Members in Attendance: Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Heather Steele, Maria Minnaar Bailey, Michael Sibanda, Caden Davis, Jesse Larson, Charlie Keziah, Parker Ediger, Claire Jones
Members Absent: Jesse Larson, Angela Marie, Tendai Muparutsa
Non-voting members in attendance:
Meeting lead: Maria
Notes taker: Mandy
Was a quorum of Board members present?: Yes
August Notes/Minutes
Approved via email.
Grants Update
The Community Accelerator grant application has been completed, waiting to hear results. Claire had technical problems with adding Heather as an admin to SAM.gov, but this isn’t relevant for now: will add Heather if and when we apply for a federal grant. It’s wonderful to have someone writing grants for us! Claire hasn’t had time recently, and Audrey knows what she’s doing.
Zimfest 2029
The Zimfest Board is in discussion about holding Zimfest in Colorado in 2029.
Donor Advised Funds
Janis made a comment on the blog post relaying that Donor Advised Funds are essentially a trust that someone else manages. At the request of the gifter (when they pass or for other reason) the manager can distribute the funds as cash.
Immigration Affairs
Zimbabweans and South Africans are not getting Visas for the United States, and they feel “on hold” for now. A December report indicates that Zimbabwe is on a list of countries whose B visa applications are rejected for the time being.
Zimbabweans will also need to travel to South Africa for Visa applications, and there is a Visa bond ($5 to 15k) that will need to be paid to even get the process started. Mike thinks that process will need to start very early (as soon as possible). Claire is assuming that for 2027 we will not be able to bring artists from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zimbabweans in the diaspora will be more practical to bring in 2027.
We will be thinking about ways to involve Zimbabwean artists who we can’t bring physically. For example, some American teachers have worked with Zimbabwean artists to do teaching on their behalf. Jennifer Kyker and Daniel Lockley have both done this kind of workshop. When we open up applications this can be an option for a type of workshop to submit.
Festival Coordinator Position
Once the application deadline passes (9/15), the Board will proceed with reaching out to references and interviewing candidates.
Parker will reshare the post on social media.
Note: we will also need a site coordinator for 2027.
Zimfest 2027 at CWU Update:
Kelli Conrads, CWU Conference Coordinator, wrote to confirm Aug 5-8 dates (unable to host it earlier) and check that housing in Al-Monty, Green and Kennedy Halls will work for us again. Claire confirmed and wrote that she will introduce (via email) a new Festival Coordinator by November.
Email from Tatenda
It was great to hear from a Zimbabwean in the diaspora in Ireland and to read about her work at https://sarungano.nhume.org.
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