Sunday, October 6, 2013

Afrifest Foundation Board Meeting, October 5

Yesterday, we had another Afrifest Foundation board meeting, at the Center for Families in Minneapolis. We noted that we have received our much awaited 501c 3 from the International Revenue Service. This is great news. With this status, the Afrifest Foundation will have more opportunities to explore and more independence in certain actions.

The meeting was attended by Nathan White, who chaired it, Wycliff Chakua, Denise Butler and Joseph L. Mbele. We also welcomed two new board members: Dayolin Pratt and Dennis Omwenga. We told them how Afrifest has, over the years, braved all kinds of challenges including naysayers and prophets of doom, and built a strong organization which knows exactly where it is going, and which has already built a large network of, collaborators, friends and well-wishers.

We had a rich agenda, including reviewing the Afrifest festival we held on August 10. We are grateful that we decided to go ahead with the festival, even though the situation made it difficult for us to plan as elaborately as we normally do. We were driven by the idea that, no matter what, having the festival every year was very important. We noted the generosity of our sponsors, such as Wells Fargo Bank. We will soon start planning for the 2014 festival. With the 501c3 status in our hands, our spirits are experiencing a big boost.


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