First meeting.  No prior minutes exist.

Yesenia Parra suggested that the committee’s responsibility to “act as point of contact for grant and donation inquires” be jointly shared with the Finance Committee due to a likelihood of monetary matching requirements, commonly found in grants. A brief discussion occurred on grant making requirements and processes in relation to the roles and responsibilities of the Community Development Committee.

The committee co-chairs agreed to recommend that the grant responsibilities be shared with the Finance Committee. The the need to integrate mission-related language into the committee’s job description was also raised.

The conversation then turned to ways to increase and maintain parent participation at the board level. The co-chairs concurred that parents should have two seats during the first year or two of the committee. Ideally, one parent would be from the senior class and will have had their child enrolled at Ceiba since 6 th grade. This parent would have a one-year term and lend their insights, historical experiences and challenges to the committee. The second parent would be from the 6 th grade class. This parent would have a three-year term and sustain the momentum from the senior parent as well as assist in implementing future-oriented strategies and activities of the committee.

Conversation then turned to the seat number, composition, and service terms of the committee. After some dialogue, the co-chairs reached the following consensus:

? The committee shall have 6 – 8 members, recommended by the committee and approved by the Board Chair, from the following stakeholder groups: 1 Ceiba Board member (co-chair), 1 Ceiba Administrative member (co-chair), 1 Ceiba Faculty member, 1 – 2 Ceiba parents, 1 Ceiba Student (e.g. ASB president), and 1 – 2 community members at large.

? Service terms will be in 3 year increments, with the exception of the first year or two to allow for senior parent involvement.

This recommendation will be brought to the board for approval and adoption into the committee job description.

The committee decided to focus its attention for the remainder of the year on three deliverables: (1) filling the open Community Development seats, (2) crafting a communications strategic plan, and (3) raising community awareness about Ceiba through three channels – creating mentorship opportunities, developing a college-going column in Spanish and English for local print publications, and opening up select Ceiba events to the broader community (e.g. 1:1 FAFSA workshops).

Before determining the areas of expertise currently needed on the committee, the co-chairs reviewed the committee’s long term plans. In about 5 years, the Community Development Committee is expected to be heavily focused on fund development. In the short term (the next 3-5 years) the committee expects to be incorporating fund development responsibilities into its community development role. Presently and for the next year or two, the committee is focused on building a Ceiba brand, including developing and implementing a communications strategy, and integrating Ceiba within the community through community service efforts.
 
The set of expertise needed today and five years from will vary as the committee’s functions will evolve to take on a fund development role. Presently, potential committee candidates should possess knowledge in the following fields: strategic communications, marketing, public relations, and building extensive local networks to further the school’s brand-building and community awareness efforts.
 

• Confirm any report outs from the Community Development Committee to the full Board of Directors at the Nov. 15th meeting. (ileana)
• Revise the Community Development job description to include more mission-focused language and state joint responsibility for grant inquiries. (ileana)
• Ensure the following topics are included in the next committee meeting agenda: identify expertise gaps in the committee, develop a recruitment strategy and begin strategic planning for the remainder of the 16/17 school year. (ileana)