To: DAMA International Board of Directors and the Global Data Management Community

By: 2024 Board of Directors Elections Committee

Chair: Peter Vennel, VP Operations, DAMA-I Board of Directors

Members:

Eugene Desyatnik, DAMA Philadelphia, Presidents’ Council Representative

James Wang, DAMA Shanghai, Presidents’ Council Representative

Ryan Owens, DAMA-I, Central Membership Representative

Peter Aiken, President, DAMA-I Board of Directors

Submitted: 12 November 2024

The Election Committee met 0830 ET, 12 November 2024, to review the results of the 2024 election for Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Conference Services, and Vice President of Marketing.

Summary

This year’s election was conducted under section 3.7 of the DAMA-I bylaws version 6. Future elections will be conducted under DAMA-I bylaws version 7 adopted and made effective 01 September 2024.

No eligible nominations were received for Vice President of Conference Services meaning the Board has the authority to fill this position under section 3.7.4 of the bylaws version 6.

As an uncontested candidate, Frank Kadwell is automatically elected to Vice President of Finance for the upcoming term in accordance with section 3.7.2 of the bylaws version 6.

Fifty-one DAMA-I chapters in good standing as of 01 July 2024, cast their ballots for Vice President of Marketing. The votes of two chapters were not counted because the Committee could not confirm that the votes were authorized by an action of the member chapter’s board of directors.  Two votes were withdrawn by the chapter because they were not authorized. The election results are as follows:

The ballots were reviewed and verified by Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Vennel, and our external legal counsel, Claire Gastanaga. The Election Committee congratulates the winners and extends its gratitude to all candidates for their commitment to DAMA-I’s future and mission.

Recommendations to the Governance and Nominations Committee

The next election will be conducted under the auspices of the Governance and Nominations Committee (Governance Committee) as detailed in Article IX of version 7.0 of the DAMA-I bylaws effective 01 September 2024.

Based on its experience this year, the Elections Committee makes the following procedural recommendations to the Governance Committee for consideration:The Committee should educate chapter leaders so that they understand that a member chapter’s vote in a DAMA-I election or its nomination of a person to run for office must be an official action by the Member Chapter’s Board of Directors. To be an official action a majority of the Member Chapter Board members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum or all of the Board members taking action without a meeting must approve the action (vote/nomination).  This should be documented in the board meeting minutes showing the recorded vote, signed by the secretary, or via written consent in lieu of a meeting, signed by all board members.  The Governance Committee should ensure that nomination forms and ballots used in future DAMA-I elections include a certification from the member chapter that the nomination or vote recorded is the official action of the Board of Directors of the member chapter and inform the member chapters that DAMA-I may choose to audit the election by requesting the documentation.

DAMA-I should provide models of both a resolution and written consent for their use to document the official action of the Member Chapter board.

Example 1. Resolution adopted by a majority of board members present at a meeting which has a quorum:

Resolved that the Board of Directors of [chapter name] votes for/nominates [blank] for Vice President and/or [blank] and [blank] for Chapter Directors

Adopted by a vote of ___ Yeas and ___ Nays and ___ Abstains

Example 2. Written consent in lieu of meeting:

The [chapter name] Board of Directors consents to the adoption of the following resolution:

Resolved that the Board of Directors of [chapter name] votes for/nominates [blank] for Vice President and/or [blank] and [blank] for Chapter Directors

Signature [of every board member]

Name ___

Position ___