2022 Annual General Meeting Minutes
Date: 27 April, 2022
Location: Remote
Board Members In Attendance:
Ana Milsoavic, Caitlin, Deepshika Kellar, Tylor Sherman (Vice-Chair), Todd Sieling (Secretary/Treasurer), Tesla Lively
Regrets: Margarita Fullerton(Chair), Isabel García (Staff)
Staff in Attendance:
Janette Macintosh, Jeffrey Leung, Molly Peters, Pablo Zacarías (Executive Director), Sara Wehbi, Sasha Rodriguez, Stephen White
Meeting called to order by Tylor Sherman (Chair) at 6:35
1. Welcome
Tylor opened with an acknowledgement of gathering on the unceded territories xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. The board and staff members in attendance were introduced.
2. Ground Rules, Objectives, and Agenda
General rules for discussion and voting were presented, and a change was introduced to make room for guest speaker Dagmar Timmer.
Motion: Adopt agenda with revision
Moved: Ana
Second: Todd
None opposed: Motion passes.
3. Approve Minutes from 2021 Annual General Meeting
Motion: Approve the minutes from the 2021 General meeting.
Moved: Tesla
Second: Caitlin
None opposed: Motion passes.
4. Keynote Speaker: Dagmar Timmer of OneEarth
Dagmar spoke about her work to understand and share public attitudes and motivations on personal actions that improve sustainability. Her work examines consumption patterns and broader ways of living, based on work from SITRA in Finland. The findings showed that many sustainable living choices are not made with primarily environmental concerns, but rather because they support how they want to live based on health, financial or other considerations.
The motivations most relevant to BEST were:
Waste not, want not
Healthy life and planet
Eco-trends
Shop, Style, & Social
Tylor expressed BEST’s appreciation for Dagmar’s presentation.
5. Board Report
Tylor opened the report from the board by noting the ongoing impact of the pandemic through 2021, and that while challenges have persisted the organization is emerging from the pandemic in a strong and active position. The contributions of previous General Manager Alan Woodland amidst the challenges of the pandemic were recognized.
In hiring new leadership, the board has chosen to restore the Executive Director role, and is pleased to introduce Pablo Zacarías as the new Executive Director of BEST. The General Manager position will be filled again at the ED’s discretion as the organization grows. The board also expressed great appreciation for the interim management of Stephanie Williams, which was instrumental in ensuring continuity and stability.
Departing board members were recognized for their contributions: Lauren Isaacson (Past Chair), Matthew Robson (Past Vice-Chair), Steven Tannock, and Todd Sieling (Past Chair, Secretary/Treasurer).
Tylor provided an overview of programming developments in the past year. Although the pandemic held many things back, the organization was able to continue and grow new programs.
Bicycle Valet was quiet in 2021 because of the inability to run many events, but relationships with clients continue to strengthen, particularly with Granville Island and Translink.
The board also formed a JEDDI (justice, equity, diversity, decolonization and inclusion) subcommittee to establish practices that will help us better serve equity seeking groups in our work. Board member Deepshika Kelkar was thanked for leading this work.
Tylor concluded the board report by noting a collective excitement for new staff, new and growing programs, and a sense of revival in our outlook for the coming year.
Motion: To receive the 2021 Board Report as presented.
Moved: Ana
Second: Todd
None opposed: Motion passes.
6. Financial Statements
Tylor presented the unaudited financial statements for the year 2021, noting a strong cash position which does include some deferred revenue. Although contract/event revenue was reduced again in 2021, financial assistance programs from the federal government helped us maintain financial stability.
Cover Letter
A notice to reader letter stating that these statements are not audited, prepared by MNP, CPA. The notice to the reader covers financial transactions to December 31, 2021.
● Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
● Cash includes loans
● Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) is an emergency relief loan of $40K, 10K of which is forgivable. The remainder will be repaid by December 2022. The loan is currently retained for emergencies.
● Statement of Operations (Income and Expenses)
● The BEST Endowment Fund was established under a Deed of Trust on December 17, 2002 with the Vancity Community Foundation. The initial capital contribution was $360,000. On October 28, 2020, an amended Deed of Trust was signed by the Vancity Community Foundation and BEST to reflect a change to the Federal Charitable Legislation of Canada which makes the capital of endowment funds available for distribution.
Endowment Purpose: The Fund shall be held by the Vancity Community Foundation to provide grants to support the programs and services of BEST.
Distributions: In consultation with BEST, the directors of the Vancity Community Foundation shall disburse so much of the capital of the Fund as they shall determine for purposes consistent with the endowment purposes of the Fund. According to the new Trust Deed, the approval of grants of income and capital from the BEST Endowment Fund is at the absolute discretion of the Vancity Community Foundation. In 2021 the capital distribution to BEST was $3,783 (2020: $3,439) consisting of the budget amount allocated by the Foundation.
Motion: To receive the financial statements for year 2021, as presented. Moved: Caitlin
Second: Tesla
None opposed: Motion passes.
7. Executive Director & Staff Report
Pablo opened by reiterating our vision and mission, and the work to fulfill these goals with systemic research, social enterprises, programs, and partnerships. Pablo introduced the current staff team, and acknowledged the contributions of team members.
The planned outcomes for programs in 2021 were reviewed, with most goals being met and those that fell short were attributed to the effects of the pandemic.
Pablo then presented a report on operational activities at BEST in the past year.
Bicycle Valet
Pablo presented a summary of activity for this program in 2021 as prepared by Program Manager Molly Peters. In 2021 BEST surpassed 250,000 bikes securely parked since creation of the service. Despite limited events, 2021 saw a 52% increase in bikes parked over 2020, and expect a significant increase in the coming year.
In 2021 BEST board and staff met to conduct strategic planning around the Bicycle Valet service specifically. The new strategy includes expansion throughout and beyond Metro Vancouver, renewing and expanding partnerships with Mobi bikes and Project 529, expanding our ability to accommodate new mobility devices, and to explore partnerships with other sustainable transportation organizations.
Senior’s Transportation
Seniors Program Manager Janette Mcintosh returned to BEST in 2021, and presented an overview of progress in BEST’s seniors transportation work. The signature initiative Seniors on the Move, in partnership with United Way BC, is a 3-year collaborative systems change project funded by Vancouver Foundation, New Horizons, and Translink. The goal is to improve and increase transportation options for older adults across BC.
In 2021 the Seniors Advisory Committee was established in partnership with United Way and the Provincial Working Group on Senior’s Transportation. In addition to a research survey and transit training workshops, the program is creating the ROVING (Raising Our Voices In support of Non-Ageist ways of Getting Around) short film documentary about seniors' transportation issue. The film is nearing completion and screenings will begin in June.
Janette made special mention of Molly’s and Stephanie’s contributions in providing support through staff changes in 2021.
Living Streets
Pablo presented a summary of the Living Streets program as reported by Program Manager Isabel García. Living Streets encourages people to walk for physical and mental health, and to seek solutions to transportation barriers in their communities.
The program has taken on the operation of the Walk30 Challenge, a campaign that promotes healthy living through a friendly competition between municipalities to see whose citizens can walk more. In 2021 Burnaby and New Westminster participated and logged 1.96 million walking minutes from 1492 participants. Survey responses indicate that most respondents were walking more than before the challenge.
Living Streets was also selected to participate in Women4Climate, and a series of accessible walks were published. Winter Festive Walks to encourage walking in colder seasons were a great success, and additional seasonal walks are being planned for the coming year.
Bike Operator Program
Stephen White returned to BEST in 2021, and presented on the development of the Bike Operator Program, a position created in partnership with Translink to add capacity for coordination of their bike parking operations and Transportation Demand Management activities.
The program has both technical and administrative aspects. Although this is not a public-facing program, it strengthens Translink’s capacity in promoting transportation.
Stephen introduced Jefrrey Leung who will take over the role from Stephen..
Marketing Activities
Marketing and outreach activities have increased substantially in 2021. Despite the pandemic’s challenges, BEST has been able to produce creative content to keep people engaged with our programming. Sara Wehbi has been leading this effort, which includes newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts. The various audience sizes were shared per channel, and positive engagement with most content was reported.
A new marketing strategy is being developed around audience personas and will be implemented in the coming months. A new graphic designer has joined the team, and a brand update for bicycle valet is in the works.
Partners, Sponsors, and Funders
Pablo acknowledged the generous support of BEST’s many partners, including special thanks to Translink, Vancouver Foundation, United Way BC, New Horizons.
Motion: To receive the Executive Director’s report as presented.
Moved: Deepshika
Second: Ana
None opposed: Motion passes.
8. Election of Board of Directors
The board candidates introduced themselves and shared their reasons for wanting to join BEST’s board.
Motion: To appoint by acclaim Jody Philips, Katherine Berry-Einarson, Vanja Bartula, and Tylor Sherman (renewing) as board members for a three-year term.
Moved: Anthony
Second: Ana
In favour: All
Not in favour: None
A question was raised about representation and specialized advocacy for seniors transportation issues. The board responded with their commitment to seniors transportation as well as the lived experience of some board members that informs our consideration of seniors issues.
6. Other Business
Date of Next General Meeting
Motion: To set the date of the next Annual General Meeting as April 26, 2023 Moved: Caitlin
Second: Ana
None opposed: Motion passes.
Waiver of Auditor
Motion: To waive the appointment of an auditor and re-appoint MNP to compile a Notice to Reader for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Moved: Caitlin
Second: Todd
None opposed: Motion passes.
7. Adjournment
Motion: To adjourn the 2022 AGM at 8:13p.m. Moved: Tesla
Second: Deepshika
Motion carried unanimously. The meeting ended at 8:13pm
