A. Kaynor facilitated a brief round of introductions and noted that this is a joint, concurrent meeting of the Excel MA and Friends of Excel Finance Committees, with Excel RI Finance Committee members joining for informational and collaborative purposes.

S. Reynolds and A. Stelson framed goals and norms for the meeting.

No members of the public provided comments at this meeting.

A. Stelson presented Q1 finance data, a new leadership and Board dashboard for tracking risks, updated multi-year financial projections, a high-level budgeting plan, and an overview of key work streams in 2026. These topics are detailed in the Finance Update Slides and 5-Year Strategic Financial Plan that were provided to the Board.

A. Stelson and O. Stearns answered clarifying questions from members of each of Excel's three Finance Committees (Excel MA, Excel RI, Friends of Excel).

D. Sachs asked for more context about the rationale for a 3-month standard, with A. Stelson provided.

D. Stolow commented that 3 months is appropriate for a steady state environment, but that a larger backstop could be beneficial in more volatile environments - while understanding there are financial constraints as well. The Committee might consider in the future whether it would be advantageous to build a larger reserve, but it does not make sense to cut expenses now for this purpose.

C. Heng asked how much reserve each entity currently holds, and A. Stelson clarified that Friends currently holds 1 month of backstop for the larger region (Excel MA).

S. Reynolds noted that could we table this for discussion in future meetings as a potential longer-term goal.

T. Weller offered to meet offline to review the metrics and suggest possible approaches, if helpful to the team.

D. Sachs commented that, if some risks on our tracker came to fruition, the impact would exceed a 3 month buffer, and so, it would be helpful to contextualize further discussion within that risk framework. A. Stelson agreed.

D. Cass asked whether a clarifying question about whether the planned reduction is in positions, people, or both. A. Stelson commented that this is part of a multi-year plan that has been communicated with staff and that some of the reductions are the result of not hiring to refill vacancies that occur through natural attrition.

The Committee discussed each risk on the risks tracker and the overall environment of financial risk. O. Stearns expressed appreciation that we have much stronger systems for tracking these kinds of risks and planning strategically as a board and leadership team. T. Chambers expressed high confidence in A. Stelson, O. Stearns, A. Kaynor, and rest of the team and their ability to monitor these risks and elevate to the Boards when and where their attention is needed.

A. Stelson noted that the CMO fee is reducing from 12.5% to 12.25% in both regions next year.

Board members provided directional consent with the FY27 budgeting plans as presented.

A. Stelson reviewed key workstreams with the Board, as detailed in the Finance Update Slides.

D. Stolow asked for context about the impact of RI capital projects on the MA debt strategy, which A. Stelson provided. S. Reynolds appreciated the push to ensure we are getting the right expertise to ensure the strategy is balanced well within our overall organizational financial strategy and suggested connecting with CSGF and other experts on this topic as needed.

List of documents used in the meeting:

• Agenda
• Prior meeting minutes
• Finance Update Slides
• 5-Year Strategic Financial Model