Dear Members,

Your Board of Trustees is presenting a number of amendments to the current Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society Amended and Restated Bylaws effective as of April 25, 2020.  The Governance Committee has spent a full year reviewing the Bylaws line-by-line and has arrived at these recommendations.

Many of the amendments are clarifications and language updates to ensure the governing principles are clear and up to date.  Much of this has been dictated by the increased use of technology for meetings driven by the pandemic we have just been through.  And, I would like to give great thanks for those advancements as it has allowed us to carry on effectively despite “shelter at home” mandates and the like. 

One amendment reinstates the Honorary Membership category alongside our Enrolled and Participating Memberships.  This class of membership was “frozen” in 2014, perhaps based on the belief at the time that all those in the past deserving of such recognition had already been voted into the category.  As preparations were made for the 2020 Bicentennial Commemoration, however, it became clear that there are still those for whom this significant honor would be appropriate. The Board would like to reinstate this category, and follow up with a recommendation to approve Captain James Hunnewell (1794-1869) for this honor. Read more about Hunnewell in his bio, attached.

Additional amendments reflect best practices for non-profit organizations as shared by attorney Seth Buckley. Buckley has also reviewed all the proposed amendments to be sure they comply with current legal statutes, and has given his approval to the amendments from a legal perspective.

Your full Board of Trustees has voted unanimously in support of the proposed amendments. I would like to thank the Governance Committee for their in-depth work this past year, and I encourage you to vote to adopt these amendments at this year’s Annual Meeting.

Sincerely,

Patricia Morgan, Board President