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AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN UKRAINE COMMITTEE FRAMEWORK

FUNCTION

Provide Chamber Members with an pportunity to actively and directly participate in defining, developing, discussing, and resolving issues impacting the operations of their businesses and organizations in Ukraine.

COMMITTEE INITIATION

Any Chamber Member in good standing (i.e. Membership dues paid in full) can request that the Board of Directors create a ‘standing’ Committee or ‘ad hoc’ Working Group to address issues common to multiple Members. The Board of Directors will determine the need for the proposed Committee on the basis of Member interest and alignment with the strategic Vision and Mission of the Chamber.

MEMBERSHIP

• Chamber Committees shall be open to all Chamber Members in good standing.
• The Chamber office shall maintain an up-to-date electronic database of all Members who desire to be active in a particular Committee.
• The appropriate Chamber Policy Officer (Committee Coordinator) shall be responsible for circulating information and minutes of all meetings to all Committee Members and include appropriate information in the archive on the Chamber’s website and SharePoint platform.
• The Committee leadership in conjunction with active Committee Members shall comprise the Committee list for the purpose of receiving Committee materials and voting for Leadership positions.
• Only those Chamber Members that are included into the database of a Committee before the election nomination process begins shall be eligible to vote for the Committee Leadership.
• The Chamber office shall actively participate in recruiting Members for the Committees.
• Non-Chamber Members may participate in Committee discussions when deemed appropriate by the Committee leadership and agreed upon by the Chamber’s administration; however, they will not receive mailings nor be allowed to vote.
• Non-Chamber Members may participate in up to two (2) Committee meetings before Membership becomes compulsory to continue participation.

ORGANIZATION / ACTIVITY

• Each Committee, on an annual basis, shall elect 3 Co-Chairs having equal rights and acting as the Leadership of that Committee. There is an option to appoint a legal advisor of the Committee who is one of its active members upon Committee Leadership and Chamber administration approval.
• An individual among the Committee Leadership may be removed from their elected position if a decision by the Chamber Board of Directors deems them to be sufficiently inactive or acting against the interests of the Chamber or the Committee in which they are serving, which would in turn warrant a new election to replace that individual for the benefit of the overall Committee in question.
• Committees shall meet regularly, on a schedule appropriate to their issues and level of activity.
• Minutes of Committee meetings shall be prepared by the Chamber Policy Officer (Committee Coordinator) and, upon approval of the Committee Leadership, circulated to Committee participants and posted on the Chamber’s website.
• Only those Members in ‘good standing’ and who maintain active Committee status (to be determined by Chamber Policy Officer (Committee Coordinator) taking into consideration attendance, electronic mail traffic, participation in relevant events, etc.) shall be allowed to vote should a vote be taken to express a Committee’s position.
• Committees shall be encouraged to develop mission statements, annual activity agendas and position papers expressing the views of the Committee on issues relevant to the Committee’s interest.

AUTHORITY

• Committee decisions should be supported through building consensus among all participating Committee members.
• If one or more participating Committee Members disagree with a Committee decision, it shall be the responsibility of the Chamber’s President and Board of Directors to finalize the decision at their discretion.
• It shall be the responsibility of the Chamber’s President and Board of Directors, as vested by the Membership as a whole, to express the policy of Chamber and to manage the release of policy statements to the public.
• The Committee shall submit all position papers to the Chamber President for approval before a public release of the paper occurs.
• If the Committee does not agree with the decision taken by the Chamber President, an explanatory letter developed by the Committee can be submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration.
• If the Committee does not concur with a Board's action with respect to positions adopted by the Committee, the Committee can bring the issue to the Membership as a whole.
• Committees shall have the right to seek and use resources necessary for understanding of issues falling within the realm of the Committee.