Highlights from the Annual Meeting

The first board of trustees was appointed at the first annual meeting of the Darcy Jeda Corbitt Foundation. The sitting board is comprised of founders Darcy Corbitt and Allison Bozovsky, and three community members: Mary Belk of Aiken, SC, AnnMarie Kajencki of Bismarck, ND, and Alyssa Patterson of Saraland, AL. Each board member brings a unique personal perspective as both transgender and gender queer folk and allies, as well as professional experience as scientists, therapists, and teachers.

President Corbitt presented the annual report from 2016. The organization raised $2,500 in 2016 and had a year-end surplus of $5. The majority of our expenses in 2016 were made up of providing free training and programming, community outreach, and assistance to transgender individuals.

Our meeting focused on the formal establishment of the foundation. Bylaws were proposed and approved by the board, and policies essential to the smooth operation of the were similarly approved. The board set three core goals for 2017: obtaining charitable status from the IRS, establishing a sustainable donor base, and expanding MyTransitionPartner to include online education.

In the CFO’s report to the board, the foundation’s current financial health is good. We are currently on target for our first quarter goal of half of 2016’s operation budget. The board approved a budget for 2017 which included four funds: sustainability fund ($850) to provide for the 501(c)(3) application process, administrative budget (15%) to provide for office materials and other expenses related to operations, assistance fund (60%) to fund assistance programs, programs budget (20%) to fund other programs including MyTransitionPartner, and the foundation fund (5%) which will go toward the creation of an endowment.  

The board is committed to the viability of the foundation’s future. Further, they invite any interested party to join us in our mission to improve the global health and wellness of transgender individuals by initiating positive, open, and mutually affirming dialogues in our communities, encourage equity and diversity at the institutional, local, state, and federal level, to improve our communities through in-house support and education initiatives, and to sustain our community partners by sponsoring programs and organizations which work to improve the lives of transgender and queer people.

Download the full report here.