Individuals interested in serving on the HNBA Board of Governors are invited to submit materials to nominations committee by April 23, 2009

 
After considering a comprehensive proposal for amended and restated bylaws at its Regular Meetings of December 5, 2008 and March 5, 2009 and at a Special Meeting held by conference call this past Friday, April 10, 2009, the HNBA Board of Governors adopted new bylaws.  They will be posted on our website in the near future and you will receive a link from the National Office once that is done.
 
The new bylaws accelerate the HNBA election schedule.  Under the new bylaws, on April 30, 2009, the HNBA must announce the slate of candidates nominated by the Nominations Committee (Amended and Restated Bylaws, Article XI, § 5 (a)).  (The bylaws also provide for nominations of officer candidates and regional presidents by petition, provided the petitions are submitted by no later than May 31, 2009).  The petition process will be explained in the April 30th notice as required by the Bylaws, Article XI, § 5(a),(b). 
 
CALL FOR CANDIDATES:  The HNBA is seeking candidates to stand for election by the membership to the offices specified below.  Unless otherwise stated, the term of each office is one year beginning at the conclusion of the 2009 Annual Convention on September 6, 2009.  If you are interested in being considered by the Nominations Committee, please notify the Nominations Committee in writing as soon as possible, but no later than April 23, 2009.  Consistent with prior practice, each candidate should provide a resume and a letter stating the position he/she is interested in, providing a brief synopsis of his/her reasons for running and prior service to the HNBA (if any), and certifying that he/she is an HNBA Regular Member in good standing and a duly licensed attorney in good standing in the bar of a state or territory of the United States.  If you have not paid your HNBA dues for calendar year 2009, please visit www.hnba.com and pay them immediately to ensure you are in good standing.  Materials must be sent to the Nominations Committee, care of President Ramona Romero at PresidentRomero@gmail.com by 5:00 PM Eastern on April 23, with a copy to President-Elect Roman Hernandez (rhernandez@schwabe.com) and to General Counsel Ignacia Moreno (Ignacia.moreno@ge.com). 
 
The following positions on the Board of Governors during the 2009-2010 bar year are subject to election by the membership: 
 
Executive Committee Positions
 
President-Elect - During his or her term, the President-Elect is required to perform such duties as the President or Board of Governors may assign. At the conclusion of his or her term, the President-Elect ascends to the Presidency of the HNBA.  To be eligible for this office, a candidate must have served on the HNBA Board for no less than three (3) years as an Officer, Regional President, Affiliate Member Representative or National Finance Director and attended three quarters of those meetings.  A candidate must also have been admitted to practice law and in good standing at the bar of a state, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States or the District of Columbia for a minimum of seven (7) years as of the time of his or her nomination. If there are no candidates who meet the qualifications for President-Elect, the Nominations Committee will prepare a roster of candidates for consideration by the Executive Committee.
 
Vice-President of Membership -- is responsible for all membership matters and benefits. 
 
Vice-President of Regions -- oversees the Regions including communications with the Regional Presidents and Affiliate Members, increasing Region activities, and having regularly scheduled meetings with Regional Presidents and Affiliate Member Representatives to further advance the purposes of the Association.
 
Vice-President of External Affairs -- acts as the HNBA's liaison with non-affiliated groups and organizations, including creating initiatives and developing programs with these organizations to benefit the Membership.
 
Vice-President of Programs - is responsible for creating initiatives and developing and implementing programs for the benefit of the Membership. 
 
Vice-President of Sections and Committees -- is an ex-officio member of most Sections and Committees of the HNBA, and acts as the Board of Governor's liaison with all Section and Committee chairpersons.
 
Secretary -- receives all Board of Governors reports, prepares, publishes, and keeps the minutes of all meetings of the Membership and all meetings of the Board, maintains the roster of all Officers and other members of the Board, certifies official copies of such minutes and Bylaws and provides notice of all meetings of the Board and the Membership. 
 
Please note that the vice presidents and secretary are not eligible to seek election to the identical office if they have already served two terms, but they may run for other offices (e.g. an individual who has previously served as VP Membership for two terms may not run for the same office, but may run for VP of Regions or for Regional President).  Former National Presidents of the HNBA are ineligible to run for President-Elect.
 
          Regional President Positions
In addition to being Regular Members in good standing and duly licensed and in good standing in the bar of a state or territory of the United States, candidates for Regional President must live in the region they seek to serve.  Among other things, Regional Presidents act as the HNBA's primary liaison and develop and implement HNBA programming in their regions.
 
As a result of a Bylaws change that staggers the regional presidents' tenure and extends their terms to two years, candidates are sought to serve a two-year term (Sept 2009 to the end of the 2011 Annual Convention) as Regional President for each of the regions specified below. 
 
            Region I            (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
            Region III         (NJ)
            Region V           (DC, MD, VA, WV)
            Region VII        (AL, GA, MS)
            Region IX         (IL, IN, MI, WI)
            Region XI         (IA,MN, MO, ND, SD)
            Region XIII       (CO, KS, NE, WY)
            Region XV        (NM, UT)
            Region XVII    (Northern California (from the northern border of CA to no further south than Fresno County, CA), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana)
            Region XIX       (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin)

To Vote in the 2009 Election, You Must Pay Your HNBA Dues On or Before June 1, 2009!  Go to www.hnba.com and Pay Now!!!