September 14, 2025 ZA Board Meeting Minutes

Members in Attendance: Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Heather Steele, Maria Minnaar Bailey, Adrienne Stewart, Caden Davis, Jesse Larson
Members Absent: Michael Sibanda, Tendai Muparutsa
Non-voting members in attendance: Claire Jones
Meeting lead: Adrienne
Notes taker: Mandy
Was a quorum of Board members present?: Yes

August & Village Meeting Notes/Minutes

Mandy has not finished these. Will get them out as soon as possible.

Zimfest 2025 (Claire)

Board members will read through the OC debrief meeting notes, as well as the post-festival survey responses, but here are a few findings Claire pulled out:

• Concert attendance/income disappointing, waiting for final numbers.
• Lots of unsold merchandise, waiting for final numbers.
• Given the effort it took organizing for a new venue, and feedback from OC, general consensus seems to be let’s go back to CWU. We cannot have evening concerts outside as many want, but can improve on this year’s indoor ballroom (and outdoor) setup. 
• Far too much public drinking both at the concerts and Late Night Mbira Gatherings. We need to remind people of the rules, post our guidelines (we do have printed guidelines) and do some policing at the gatherings. We are fortunate that CWU personnel were not hardline and were not checking on activities at the dorms.
• Media: Media curation volunteer(s) needed if we are to do anything with photos from Rob Saecker or video/audio from Alex Weeks.
• Thank Yous have been published on the website. Alison and Claire tried to include everyone that volunteered in any significant way.

Request from Zimbabwean Teacher

The Board discussed a request from a teacher applicant for reimbursement of a visa application. While the Board does not refund visa application fees, as a gesture of goodwill we will donate a partial reimbursement.

Claire shared how she usually handles money transfers: She has had good experiences with Remitly; if Zimbabweans have Eco Cash accounts, Remitly transfers directly into bank accounts. World Remit is another one that usually works.

Fund-Raising Question

Zimfest is moving forward with setting something up to be able to accept gifts of appreciated stock.