Forward from USA Canoe/Kayak
November 13, 2008

After much deliberation, the Board of Directors of USA Canoe/Kayak
have voted to postpone the Committee elections in addition to Board
elections.

The rewriting of the By-Laws and the restructuring of the Board of
Directors will almost certainly require thought about the proper
structure of the Committees. So, we felt this was the best course of
action. Our Annual Meeting currently set for December 6-7, 2008 in
Charlotte, NC will be postponed, per Section 2.06 of our By-Laws,
until January 31-February 1, 2009, which is within the 60 day
postponement limit. We will still have a regular Board meeting in
Charlotte on December 6-7, 2008 as well as Committee meetings. Our
intention is to have the final version of the Bylaws posted to the
membership for a 30 day comment period starting December 31, 2008.

In the meantime, we have organized a task force whose sole purpose is
to study and recommend best practices in governance and present the
Board with recommended new set of By-Laws and Nominations and election
procedures and Committee structure and procedures. Their first draft
of these is due by December 6-7, 2008 for review by the Board and
Committees. The task force is composed of:

* Anne Blanchard, a sprint paddler and former USACK Board President
whose day job is serving as a legal aid attorney in Connecticut

* Jamie McEwan, an Olympic medalist in slalom in 1972 and still
competing; is a writer living in Connecticut

* Cliff Meidl, two-time sprint Olympian and motivational speaker who
works as a money manager in the LA area

* Risa Shimoda, a long time whitewater paddler and activist who is a
consultant in the DC area and the chair of the USACK Freestyle Committee

* Chuck Wielgus, former Executive Director of USACK predecessor USCKT
and presently ED of the highly successful USA Swimming NGB in Colorado
Springs

This group will be supported by staff members from USACK and USOC:

* Eric Parthen, Director, NGB Organizational Development at USOC; he
has worked with more than 30 similar groups at other NGB's

* Bob Gambardella, Director, Sport Partnerships at USOC, is the
primary contact at USOC for USACK and also has extensive experience in
NGB governance

* David Yarborough, Executive Director of USACK who has worked with
the USOC for the past three years to understand the requirements of
the USOC reform.

We are very excited for the future of USA Canoe/Kayak and we hope that
you are equally excited. Our goal is to attract qualified Board
members who can help us attract resources and sponsorship in these
trying times.

Please visit the Community section of our website,
http://www.usack.org/blog, to view David Yarborough's blogs on the
progress of the task force.

Sincerely,

Gina Sanchez, President
USA Canoe/Kayak