May 18, 2022
RE: May Association Meeting
A special thanks to our Association members for braving both the heat and the heavy traffic to be with us last night for our May Association meeting. We had a large number of single parents who left their spouse behind to babysit our students.
During the meeting, we heard speeches from our four candidates for our three vacant Board positions. Then we held elections, using proper procedures with members that TrustCo appointed, to ensure that we had a fair process. We would like to thank Ms. Christina Wagner for her efforts in leading TrusCo, and Steve Mogale, Jonnathan Boundaone, and Basil Mathai for ensuring that we held one of the valid elections in West Africa.
While the results were being counted, we also heard reports from:
- The Chair
- The Director
- Finance Committee**
- Policy Committee
**Please note there is a one-year change in our Economic Fee Structure for private paying parents ONLY. These parents are required to fill out a “Private Payer Verification Form”, which is available only in hard copy, and only at the school reception. If the one-page declaration is filled out accurately and correctly then our private paying students will be eligible for the 2022- 2023 School Year for a 20% discount. The form MUST be due no later than June 1st to help our Finance Committee make the most accurate projections possible for the next school year.
We would like to thank the departing members of the Board of Trustees for their hard work this year. Next year we will be pleased to welcome the following members to the Board of Trustees 2022—2023:
Mr. Fillippo Ghezzi is of Italian/French and Nigerien descent. As a European raised some of the time in the neighboring country of Niger, he both knows the language and has a great understanding of the local culture. With his European background he clearly has the intentional mildness that our community needs. He works for Mercy Corp, and he has a Master’s Degree in Public Relations, which should help keep the Board “on task.” As a former International School student, he knows that having the right culture here at the school will help us all succeed.
Ms. Estelle Tonde is running for re-election on the Board and has two students at the school. She is the Director of a real estate company, and a graduate of the business university of Burkina Faso. Ms. Tonde likes to serve in noble causes and to add solidarity to our International School of Ouagadougou community.
Mr. Bashir July Hanif is originally from Tanzania and his current occupation is “Charge de programme/premeditation.” He is already a great asset to our community, as in addition to earning a Bachelor’s in Math and Physics, he has a Master’s in Defense and Security and Crisis Management. Working with NGOs in conflict zones, he has knowledge and has actively done contingency planning in the event of an emergency. He knows this period of COVID is not easy but “would be honored in (hopefully) moving into a post COVID phase where activities could accelerate again.”
Although the Ambassador’s Representative has still to be named, we know that we will have a strong Board next year. Thus far in each of the first two years I have worked here is getting more and more professional each year. Next year, we know we will get more of the same, and as the Biographies below show we have the members in place to do just that.
We look forward to working with all our new Board members come August.
Reminder: the next Board meeting (the final one of this year’s present Board) will be held next Tuesday, May 24th. The agenda was sent out. The slides to yesterday’s meeting will be available for viewing by noon tomorrow on our PlusPortals website, where all the school’s archives are safely stored for our Association Members.
Jeff