President M. Urbonas called the MACA Board Meeting to order on ZOOM at 8:03 PM. Eight people were in attendance: President Michael Urbonas, Vice-President Kateryna Odnorozhenko, Treasurer Colin Scheriff, Clerk Nicholas Sterling, Directors Ray Xue, Rishi Devata, Mark Gruman, and Dmitry Barash.
Treasurer: C. Scheriff presented a new format for the Treasurer's Report, which includes an executive summary, fund breakdowns, and detailed financial information. He explained the distinction between net cost and full cost, highlighting the Spiegel Cup's financial performance. C. Scheriff also discussed compliance issues, including the timely filing of Form 990-EZ and Form PC, and addressed unclaimed property reporting, resulting in a reduction of balance from $2,500 to approximately $600. The meeting covered investment details, with R. Xue inquiring about utility stocks held by LMCF, which C. Scheriff explained were lower-risk investments in energy providers.
Living Memorial Chess Fund: (a) The Board discussed the Living Memorial Chess Fund (LMCF), which provides chess sets to schools, libraries, community centers, and veterans' homes. M. Urbonas confirmed his role as acting administrator and agreed to prepare a report showing all recipients of chess sets funded by LMCF to date. (b) The discussion revealed that the fund has total assets of $55,000, with approximately $6,000 in highly liquid current assets and the remainder invested in stocks, highlighting the need to consider liquidity when making distributions.
Investment Portfolio Modernization: (a) The Board discussed modernizing and consolidating the organization's legacy investment portfolio (inherited from previous executive Boards), which currently includes $43,000 in utility stocks and various other holdings dating back decades, including some paper stock certificates. (b) C. Scheriff proposed liquidating smaller existing investments while transferring larger holdings to Vanguard, though M. Urbonas suggested liquidating all equity investments instead of transferring them. (c) The Board agreed to consolidate and sell most of the current investments. while obtaining more information about the annuity contracts from Citizen Securities before making final decisions.
Investment Account Signer: *** MOTION (1026-1) made, seconded by K. Odnorozhenko to change the signers on investment accounts with Citizen Securities, specifically removing Bob Messenger as an authorized individual and adding C. Scheriff and M. Urbonas as the new signers. C. Scheriff explained that this resolution was required by Citizen Securities and included specific wording that needed to be followed exactly. The VOTE was taken; the MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. ***
Board Cash Reserve Investment: *** MOTION (1026-2) made, as recommended by the Finance Committee, to move cash reserves from their current Citizens Bank money market account earning 0.01% to a new FDIC-insured Vanguard account paying 3.5%. The Fnance Committee also proposed closing their existing low-yield Citizens Bank money market account. K. Odnorozhenko suggested that future investment decisions with more complex implications should be handled through written proposals distributed in advance rather than discussed in real-time Board meetings, allowing Board members more time to research and understand the options before voting. The VOTE was taken; the MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. ***
Women’s & Girl’s USCF Chess Grant: (a) K. Odnorozhenko and R. Xue received a $5,000 USCF grant to promote women's and girls' chess in Massachusetts. K. Odnorozhenko credited R. Xue with the idea of combining the Boston Queens in-person chess event program with the Queens of Tomorrow online speaker series, which may have been a key reason for the grant being successful. (b) R. Xue reported that the speaker series has acquired about 90 sign-ups, including participants internationally as far away as Beijing and a WFM attendee from Mexico. (c) C. Scheriff will set up a donor restricted fund to track expenses, while K. Odnorozhenko will maintain a spreadsheet to track program activities and expenses for reporting requirements. (d) The Board discussed how to handle speaker honoraria, with C. Scheriff clarifying that K. Odnorozhenko has authority to determine appropriate payments without Board approval. (d) M. Urbonas agreed to edit video recordings of Queens of Tomorrow sessions already completed and upload them for on-demand access. Videos of speaker sessions already held still must be edited and uploaded. M. Urbonas said he will do this ASAP.
Harvard Chess Club Scholastic Tournament Support: The Board discussed helping Harvard Chess Club, with a focus on providing chess sets through a grant application, to organize their scholastic chess tournament series. The Board agreed to support Harvard Chess Club’s LMCF request for 20 chess sets and help promote the event on the MACA website and calendar. The Board clarified: (a) this would be assistance rather than a formal partnership, and they would need to confirm details about timing and avoiding potential conflicts with existing scholastic tournaments; (b) MACA can provide resources to Harvard Chess Club for their scholastic event plans (e.g., LMCF chess sets, adding their scholastic events to the MACA event list/calendar), but this would not be a “partnership” per se.
Other: (a) D, Barash reported positive news about membership growth, with 60+ new junior players joining and recent tournaments achieving strong attendance numbers. He expressed concern about not being able to offer qualifier entries as prizes for certain tournaments. M. Urbonas said he knew Bob Messenger had concerns about doing so but did not know the details and would have to discuss further together. (b) M. Urbonas requested approval of reimbursement of $300 for a large screen Samsung TV that he had already purchased prior to the MA Open, for displaying event results, etc. during MACA events, including the MA Open. Payback period is fast, as large screen TV rentals from event venues cost at least $100/day. *** MOTION (1026-3) made to approve said reimbursement; the VOTE was taken; the MOTION PASSED with M. Urbonas ABSTAINING. *** (c) M. Urbonas praised and thanked R. Devata for compiling (and annotating!) games from the New England Open. MACA will provide a PDF on the website for free download.
President M. Urbonas adjourned the Meeting at 9:58 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas Sterling, Clerk
Further steps: (a) C. Scheriff: (i) Add the "Statement of Financial Position by Fund" (balance sheet by fund) to the main Board financial packet for Q2. (ii) Liquidate the immaterial investment holdings (Niagara Mohawk and Putnam Premier Income Trust). (iii) Transfer the more material utility stocks to Vanguard to consolidate investments. (iv) Contact Citizen Securities to obtain the annuity contracts from Delaware Life Annuity.
(v) Execute the adopted resolution to change signers on the Citizen Securities investment accounts, removing Bob Messenger and adding C. Scheriff and M. Urbonas as authorized individuals. (vi) Set up a donor-restricted fund to track the $5,000 grant for promoting women's and girls' chess. (vii) Work with K. Odnorozhenko to reconcile grant expenses and tracking. (b) K. Odnorozhenko: (i) Share the grant expense spreadsheet with C. Scheriff for reconciliation. (ii) Discuss with R. Xue on Slack how to handle the speaker honoraria from the grant funds. (c) M. Urbonas: (i) Prepare and issue an updated report to the Board showing all recipients of chess sets paid for by the Living Memorial Chess Fund (LMCF) to date. (ii) Edit and upload the recorded videos from the speaker series. (iii) Start an email or online conversation with Bob and the Board to discuss the policy of using qualifier entries as prizes for one-off tournaments. (d) R. Xue: (i) Follow up with Harvard Chess Club to confirm if the 40 players mentioned in the LMCF application is an estimate and to clarify the number of chess sets requested. (ii) Discuss with Harvard Chess Club the details of the proposed scholastic tournament, including date, frequency, and whether it will be a recurring event.