some have voiced concern over changes to our “Sunshine Policy,” which mandates posting our Board minutes and financial records, for example, in a timely fashion. This Board is absolutely committed to openness and transparency. We have just agreed with a broader statement as to those actions - one that, again, is commonplace in today’s non-profit organization Bylaws, and recommended by our outside consultant.
I am extremely proud to be part of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors - a Board where the majority continues to understand, listen, respect, and act on behalf of our large membership. It is our support that has helped grow Paratriathlon. It is our support that has grown the funding of our Elite program each and every year, helping establish USAT as one of the strongest programs in the world … and a Gold Medal! It is our support that has been able to help educate and certify over 2,500 Coaches, over 700 Race Directors, and continue to build programs for our youth. We are the ones who helped dedicate $2.6M to the Women’s NCAA program.
In short, we are a group of volunteers who give countless hours to the Federation because we care deeply about our sport, and simply want it to grow, and efficiently and effectively provide the services and programs to make that happen. I appreciate you taking the time to learn about our governance process, and I thank you in advance for casting your vote in favor of these important Bylaw changes. If you are a member in good standing as of 8/30/2016 you are eligible to vote in this election. To do so, please search your inbox for an email from USA Triathlon Election Coordinator [mailto:noreply@directvote.net]. The subject line of the email is “ Important Election Voting Instructions.” For election support, general questions or to request a paper ballot please email Sharon.Carns@usatriathlon.org.
Sincerely,
Barry Siff
President, USA Triathlon Board of Directors
ITU Executive Board
CAMTRI Executive Board
.
http://www.TriScottsdale.org