The HBA’s core purpose is to further the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. We accomplish our purpose and mission through the work of a small central staff and collaboration with a larger community of volunteer leaders and committees.

HBA members, both individuals and corporations, have requested and expect a consistent and high-quality experience when they engage with the HBA. HBA volunteers, who so generously give of their time and talent, have requested and expect a rewarding and professionally enriching experience. The HBA policies contained herein are designed to address and satisfy both our member and volunteer requirements.  

HBA policies are defined and designed to 

• clarify operating rules and standards
• set boundaries for decision making, and 
• define expectations for compliance with the HBA’s brand

This article contains the current HBA operating policies for the areas defined below. 

These are reviewed and updated bi-annually. Updates are provided to you through the HBA staff and your regional support committees.  

Compliance with these policies helps the HBA maintain brand integrity in the market, consistency and experience from the member perspective, and provides legal protection to the association and its volunteers. Compliance also helps minimize volunteer confusion and frustration, streamline board and committee work and improve the overall experience of our volunteer community. All members of the HBA volunteer community are expected to stay current and comply with all HBA policies. 

All sections had the contact information for each policy author added

Section 2. Corporate Relations

• Updates
  • Policy Users
  • Added a section including CR leadership titles/roles
  • More detail added to sponsorship and corporate partner sales section including sponsorship packages
  • Added a revised reporting section
  • Updated the cross-region and regional committee org charts
  • Revised president/regional director requirements
  • Added committee chair and liaison requirements
  • Revised functional call section

Section 3. European Operations

• Updates
  • Moved from addendum at the end of policy to incorporate into this update
  • Explanation of compliance to GDPR

Section 4. Financial Policy (changed from Section 3)

• Updates
  • Add to “Acceptable use of HBA funds”
    • Preapproval for special event items, i.e. member giveaways, whose spend is expected to be greater than $300 is required by the regional treasurer to ensure the spend is within budget guidelines
• Add section detailing expense reimbursement processes and procedures
  • Expense reimbursement requests should be submitted no later than 3 weeks following the event
  • Reimbursement should be submitted to the hbachptrinvoices@hbanet.org with a copy to the regional treasurer for approval and processing
  • All reimbursement requests should be accompanied by itemized receipts (credit card and bank statements are unacceptable support documents)
  • Coordination between the volunteer and regional treasurer should be conducted to ensure that event expenses are charged to the regional treasurer’s HBA issued credit card
• Notation:
  • Due to the difference in currency, Europe region finances may be managed in a different manner. Please contact the Europe Regional Treasurer for additional guidance.

Section 5. Leadership Appointments

• Updates
  • Updated titles and department from chapter care to development team
  • Removed operating board from policy (no such board at this time)

Section 7. Mediation

• Updates
  • Updated titles and department from chapter care to development team

Section 10. Programming and Events

• Updates
  • Speakers for events: Speakers should never be given attendee registration reports or other information with attendee identifying information.
  • Newly launched affinity groups (< 1 year since formation): recently launched affinity groups can request exemptions from standard pricing policies and member-only attendance policies. Contact HBA Central’s education team to request an exception.
  • Mentoring programs: all regions should aim to field a mentoring program. Regional mentoring programs are a standard offering to be delivered in each region and delivered in one or more geographies within the region. Virtual mentoring programs are also available options for regions as well.

Section 1. Affinity Groups

Policy name and purpose 

HBA maintains a defined set of affinity groups which address the needs, and deliver value to, subgroups within our membership population. Affinity group participation is a member value add. Effective setup and leadership of these groups is critical to their success.

HBA’s affinity group policies define how new affinity groups are established within the HBA and how, when and why legacy affinity groups are discontinued.

Policy authors

Liz Coyle, value offerings, executive vice president

Petrina Hurtado, membership, manager

Policy users

This policy should be adhered to by all HBA members and HBA leaders including: chapter and affiliates board members, regional directors, COE presidents, regional council members, global committees and their chairs and affinity group committees and volunteers.

Definition of an affinity group

Affinity groups are self-forming communities of HBA members who connect through a common interest, focus or need associated with their career and professional development. Affinity groups provide additional value for members from professional networking, development and career support with a specific specialty or focus. Affinity group participation, as either a volunteer or event attendee, is limited to HBA members.

Affinity groups offer a variety of ways to be involved and engage including: virtual communities for discussion and dialogue; in-person or virtual programs focused on group specific information and education; networking and development opportunities for members within their HBA chapter and/or local geography; platforms for members to share and expose their work and accomplishments.

HBA members have the exclusive opportunity to participate in one or many affinity groups based on their individual professional needs.  HBA members can move in and out of the groups per their individual professional needs. Any HBA member can attend any affinity group event, regardless of their being a registered member of the affinity group. 

Affinity group operations

Affinity groups are self-managed in accordance with HBA operating policies and procedures and under the guise of a global committee chair, who sets overarching strategic direction and priorities for group, and facilitates collaboration and coordination across the regional groups. The global committee chair works directly with a member of the HBA senior staff to ensure alignment of the group’s activities with HBA’s mission, values and priorities. The primary HBA staff contacts for global affinity group chairs include HBA’s Membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings. 

Established affinity groups are led by a regional director volunteer leader who sits within the regional programming COE, ‘reporting’ to the programming COE president. The regional director forms and manages their own volunteer committee and ensures compliance with regional and HBA central operating policies and procedures.   

Affinity groups may offer programs or events providing specific information, education and/or access to relevant industry leaders related to their specific focus. 

Affinity group events are planned and executed at the regional level by affinity group volunteers under auspices and guidance of the affinity group regional director and must adhere to all HBA event policies. 

Member opportunity 

HBA members can join one or many affinity groups and can move in or out of them per their individual professional needs. Any HBA member can attend any HBA affinity group event. 

Established affinity groups

Established affinity groups are shown on HBA’s website www.hbanet.org/affinity-groups. Groups which are in the formation stages are added to that website page once they are approved, branded and announced. 

Establishing new affinity groups 

The HBA will establish affinity groups where there is sufficient member interest. At least twenty-five (25) members in a region must demonstrate interest in order for an affinity group to be considered.

New groups must move through four stages of formation to ensure there is both member interest and leadership capacity for the group to be successful. HBA staff work with the interested members through these stages of formation.

Groups which successfully complete the formation stages must present an action plan for the affinity group to the HBA Membership manager and the executive vice president, value offerings. These two HBA staff leaders make the final determination on the affinity group status and will establish the official affinity group name. 

HBA’s membership manager will also:

• coordinate the launching of the new affinity group with the relevant regional council leaders
• coordinate the announcement of the new group across the HBA membership
• coordinate the announcement of the new group and regional director to HBA staff and related affinity group set up and launch activities
• introduce the new affinity group regional director to the appropriate programming COE president and global committee chair.

Formation stages for new affinity groups

Affinity groups must complete the following four formation stages: 

Establish interest: HBA members interested in forming an affinity group connect and discuss the opportunity with other members to assess level interest. These members are encouraged to use the HBA community and HBA newsletters to create awareness and identify interest in the new affinity. Arranging informal networking and/or meet up sessions helps build awareness and interest. 

Designate a leader: at least one group member must agree to act as an interim group leader for the affinity group and work with group members to create goals and objectives for the group. This leader works with HBA Membership manager to get connected with the appropriate volunteer leaders and committees in their region for ongoing support and for training and best practices regarding affinity groups.

Organize an affinity group event: the interim group leader, along with a few volunteers, coordinate the planning and execution of a group event – virtual or in person – to assess and demonstrate member interest in the affinity. This event committee, works with their regional marketing committees, to promote the event and work among themselves to plan and execute this event according to HBA event policies. 

Present affinity group proposal: The interim group leader, along with some group members, as appropriate, prepare and submit a proposal for establishing the new affinity group to the HBA Membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings. 

Proposal should include:

• the goals and objectives for the group
• recommendations for a group name
• recommendations for the group leader and identification of committee members
• an action plan for the next twelve (12) months describing thoughts and ideas for group events and member experiences
• a summary of the inaugural group event

Terminating affinity groups 

HBA maintains a defined set of affinity groups which address the needs, and delivers value to, subgroups within our membership population. 

Once established, affinity groups will continue as sanctioned groups as long as the following criteria are satisfied:

1. The affinity group should have at least twenty-five (25) active members participating in at least three regions. “Active” is defined as individuals attending events, working on affinity group committees, supporting/engaging in group discussion via the HBA online community.
2. Affinity group regional directors are actively participating in their group’s global committee meetings.
3. There are at least five (5) volunteers in each of the regional affinity group committees.
4. Each affinity group regional committee must offer at least two (2) affinity group events per year, in person or virtually, to group members in the region. These events can be an ‘HBA event’, planned and executed by HBA members or done in partnership with another (related/relevant) association which shares the affinity group focus.
5. HBA affinity group events should be filled to eighty percent (80%) capacity and at the least break even financially.
6. The HBA online community for the affinity should demonstrate frequent, relevant dialogue among affinity group members.

Affinity group participation and performance will be assessed periodically. Affinity groups which fail to meet fifty percent (50%) of the stated criteria will be put into a probationary status and are at risk to be dissolved. 

The probationary period can extend up to six months. While in the probationary period affinity group leaders will be encouraged to work with HBA Membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings, to address group shortfalls. If at the end of the six-month (6) probationary period the affinity group participation and performance has not improved, the affinity group will be dissolved.

Affinity group governance

HBA membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings, are responsible to establish and appoint global committee chairs for each affinity group. Global chairs are generally appointed when there are three (3) or more like affinity groups up and running¹. The global committee chair sets overarching strategy and priorities for their Affinity group and facilitates collaboration and coordination across the regional groups. The global committee chair works directly with the HBA Membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings, to ensure alignment of the group’s activities with HBA’s mission, values and priorities and is a participating member of the committee of global committee chairs.

Affinity group regional directors are approved and appointed by the HBA executive vice president, value offerings, or HBA vice president, stakeholder relations, in collaboration with the regional programming center of excellence (COE) president and the regional chair (or designated representative).  

When there are only one or two like affinity groups across the HBA, the HBA membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings, act as the global committee chair for the affinity group, work with and through these HBA staff liaisons who are acting as a global committee. Group leaders are invited/welcome to take on coordination roles across the two groups, opening up the opportunity for them to step into a global chair role, and are included in global committee chair meetings of just the affinity group global committee chairs when such meetings are held. New affinity groups are asked to identify a liaison volunteer who acts as the point of contact for information and expertise for other regions interested in forming a similar affinity group. 

Compliance tracking 

Affinity group membership counts and affinity group event performance for each region will be reviewed annually by HBA membership manager and executive vice president, value offerings.  Additionally, the affinity group global committee chair will be asked by the HBA executive vice president, value offerings to provide qualitative assessments of affinity group performance. The quantitative and qualitative data will be used to evaluate affinity group compliance with continuation criteria.

The purpose of these corporate relations policies is to document the policies and procedures governing the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s chapters, affiliates and regional volunteer committees. These policies and procedures establish guidelines for achieving business development goals and objectives including:

• Increasing the number of HBA corporate partners and sponsors
• Engaging current corporate partners
• Selling chapter and regional sponsorships
• Working with chapter and regional committees to satisfy venues/space needs for events
• Providing platform for industry visibility and exposure
• Managing and safeguarding the association’s funds

Policy authors

Ken Burris, corporate relations, senior director, global business development and sales 

Theresa Straub, corporate relations, senior account manager

Lauren Peck, senior manager, corporate development

Kathleen Rietzl, corporate relations, account manager

Jeanne Piceno, corporate relations, coordinator

Policy users

Corporate relations center of excellence (COE) president, regional director business development, regional director corporate engagement, HBA regional leadership, chapters, committee volunteers responsible for business development (sales of sponsorships and corporate partnerships) and corporate engagement (engaging corporate partner companies and their employees with HBA, and development/management of ambassador programs within HBA gold and purple corporate partners).

Policy details
 Customer definitions:

• Corporate partners (CPs): companies purchasing HBA corporate partner packages
• Sponsors: companies who purchase sponsorship packages for HBA events
• Prospects: any company who is a potential new corporate partner or sponsor

HBA staff

• HBA central: Refers all to the HBA’s association personnel
• HBA corporate relations team: all staff managing corporate customers (corporate partners, sponsors, prospects and the HBA volunteer leadership interacting with those corporate stakeholders)

HBA Corporate relations volunteer leadership

• Corporate Relations Center of Excellence (CR COE) president: leads the regional CR COE and provides corporate relations expertise to the region. Involved in engagement/sales strategy development and managing other CR leaders
• Regional directors: the CR COE has two regional directors, for business development and corporate engagement, who manage their area within the region and oversee regional committees
• Corporate relations COE leadership: refers to the CR COE presidents and CR regional directors
• Business Development: serves HBA sponsor companies (non-corporate partners) and prospects
• Corporate engagement: serves HBA corporate partner locations within their geography
• Committee chair: reports to a regional director and leads a committee overseeing a specific geography* within the region, liaising with the chapters within that geography as needed
• Liaison: a volunteer who reports to the committee chair and liaises with one or more corporate customers for the purposes of engagement and sales

*Note: a regional CR committee oversees a particular geography within the region. Specific geographies are defined as needed by the CR COE president and regional directors. If a particular regional geography happens to coincide with a chapter’s geography, it is important to note that the regional committee is responsible for serving the corporate customers within that chapter area, not for serving the chapter needs.

Sponsorship rules

HBA regions, chapters and affiliates must abide by the sponsorship package rules created and distributed by the HBA corporate relations team. Sponsorship packages are available for both year-long sponsorships and event-based sponsorships. Packages cover both cash and in-kind sponsors and include registrations, online recognition, and in-person sponsor recognition. This chart can be found in the Leader Library. 

Regional director business development and business development committee representatives must work with the appropriate HBA staff person to develop plans for contacting current HBA corporate partners to request additional event sponsorship support. 

Event sponsors must be called only “sponsors” and not “corporate sponsors” or “corporate partners” and corporate partner benefits are not to be provided to event sponsors.

Corporate partnership sales

All regional representatives must abide by the corporate partner packages provided by the HBA. Corporate partners receive certain benefits for their level of commitment to the HBA and these benefits are managed by the HBA central corporate relations staff. 

Request for changes to the standard package offerings must be discussed with and approved by the HBA central corporate relations team. 

Corporate partner package sales must follow the appropriate procedures as outlined in our sales processes.

Reporting

Each region should keep up-to-date a list of all prospects, sponsors and corporate partners within their geography. Corporate relations leaders and liaisons should update this list as needed to track revenue for past and upcoming events, prospects for sponsorships and corporate partner packages, local sponsorship agreements from corporate partner companies within their area and other major engagement developments. The HBA central corporate relations team provides the format these templates should follow so that data may be imported into the HBA CRM system for tracking and reporting. 

Corporate relations organizational charts

Responsibilities, communications and reporting

Corporate relations (CR) center of excellence (COE) presidents will be required to:

• contribute as thought leaders to global COE and corporate relations expert on the Regional Council
• integrate COE global strategies and priorities to the regional planning
• coordinate all functions within/across their region’s CR COE committees; ensures all activities are addressed
• primary liaison with regional leaders and other CR COE leaders 
• ensure focus on HBA corporate customers, existing and new

Regional directors will be required to:

• contribute as thought leaders to global COE
• integrate COE global strategies and priorities to the regional planning for their area, business development or corporate engagement
• manage regional COE committees to provide COE expertise and/or offerings to region as needed
• ensure alignment of plans internally within the COE and with the programming COE 
• ensure liaisons properly report interactions and adhere to procedures and policy 

Corporate relations committee chairs will be required to:

• participate in regular calls with their regional director to understand regional corporate relations strategy/priorities and programming needs
• Communicate regularly with chapter(s) in their given geography to understand chapter sponsorship needs and engagement opportunities
• Transfer chapter and regional knowledge and information to their committee liaisons through regular touch points
• Provide input on strategic decisions made affecting their geography

Business development liaisons will be required to:

• find venues/space/sponsors for local events for chapters and regional committees
• secure new sponsors for the HBA
• seek out new corporate partners in region (working in conjunction with company assigned account management team)
• be “the” volunteer pool who approaches companies on the HBA’s behalf 

Corporate engagement liaisons will be required to:

• find venues/space/sponsors for local events for chapters and regional committees  
• liaise with local locations of HBA corporate partner companies to engage them and their employees with the region and chapter, matching company needs with chapter/regional needs and vice versa as needed
• seek out prospective Ambassador Program companies (currently Purple, Gold and select Silver corporate partners only)
• be “the” volunteer pool who engages companies on the HBA’s behalf, working to entrench the HBA inside that local site.

Functional calls

Corporate relations functional calls will be held each month and will be arranged by the HBA central corporate relations team.. These calls will be required for the CR COE leadership and will include the opportunity for sharing information on best practices, news and updates in business development (new accounts, new sponsors and won/lost corporate partner opportunities), corporate engagement and more. 

The purpose of this section is to document the policies and procedures governing the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s affiliates, chapters and regional volunteer committees with regards to European regulation protecting member’s personal data and currency conversion of membership and event pricing.

The HBA strives to adhere to all laws and policies protecting our members, volunteers, staff and the association. Policies and procedures are established to educate volunteers and staff of legal requirements and to protect the association from legal action. It is the HBAs expectation that all volunteers and staff adhere to established policies and follow procedures for the legal and financial protection of the HBA.

Policy Author

Nycole Joiner, finance and operations, senior director

Policy Users

HBA affiliates, chapters and regional committee and council volunteers who have access to or use member personal data as a function of their committee roles and responsibilities.

General Data Protection Regulation

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European, regulation passed in April 2016 (effective May 2018), governing the collection and sharing of personal information of individuals within the European Union. Personal data is defined as any information that can be used to distinguish one person from another (name, phone number, address, email, etc.). The HBA acknowledges and abides with all legal requirements protecting members’ personal data and does not significantly affect required business operations.  

Committee Responsibility:

It is the policy of the HBA to not share personal information outside of the association. All committees are required to respect member’s personal data and only use the method of contact the member has selected as their preference to receive communication from the HBA. 

Committees may be required or need to export or download data from licensed HBA software or systems, to perform assigned job functions. All data downloaded from HBA approved software and systems, must be permanently deleted within seven days of downloading. If data is not deleted or destroyed within the specified timeline, and a breach occurs, the committee member may be personally liable for any legal damages incurred from the data breach.

Emails and Faxes:

Committees work both virtually and in-person. When data is shared electronically, it is the responsibility of the sender and receiver to ensure the data is permanently deleted from the computers within seven days of sending and receiving the data. Data should be deleted from the emails and the computer’s hard drives. 

Data received via fax are subjected to the same seven-day disposal and destroy timeline.  If data is not deleted or destroyed within the specified timeline, and a breach occurs, the committee member may be personally liable for any legal damages incurred from the data breach.

Data Breach:

If at any time a member’s personal information is compromised or believed to have been accessed without permission (misplaced attendee list, hacked email accounts, etc.), committees are to immediately contact the HBA’s Data Protection Officer at njoiner@hbanet.org. HBA central will issue a notice to the membership in accordance with the breach communication plan.

Should the committees have or receive any questions from members regarding the collection, sharing or protection of personal data, please reference a copy of the HBA’s Data Protection policy posted on the association’s website https://www.hbanet.org/hba-data-protection-statement. 

Currency Conversion:

The HBA currently accepts Euros and USD. The Euro Currency conversion rates are updated twice a year, January 1 and July 1, using rates listed on www.oanda.com. If deemed necessary, membership rates will be updated twice a year to reflect the change in the currency translation. 

The purpose of these financial policies is to document the policies and procedures governing the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s affiliates, chapters and regional volunteer committees with regards to financial transactions. These policies and procedures: 

• Establish guidelines for developing financial goals and objectives;
• Making financial decisions;
• Managing and safeguarding the association’s funds

These policies have been established to ensure a positive and rewarding volunteer experience, clarify rules and standards, and setting clear guidelines for decision-making and responsibilities with regards to HBA and financial transactions.

Policy Authors

Nycole Joiner, finance and operations, senior director

Laurie Cooke, president and CEO

Policy Users

HBA affiliates, chapters and regional committee and council volunteers responsible for fiduciary management and oversight.

Policy Details

Use of Chapter Funds

Chapter and regional budgets, should be designed in accordance with HBA’s strategic operating plan and demonstrate a clear roadmap as to how the region, and supporting chapters and committees, will achieve the financial goals for the calendar year. 

Acceptable use of HBA funds include:

• Reasonable food and beverage costs related to educational programs,  membership engagement and retention 
• Venue, food and beverage and vendor commitments for signature events (contracts must be pre-approved by regional treasurer and HBA’s director of finance and operations in accordance with financial delegation of authority);
• Gift cards with no negotiable value used as giveaways ($100 max per gift), not to exceed two per event;
• Volunteer awards and recognition; gifts not to exceed $25 in value per member;
• Normal reasonable administrative supplies;
• Quarterly face-to-face committee meetings not to exceed $25pp per meeting; committees are encouraged to seek sponsored venues for meetings space; 
• Reasonable yearly marketing expenses will be provided by HBA Central’s marketing department;
• Leadership travel for required in-person meetings and trainings
• Required and/or necessary travel between chapter, regional and flagship programs.
• All IT and software planned expenditures should be approved by HBA’s Central Director of Information Technology. ALL purchases made with HBA funds are HBA property. Regional treasurer must maintain tracking of all property and coordinate with HBA’s Director of Information Technology for return of assets. 
• Preapproval for special event items, i.e. member giveaways, whose spend is expected to be greater than $300 is required by the regional treasurer to ensure the spend is within budget guidelines

Unacceptable expenses

• Registration fees for flagship events (Annual conference & WOTY)
• Non-HBA related travel
• Cash awards
• Personal telephone charges, personal gifts
• Unidentified miscellaneous expenses in bulk without supporting details;
• Free meals, alcohol or entertainment not directly linked to business development

Expense reimbursement processes and procedures

• Expense reimbursement requests should be submitted no later than 3 weeks following the event
• Reimbursement should be submitted to the hbachptrinvoices@hbanet.org with a copy to the regional treasurer for approval and processing
• All reimbursement requests should be accompanied by itemized receipts (credit card and bank statements are unacceptable support documents)
• Coordination between the volunteer and regional treasurer should be conducted to ensure that event expenses are charged to the regional treasurer’s HBA issued credit card
• Due to the difference in currency, Europe region finances may be managed in a different manner.  Please contact the Europe Regional Treasurer for additional guidance.

Delegation of Financial Authority:

Regional Treasurer has authority to approve

• unbudgeted expenses up to $3k; over $3k goes to Director of finance and operations (Central)
• over budgeted expenses up to $3k
• contract-signing authority up to $10,000 after reviewing with HBA lead to ensure contract complies with expectations.

Procurement and Processing Committee has authority to process expenses in alignment with

-     approved budget; 

• unbudgeted and exceeded budgeted expenses go to Treasurer for final decision per delegation of authority rules.

Event Planning/Programming Lead plans expenditures in accordance with approved budget.

Refund Policy

Cancellations/refunds must be submitted in writing to events@hbanet.org. Registration fees are 100% refundable one week prior to the event. No refunds will be granted once the event has ended.

Budget Assumptions and Process

The budget supports the ongoing operation of the association’s strategic plan and achievement of the financial plan is critical for the association to continue its reach and impact in deliverance of the mission. Financial key performance indicators may vary each year in accordance with updates to the association’s strategic plan. 

General budget assumptions are:

• Membership – count targets are assigned by HBA Central;
• Event revenue and expenses should be calculated using the program toolkit (found in the Leader Library under programming) 
• Chapter events should include virtual WOTY event when budgeting
• $3,000 minimum sponsorship target for newly transitioned affiliates to chapter status.

The business planning and budgeting process begins with the mid-year leadership retreat. 

Compliance Tracking 

Financial Performance

Compliance tracking is measured through monthly financial actual versus budget reporting. Regional finance committees have real-time access to financial data and are required to review and communicate significant anticipated changes to Central’s finance team.

Regional finance committees are required to review monthly and quarterly financials with the regional committees, in accordance with the below timelines. Once reviewed and complete, the regional treasurer must provide written confirmation to HBA Central’s finance team they have completed review of the financials. 

Committee Calls

Quarterly treasurer calls will held the last week of each quarter-end. Treasurers, or a member of their finance committee, is required to attend. 

Have all positions in region filled by ‘appointment’; leverage decision teams representing the region, the functional area and the staff to ensure oversight. All volunteer leaders must be members in good standing of the HBA.

Policy authors

Barbara Bull, organizational growth and development, director

Amy Crolius, stakeholder relations, vice president

Purpose

 Maintain objectivity and effective oversight of leader choices; ensure local focus/knowledge/insights /representation in process; reduce/eliminate unnecessary administration; Simplify, simplify, simplify… with sufficient oversight.

Policy users

HBA leaders including: chapter and affiliates board members, regional directors, COE presidents, regional council members, global committees and their chairs and affinity group committees and volunteers.

Policy details

Nominating committee

Regional engagement COE president chairs the regional nominating committee and leads the process.  The nominating committee includes regional council chair, deputy chair and regional engagement COE president/

Regional council leadership roles

Executive committee: chair and deputy chair

• Approved by regional chair and HBA director organizational growth and development 
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional consecutive two year term (four years total))

Treasurer

• Approved by HBA director organizational growth and development and HBA senior director finance and operations
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional consecutive two year term (four years total))

Council:

Regional council of chapter presidents chair (RCCP) is established when six or more chapters exist in a region. Until that time, all chapter presidents in the region sit on the regional council.

• Approved by winner by majority vote of current chapter presidents within the region
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional consecutive two year term (four years total))

Centers of Excellence 

Presidents:

• Approved by regional council chair, the respective global committee chair and HBA staff member responsible for the functional area. 
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional consecutive two year term (four years total))

Regional Directors:

• Approved by regional council chair, the respective global subcommittee chairs and HBA staff member responsible for the functional area
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional two consecutive terms for a specific role (six years total))

Committee leads and subcommittee leads:

• Approved by regional council chair, the respective global subcommittee chairs and HBA staff member responsible for the functional area
• Term: One year (option to be appointed for an additional five consecutive terms for a specific role (six years total))

Chapter leadership roles

Executive committee: president, vice president, operations director

• Approved by regional council chair, deputy chair and HBA director organizational growth and development
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional consecutive two year term (four years total))

Directors at large

• Approved by chapter executive committee
• Term: Two years (option to be appointed for an additional two consecutive terms for a specific role (six years total))

Committee leads and subcommittee leads:

• Approved by chapter executive committee
• Term: one year (option to be appointed for an additional five consecutive terms for a specific role (six years total))

Policy Authors

Nancy White, marketing and communications, director

Phil George, marketing and communications, senior manager

Social media 

2018 Transition Plan 

The launch of the HBA’s new operating model offers members and the community greater access to all HBA offerings including regional events and initiatives as well as opportunities to engage with a broader spectrum of influential leaders and experts.  

With the transition to our new organization model, and a regional team in place to provide direct support to chapter leaders and volunteers—all existing chapter social media channels have been transitioned to a regional channel. 

For example, the “HBA Metro chapter” channels have been transitioned to “HBA NY/NJ region”. 

All affinity groups have also been transitioned to the regional level.

Specific chapter names can be identified with a chapter hashtag*, such as #HBASeattle, to denote and promote specific chapter events or offerings. 

The HBA Central staff will maintain a list of social media user names and passwords for all accounts so that a master list is available. This central repository of accounts will help new volunteers when they transition into their roles.

The regional marketing and communications COE president has manager rights to each account.

*Contact your regional marketing and communications COE president for your approved chapter hashtag. 

HBA Central Channels 

The use of social media by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s regions, chapters, affiliates, and members is encouraged when it supports the core purpose of the HBA. Social media offers real time, low or no-cost marketing, networking and communications opportunities that support the work of the HBA. HBA social media should not be used for personal, political, commercial or other uses. 

Social media is a timely and engaging networking platform that can foster brand loyalty for HBA members and allies. It is also a medium that can drive traffic to the HBA website, creating elevated brand awareness. Social media can also benefit the HBA’s understanding of our customers’ concerns and interests, so we can more effectively meet customer needs.

The below list are examples of the many things that can be posted through social media:

• HBA announcements
• Event deadlines
• Award recipients
• Member news
• Photographs/videos from HBA events (with permission of those involved)
  • Please refrain from posting pictures with alcohol 
• News articles that highlight the HBA (organization, chapter or member)
• News articles that support the mission and vision of the HBA

One of the HBA’s primary digital channels is the HBA community (community.hbanet.org) that serves as a discussion forum and also houses our resource library. HBA also uses LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WordPress (blog).

HBA social media recommended best practices 

If you engage in social media outreach on behalf of your region, chapter or as an HBA member, please follow the HBA central guiding principles: 

1. Please do not post events unless they are HBA events or an agreement is in place between the HBA and the outside event sponsors. 
2. Social sites and channels will be monitored and any questionable content removed by the regional team and HBA central staff. 
3. Respect proprietary information and confidentiality.
4. Reply to comments quickly, when a response is appropriate
5. Remember your posts are reflective of you as a professional and your affiliation to the HBA. Please be mindful of tone, personal and political opinions.

It's a conversation. Talk to your readers like you would talk to real people in professional situations. Don't be afraid to bring in your own personality and say what's on your mind. Consider content that's open-ended and invites response. Encourage comments. 

Create some excitement. As a professional non-profit organization, the HBA is an authority in leadership development and networking. Let's share with the world the exciting things we're learning and doing—and open up the channels to learn from others. 

For questions or additional guidance on social media outreach, please consult with your HBA regional director of social media or the regional marketing and communications COE president.

Email marketing policies

In order to abide by federal CAN-SPAM and GDPR laws, and prevent any HBA emails from being designated as spam, HBA chapters are prohibited from sending their own marketing emails to members/prospects at this time. 

All emails must be sent through the Informz platform which is managed by HBA central staff. 

DO
 -Work with the marketing committee to share news on social media and the HBA community
 -Work with the marketing committee to submit articles for the monthly newsletter

DO NOT
 -Send an email to groups of 15 addresses or more
 -Send out your own chapter, regional or affiliate newsletter
 -Send out any communication to all members

For questions or additional guidance on email marketing, please consult with your HBA regional director of social media or the regional marketing and communications COE president.

Compliance Tracking 

The HBA central staff will work with the regional marketing and communications COE presidents, directors at large and committees to monitor and track compliance to the HBA’s policies and procedures. 

If a violation of these policies occurs, the regional team will take action to work with the chapter or affinity group to immediately address and correct the situation. If a chapter has not complied within 15 days, further steps may be initiated to ensure compliance with the Chapter Charter.

Policy Authors

Barbara Bull, chapter development, director

Katie Cammer, chapter development, senior manager

Background 

HBA continues to grow and expand its reach. Much of the work achieved by the organization is driven by dedicated volunteers who give their time and energy to advance the HBA mission. Like any professional environment, volunteers may face challenges arising from interpersonal conflict with one another or differences in opinion. While those conflicts can often be resolved independently and without residual issues, at times a conflict is so great that it has the potential to threaten the productivity and culture of the individuals, chapters, or the larger HBA. 

As the organization grows, the potential for these conflicts grows as well. In conjunction with association best practices and the HBA’s efforts to decrease volunteer workload and increase leadership acumen as part of the new operating model, the HBA is recommending that we introduce additional resources to the existing volunteer removal procedures. 

The new resource is a standing Mediation Committee that will assist volunteer leaders and members across the association to deal with conflicts in a productive and respectful manner.

Mediation committee details

The mediation committee will be a standing committee of seasoned HBA volunteers reporting to the HBA CCP chair and HBA Central staff director chapter care.

Their role is to support board members (at the central or chapter level) to resolve their volunteer, member and board conflicts, and to facilitate resolution before the conflict reaches the point of taking more significant measures, such as calling for the resignation or removal of a director or officer.

The committee is an essential step in the process but the committee’s decision is not binding and is provided as helpful advice to assist the leaders experiencing conflict. While not binding, there is as strong recommendation on the part of the organization’s leadership that the committee’s guidance is followed.

First step in utilizing mediation support

Upon reaching an impasse that warrants a more concerted conflict resolution effort, members of the volunteer group or board in question should notify the staff director of chapter care or the council of chapter presidents (CCP) chair that they are seeking assistance and support. This written notice should include a brief description of the main issues and the efforts that have already been taken to attempt to resolve the situation. 

Staff will review the notice, provide relevant information back to the volunteer group/board on relevant association procedures and best practices that could be useful, and suggests one of the following approaches:

• Request that the parties continue their own efforts to resolve the conflict if progress appears to be underway;
• Refer the issue to the Mediation Committee;
• Refer the issue to legal counsel if there is an immediate legal concern that is outside the scope of the association.

Note: Staff’s role is to facilitate resolution; not to approve or authorize any specific course of action.

Mediation committee process

In the case that the Mediation Committee’s help is warranted, the following process has been designed to support the timely support of the conflict. Adjustments to this process will be made to best meet the needs of the situation.

Leaders experiencing the conflict submit relevant documentation to explain their situation to the committee (in general, this should not exceed a few pages).

A member (or members) of the mediation committee will speak with each member involved in the conflict individually (in person or via phone, skype, etc.) To understand the situation and the parties’ preferred solution.

The mediation committee will facilitate a joint session with all parties (when possible the best practice would be to meet in-person) to develop a shared understanding of the issues so the parties can identify and ideally agree to solutions and next steps.

Steps two (2) and three (3) may be repeated as deemed necessary by the mediation committee based on the severity of the conflict and the willingness of the volunteers experiencing the conflict to stay in the mediation process.

The mediation committee issues a written recommendation shared with all parties on how to move forward.

As the purpose of this process is to help facilitate conflict resolution, the proceedings and the recommendations are confidential to those involved, the CCP chair, staff director of chapter care, the CEO and the HBA board chair. In the instance when there may be legal implications, the HBA executive committee and possibly the board of directors may need to be notified.

The mediation committee process ends with their recommendation. At that point, the volunteers experiencing the conflict are strongly encouraged to follow the recommendations of the mediation committee, and to work to implement a resolution to their conflict. The parties may decide however to progress to the existing Procedures for HBA Board Member Removal as noted in the HBA bylaws to formally remove the board member(s).

Mediation committee charter 

Per the association’s Conflict Resolution Policy and Procedures, the association shall create and maintain a Mediation Committee based on the provisions of this policy. 

Purpose

The purpose of this committee is to support board members (at the central or chapter level) to resolve their own internal volunteer, member or board conflicts, and to facilitate resolution of board conflicts before they reach the point of serious actions, such as calling for the resignation or removal of a director or officer.

First steps for counseling is to attempt to manage the conflict at the chapter/affiliate or regional level with coaching and mentoring the parties involved in the conflict to arrive at an agreed upon solution.

Composition

The committee shall be comprised of three volunteers who have served, or are currently serving, on an HBA board at the chapter or global level. Committee members should be well versed in the association’s policies, bylaws, governance procedures, and operating culture and have a proven track record of sound judgement and stellar leadership skills. 

Term of service

Committee members shall be appointed by the HBA board chair and the HBA chief executive officer and will serve a three-year term that can be renewed at the discretion of the HBA chief executive officer. The terms will be staggered so that a new 3-year term will be appointed annually.

Staff liaison

A member of the chapter care staff team will be assigned to the committee and communicate regularly with the committee and participate in committee activities where appropriate.

Role and authority

The role of the mediation committee is to provide facilitation, advice, and support to parties in conflict, with the ultimate goal of helping the parties themselves to resolve their own conflict. 

In providing service to the parties in conflict, the committee may request information from the parties, share relevant information with the parties, facilitate conversations, give feedback, and make recommendations. The committee is not responsible for resolving the conflict, but rather provides a written recommendation for resolution. 

The parties agree to go through the mediation process until the committee deems that the issue is resolved or the parties decide to progress to the formal removal of the board member(s) as per HBA removal policies. 

Conflict of interest

Committee members must notify the staff liaison immediately if they have any existing relationships or interests with the parties in a particular conflict that would interfere with their neutrality, so they can be excused from that particular process. In this case, a third committee member will be appointed by the HBA CEO.

Procedures for HBA board member removal

In cases of board member conflict, the first step is for the board/parties to attempt to resolve the issue directly, including engaging the association’s Mediation Committee as appropriate. 

If mediation efforts fail, and the board member in question does not wish to resign from the board, and the board remains resolved to remove the board member, then the board will call a special meeting to address the issue, per the bylaws.

Prior to calling the meeting, those who intend to call the meeting should consult staff to advise them on their course of action and to ensure they are in compliance with all local, state, and federal statutes.

The board president, the executive committee, or 25% of the board members may call for a special meeting, and must provide at least five (5) days’ written notice or two (2) days’ personal notice to all board members as to the purpose of the meeting, per the bylaws.

The board member in question must be given the opportunity to address the board prior to a vote being called, with a time limit specified to the board member in advance of the meeting to allow them to prepare comments. After the board member in question has given his or her comments, he or she should be asked to leave the meeting.

After establishing quorum and stating the purpose of the meeting, the discussion and voting on the issue should be done in executive session. 

Membership Event Policy 

The membership event policy is designed to guide chapter and regional member engagement volunteers as to how they might drive membership engagement within their chapter or region through in-person and virtual events focused on HBA membership. The policy is designed to both standardize the offerings across the organization and streamline the process for setup and implementation of these events.

Policy Authors

Petrina Hurtado, membership, manager

Amy Crolius, stakeholder relations, vice president

Policy Users

This policy is used by chapter membership and volunteer engagement committee members, particularly the member outreach and radical hospitality committees; the policy is also relevant to the Engagement COE Presidents, particularly the regional engagement committee.

Policy Details

New member Orientations

New member orientations are complimentary events (often held virtually) that orient new members to the HBA, the region/chapter and volunteer opportunities. These orientations also can be included during a portion of a larger education or networking event. The member outreach committee can coordinate with Programming dals if logistical support is needed for in-person events. The HBA does not provide marketing support for these events other than inclusion in the automated event digest email.

The frequency of these events will be determined by the chapter’s Membership and Volunteering DAL with guidance from the regional Engagement COE President. Chapter size, demand, and volunteer availability will be taken into consideration as part of this planning.

The new member orientation setup form is used to schedule these events on the website. To access this form and detailed instructions as to setting up and holding a new member orientation, reference the new member orientation procedures article in the Volunteer Help Center. A standard orientation deck template is to be used for new member orientations and is also available in the Leader Library.

Member Engagement Events

Membership engagement events are sessions designed primarily to attract new members and/or recapture former members. They are complimentary, small events, with no expenses or revenue. They are open to members and nonmembers. An example of this event type might be a “coffee chat” or happy hour; the focus is on meeting and connecting with new/former members to talk about the HBA. These are typically informal and not content-focused events. 

The HBA does not provide marketing support for these events other than inclusion in the automated event digest email.

The frequency of these events will be determined by the chapter’s Membership and Volunteering DAL with guidance from the Regional Engagement COE President. Chapter size, demand, and volunteer availability will be taken into consideration as part of this planning.

The member engagement event setup form is used to schedule these events on the website. To access this form and detailed instructions as to setting up and holding a new member orientation, reference the member engagement event procedures article in the Volunteer Help Center.

Compliance Tracking 

Membership Event Compliance

• Setup forms will be reviewed by HBA events administration staff and issues/concerns/violations of the guidelines will be addressed as they come up.
• The HBA central staff will work with the Engagement COE Presidents, dals and committees to monitor and track compliance to the HBA’s policies and procedures. 

If a violation of these policies occurs, the regional team will take action to work with the chapter or committee to immediately address and correct the situation.

The membership pricing policy is in place to ensure a consistent pricing strategy across the organization. Membership pricing is set so as to be in line with our financial goals and to reflect the value proposition of membership in the HBA. 

Policy Authors

Petrina Hurtado, membership, manager

Amy Crolius, stakeholder relations, vice president

Policy Users

This policy is used by the chapter membership volunteers and any volunteer who may interact with potential members or renewing members.

Policy Details

Membership Dues

Membership pricing is set by HBA Central and is currently as follows:

*The Young Professional membership rate is for those 30 and under; it includes all benefits of full membership except voting in the annual business meeting and the ability to serve on boards.

Grace Period

There is currently a 30 day grace period for membership renewals. This means that a member has 30 days after their expiration date in which their membership remains active and they can renew at the renewal rate. After the 30 day grace period ends, the member would be considered a “rejoin” and charged the new member rate.

Membership Discounts/Exceptions

In some instances, HBA’s central office may waive the $50 “administrative fee” when a member would like to rejoin; this is done on a case by case basis and the member must contact HBA’s manager of membership to request it. This allows the member to rejoin at the renewal rate rather than paying the new member rate.

Additionally, in conjunction with special events and promotions HBA’s central office may allow new members to join at the renewal rate; these discounts are announced through the website and targeted emails and typically include a promotion code to receive the discounted rate. The Young Professionals membership type is not eligible for any discounts.

Membership dues are never to be discounted at the chapter level; the only discounts available are handled by HBA central as part of the association’s broader strategy. 

Compliance Tracking 

Chapter promotions/discounts

As mentioned in the policy details, membership dues are not to be discounted at the chapter level. In such cases where members/potential members are informed of incorrect pricing, HBA Central will ask the chapter’s DAL of membership and volunteering to communicate with the member in question to correct the situation.

HBA programming should align with the organization’s core purpose and support and advance its mission.

Core purpose: to further the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare.

Mission: The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association is a global nonprofit organization comprised of individuals and organizations from across the healthcare industry committed to:

•          achieving gender parity in leadership positions

•          facilitating career and business connections

•          providing effective practices that enable organizations to realize the full potential of their female talent.

The HBA accomplishes its mission through strong business networks, education, research, advocacy, and recognition for individuals and companies.

Policy authors

Liz Coyle, value offerings, executive vice president, 

Lori Whitehand, education and programming, manager

Policy users

Chapter/affiliate level: Primary responsibility for understanding and complying with the policies contained herein resides at the chapter/affiliate level with the programming director at large. The programming director at large will assure that these policies are adhered to by the members of her content committee, event logistics committee and the sponsor/venue liaison committee. She will also work with the chapter vice president to ensure integrity of programming and events. 

Regional level: Mentoring, affinity group and, in the future, conference programming is administered at the regional level. The programming COE president is responsible for the programming strategy and direction. Regional mentoring, affinity group and conference regional directors provide input on strategy as well and also manage a committee to implement the programs.

These leaders are responsible for understanding and abiding by the policies herein as well as assuring that their committees understand and abide by the policies.

Programming policies 

Quarterly plans 

All chapters/regions must submit a proposed programming plan annually. The budget provided by HBA central, the programming COE president, in consultation with the director of operational excellence, regional treasurer and chapter vice president, determines what types (i.e. mix) of events to conduct in the calendar year to achieve the program revenue and expense targets and to comply with event volume expectations defined in the event frequency section below. 

This information is entered into the annual program planning tool to create the programming framework that sets the proposed number and type of events, pricing, expected revenue, and P&L. Chapter program directors at large and regional directors and their committees use this framework to implement the proposed plan ensuring that the projected revenue amounts align with the overall chapter/regional budgets.

Plans must be submitted by the programming COE president to the HBA education manager as follows:
 

• Oct. 15 – annual draft (general schedule of events) with Q1 details filled in
• Jan. 15 – Q2 and any updates to annual
• Apr. 15 – Q3 and any updates to annual
• Jul. 15 – Q4 and any updates to annual

Once these quarterly plans have been prepared and submitted, it is the responsibility of the chapter programming director at large and the regional directors and her committees to execute the plan in the manner in which it was submitted.

Chapters/regions will receive confirmation from HBA Central that the plan has been received and approved. If revisions are required, chapters/regions will be notified by the chapter education manager within 30 days of submission.

Event content

Event types and descriptions:

Networking events: networking events are designed primarily to make professional contacts, exchange information and make further connections with other HBA members. These member-only events require a small fee for attendees. 

A networking set-up form is required to be submitted for all networking events to open these events for registration.

The HBA named networking events are:

• HBA Supper Club (formerly HB8 or dine arounds)
• HBA Connectcafé
• HBA Connect: [add chapter specific title]

Educational events:   

Educational events are designed with a subject-defined learning component and specific learning objectives. Educational events must include at least one, but up to two, competencies from the HBA leadership competency framework. Speakers should have the appropriate expertise to deliver the program’s content to the designated audience. These fee-based events are open to members and nonmembers. An educational set-up form is required to open these events for registration.

Volunteer recognition events:  

Volunteer recognition events are optional events held to celebrate your volunteers’ work throughout the year. For these events, the programs team should work with the volunteer recognition committee on including any awards in the program and on the logistics surrounding this type of event. These events should reflect the event value and content (i.e. meals, drinks, speakers, etc.). Use the networking set-up form to open registration for these events.

Membership/engagement events: Chapters and regions can also hold membership and engagement events and new member orientations. These events are different than education or networking events due to content, pricing and size and are under the purview of the HBA’s member care team. These are sessions designed primarily to attract new members and/or recapture former members. They are complimentary, small events, with no expenses or revenue. No support is provided from the programming committee or radical hospitality committee volunteers. 

New member orientations: these are complimentary events (often held virtually) that orient new members to the HBA, the region/chapter and volunteer opportunities. These orientations also can be included during a portion of a larger education or networking event. The member outreach committee can coordinate with programming DALs if logistical support is needed. 

HBA event content guidelines 

The following list defines the topics and content the HBA considers appropriate for events:

• Business acumen: financial topics, strategic planning, innovation process, business models; business drivers
• Healthcare industry: trends, issues, challenges; digital/mobile; delivery/accessibility of care; patient-centered healthcare; big data 
• Career planning: development, advancement; goal-setting; role of mentors / sponsors; career pathways, ladders and lattices; leveraging current skills in new industry sectors; successfully navigating a transition; personal branding; enhancing professional visibility
• Leadership: executive presence; confidence; resilience; communication / presentation skills; conflict management; emotional intelligence; negotiation skills; ability to influence; political/organization savvy; team building; relationship building; visioning skills developing/deepening your professional network; facilitating/navigating change; learning agility. 

The following list defines topics/content/focus which is not appropriate for an HBA event:

Any type or level of a sales pitch or promotion; product demonstration(s)

• Political or religious discussions or debates 
• Antitrust issues
• Sexual relations, activity 
• Makeup/skin care
• Child/adult care 

 Speakers for events

Speakers should have appropriate expertise to deliver the program’s content to the designated audience. Generally speaking, current chapter board and regional council members should not serve as presenters of program content, unless they have special expertise that cannot otherwise be accessed. Speakers should never be given attendee registration reports or other information with attendee identifying information.

Location and venues for events

HBA events should be held in locations and venues that support and align with the organization’s mission, vision and brand to advance professional women.
 

Event logistics and/or sponsor/venue liaison committees are strongly encouraged to visit locations and venues prior to finalizing event plans to ensure the environment is appropriate for our members and guests.
 

Questions or concerns about the appropriateness of locations or venues should be determined by the chapter programming director at large.  If concerns still remain, they should move to the operational excellence director and lastly the Programming COE president for decision.

When assessing locations consider the following aspects before scheduling:

• Professionalism: Is it a business/professional environment?
• Partitioning: Are program/event areas sufficiently partitioned to ensure a high-quality experience for attendees? 
• Acoustics: Will the designated area support content delivery (e.g., speakers, discussions)?
• Space: Will the designated area support attendee activities/breakouts, if planned?
• Décor: Are the exterior and interior surroundings and décor appropriate for a professional gathering? 
• Safety: Will attendees feel and be safe as they approach, attend and exit the event?
• Private residences: Holding events at private residences is prohibited.

Scheduling considerations:

The HBA asks that any event scheduling take into consideration religious/cultural holidays and HBA central flagship events (Women of the Year, Annual Conference and Career Conversation webinars). Major religious holidays and HBA flagship events are highlighted on the program planning tool. 

Event pricing: 

The HBA has set minimum pricing requirements for members and nonmembers for all chapter and regional events as described below. 

Affiliate events: 

Before being considered for transition to chapter status, an affiliate is required to hold three (3) events: the first two being revenue neutral and the third being sponsored by a local healthcare company and profitable for the affiliate. Affiliates are permitted to hold events without a fee. However, if there is a fee for an event, affiliates should follow the requirement that nonmember pricing must be at least 50 percent higher than member pricing after the first three events.

Chapter events:

Educational events: no less than $30 member; $45 nonmember (nonmember pricing must be at least 50 percent higher than member price)

Networking events (including volunteer recognition): 

No less than $10; member-only 

Regional events:

• Affinity educational events: no less than $30; member-only
• Affinity networking events: no less than $10; member-only
• Newly Launched affinity groups (< 1 year since formation): recently launched affinity groups can request exemptions from standard pricing policies and member-only attendance policies. Contact HBA Central’s education team to request an exception.
• Women in Transition (WIT) affinity group: The HBA recognizes the importance of attending events for those women who are between positions/careers. Therefore, chapters/regions have the option of offering a 50 percent discount to the member rate for members that are part of a WIT affinity group.
• Mentoring program: no less than $225 program fee that applies to mentees only (mentors do not pay the registration fee); member-only program for both mentors and mentees.

Additional pricing considerations:

Regular and onsite pricing differentials are permissible as long as the lowest price level is still the event minimum set forth above. 

Higher on-site pricing is encouraged as it takes into account the additional administrative work necessary to provide registration at the event location. The onsite registration will be online. Events allowing for onsite registration should leave registration open through the day of the event. 

Requests for onsite registration should be handled using the same online process as was used for regular registration (e.g. complete the registration on a smart phone or tablet at the event and show the registration staff the paid receipt). 

Early bird rates are only available for large events (expected registration over 100 attendees). If early bird rates are used, they are to be set for a fixed window (time frame) and no extensions are permitted to lengthen or shorten that window at any time during the registration period. The early bird rate cannot be lower than the $30/$45 minimums.

Student pricing: 

The HBA does not currently offer student priced memberships and students are not a membership target at this time. As such, beginning in 2018, we will no longer offer student pricing for events except in unusual situations (i.e. event is held at a university with a faculty speaker). If you have an event that you would like a special rate for students, please contact HBA’s education team for information on obtaining a student discount code. Please keep in mind this code will lower the cost only as low as the regular member rate.

HBA Flagship Events:  Flagship events such as virtual Woman of the Year (WOTY) may require a higher minimum fee than regular chapter events.

Event frequency

The HBA has set minimum requirements for the number of revenue generating events held annually. Offerings should adhere and track with the revenue/expense budgets set forth in the annual program planning tool and incorporated in the chapter/regional budget.

Affiliate events: 

Please refer to Affiliate Policy herein this policy handbook. 

Chapter events: 

The HBA requires chapters to hold a minimum number of revenue generating events per year, based on chapter size. This is to ensure that HBA members have significant opportunity to engage and experience HBA value.

Chapters with up to 200 members are expected to offer a minimum of nine (9) revenue generating chapter events annually: three (3) revenue generating events per quarter are recommended. Events should be a combination of education and networking events (e.g., six networking/three education).

Chapters with more than 200 but less than 400 members are expected to offer a minimum of 15 revenue generating chapter events annually. Events should be a combination of education and networking events (e.g. ten networking/five education).

Chapters with over 400 members are expected to offer a minimum of 21 events annually. Events should be a combination of education and networking events (e.g. 14 networking/7 education).

* HBA’s new operating model is designed to support chapters with about 200 members. Therefore, the first row is the most likely scenario for the standard structure.

Regional events:

For 2018, regional revenue generating events are not required but are recommended as follows:

• Affinity groups (if your region has any of the recognized HBA standard affinity groups): a minimum of two events per year either networking, educational or combination (per affinity group). The current affinity groups are detailed on the HBA website.
• Mentoring programs: all regions should aim to field a mentoring program. Regional mentoring programs are a standard offering to be delivered in each region and delivered in one or more geographies within the region. Virtual mentoring programs are also available options for regions as well.

Event audience 

To ensure the expected value associated with HBA membership, the HBA has set specific policies around member/nonmember attendance at events. Adherence to policies are required to maintain chapter certification

Affiliate events:

All events are open to members and nonmembers.

Chapter events:

Education events: open to members and nonmembers

Networking events: open to members only

Regional events:

Affinity groups: members-only for both educational and networking events (exceptions allowed for newly formed affinity groups)

Mentoring program: members-only for both mentees and mentors 

Registration pages

HBA has created type-specific event set-up forms with submission deadlines for opening registration. In order for events to be properly promoted and marketed to assure maximum attendance, please adhere to the following:

• Education events: use the educational event set-up form (chapter/affiliate regional) and submit to events@hbanet.org a minimum of six weeks in advance of the event date
• Networking events: use the networking event set-up form and submit to events@hbanet.org at a minimum of four weeks in advance of the event date
• Affinity groups: adhere to education and/or networking set-up forms and requirements above 
• Mentoring: use the mentoring specific set-up form and submit to events@hbanet.org 14 weeks prior to the program kick-off
• Volunteer recognition: use the networking event set-up form and submit to events@hbanet.org a minimum of four weeks in advance of the event date
• New member orientations:  refer to Section 7 herein for more information on new member orientations

Discounts for sponsors and volunteers 

Volunteer discounts:
 The HBA has set specific guidelines to be used for offering discounts to chapter/region volunteers and leaders. The following chapter/regional volunteers qualify for complimentary registration to chapter/regional events: 

Chapters/affiliates and regions:

Event volunteers and HBA board leaders are entitled to discounts depending on the event budget allowances. All discount codes must be requested where specified on the event set-up form prior to its submission. Once the set-up form is complete, the form is returned to the event team with the codes listed for distribution.

Event logistics and planning volunteers (those working directly on the event) and on-site registration desk volunteers receive a 100 percent discount. This discount is provided for up to six (6) event planning volunteers and up to two (2) registration desk volunteers. 

HBA Board Leaders are eligible for a 50 percent discount which can be used as needed.

Sponsor discounts: 

HBA’s Corporate Relations (CR) team has specific policies regarding discount codes offered to event sponsors. Please refer to the Corporate Partner (CP) policy document and sponsor worksheet that CR has created. The following guidelines are used to determine appropriate sponsor discounts:

Educational events: 

15-30 percent of sponsor attendees are eligible for complimentary registration depending on sponsorship level. Employees of sponsoring organizations are also eligible to register at the member rate. Please work with your CR team to determine appropriate percentage of discounts.

Networking events: 

15-30 percent of sponsor attendees are eligible for complimentary registration depending on sponsorship level. Please work with your CR team to determine appropriate percentage of discounts. Since these events are member only, employees for sponsoring organizations can attend even if not an HBA member and for the member rate. 

Compliance tracking 

Quarterly Plans 

The HBA education team will track submission of the regional and chapter program plans. Programming CEO Presidents not submitting such plans will be notified and required to submit such plan within 30 days. Continued non-compliance with this policy will be subject to the chapter/region being put on probation as they are no longer in compliance.

Event content 

Adhering to the content planning guidelines is critical to the overall success of HBA programming. Repetitive non-compliance with HBA’s content policies will trigger action per the region or chapter certification of compliance.

Event pricing 

The minimum pricing requirements will be reviewed by the HBA event services administrator upon submission of the required event set-up form. Events not adhering to set policy will be sent back to the chapter programs DAL, the regional director or the regional operational excellence director for revisions before registration can be opened. Repetitive non-compliance with HBA’s pricing policies will trigger action per the region or chapter certification of compliance.

Event frequency 

The HBA education team will review completed events following each quarter. Programming CEO Presidents of chapters/regions under-performing will be notified and required to make adjustments to bring their revised plan into compliance. Continued non-compliance with this policy will be subject to the provisions contained in the region or chapter certification of compliance.

Event audience 

Adherence to the member/nonmember requirements will be reviewed by the HBA event services administrator upon submission of the required event set-up form. Events not adhering to set policy will be sent back to the chapter programs DAL or regional operational excellence director for revisions before registration can be opened.

Registration and set-up forms 

Usage and submission of the correct set-up form type to initiate registration will be reviewed by the HBA event services administrator upon submission of the required event set-up form. Events not adhering to set policy will be sent back to the chapter programs DAL or regional operational excellence director for revisions before registration can be opened.

Discounts for sponsors and volunteers 

HBA Central will monitor the discounts provided and alert, at the regional level, the Corporate Relations COE President and/or the Programming COE President, and at the chapter level the programming DAL. Chapters/regions not adhering to the policies will be notified and required to comply with the policy for future events. Continued non-compliance with this policy will be subject to the provisions contained in the region or chapter certification of compliance.

Policy Authors

HBA Global Board

Laurie Cooke, president and CEO

Conflict of interest policy

Policy statement

A conflict of interest arises when a person in a position of authority at the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) may benefit financially from a decision she or he could make in that capacity, including indirect benefits such as to family members or businesses with which the person is closely associated. This policy is focused upon material financial interest of, or benefit to, such persons covered by this policy who are officers (HBA and chapter/affiliate), directors (HBA and chapter/affiliate), employees, contractors or volunteers (each, a representative” and collectively, the “representatives”) of the HBA or any of its chapters/affiliates.

Rationale/purpose

The HBA expects each representative to be constantly aware of the dangers inherent in situations that give rise to conflict of personal interests with those of the HBA.  Although complete avoidance of all conflicts of interest is not always possible, the HBA expects the kind of loyalty and ethical consciousness that will motivate an individual to recognize situations and circumstances that could produce a conflict in order to take appropriate action to address and resolve.

Procedures/process

Duty to disclose. In connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested representative must disclose the existence of the financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to (a) if a representative of the HBA, to the HBA board of directors, or (b) if a representative of an HBA chapter/affiliate, to the chapter/affiliate board of directors.

Determining whether a conflict of interest exists. After disclosure of the financial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, he/she shall be recused from the HBA board of directors’ or chapter/affiliate board of directors’ conversations while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon.  The remaining HBA board of directors or chapter/affiliate board of directors shall decide if a conflict of interest exists.

Per the procedures for addressing the conflict of interest referenced in the Mediation Committee document committee members must notify the staff liaison immediately if they have any existing relationships or interests with the parties in a particular conflict that would interfere with their neutrality, so they can be excused from that particular process. In this case, a third committee member will be appointed by the HBA CEO.

If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement not producing a conflict of interest is not reasonably possible under circumstances, the HBA board of directors or chapter/affiliate board of directors shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in HBA’s or the chapter’s/affiliate’s (as applicable) best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination it shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement.

Violations/potential violations of the conflict of interest policy

Reporting of policy breaches:

• A complaint, report or inquiry may be made under this policy on a confidential or anonymous basis.
• The above should describe in detail the specific facts demonstrating the basis for the complaint, report or inquiry.
• The complaint, report or inquiry should be directed to the HBA chapter care team.  

Disposition of policy breaches

The HBA chapter care team will review the complaint, report or inquiry to determine:

• Credibility of the complaint, report or inquiry
• Severity of offense
• Potential course(s) of action
• If there appears to be substance to the complaint, report or inquiry, the situation will be brought to the attention of the mediation committee

If the chapter care team finds substance to the complaint, report or inquiry, the chapter care team will present the situation and recommended course of action to the HBA mediation committee.

In the case that the Mediation Committee’s help is warranted, the following process has been designed to support the timely support of the conflict. Adjustments to this process will be made to best meet the needs of the situation.

Leaders experiencing the conflict submit relevant documentation to explain their situation to the committee (in general, this should not exceed a few pages).

A member (or members) of the mediation committee will speak with each member involved in the conflict individually (in person or via phone, skype, etc.) To understand the situation and the parties’ preferred solution.

The mediation committee will facilitate a joint session with all parties (when possible the best practice would be to meet in-person) to develop a shared understanding of the issues so the parties can identify and ideally agree to solutions and next steps.

Steps 2 and 3 may be repeated as deemed necessary by the mediation committee based on the severity of the conflict and the willingness of the volunteers experiencing the conflict to stay in the mediation process.

The mediation committee issues a written recommendation shared with all parties on how to move forward.

As the purpose of this process is to help facilitate conflict resolution, the proceedings and the recommendations are confidential to those involved. In the instance when there may be legal implications, the HBA executive committee and possibly the board of directors may need to be notified.

The mediation committee process ends with their recommendation. At that point, the volunteers experiencing the conflict are strongly encouraged to follow the recommendations of the mediation committee, and to work to implement a resolution to their conflict. The parties may decide however to progress to the existing procedures (found in Appendix II) to formally remove the volunteer board member(s).

Policy review and acknowledgement

When applying for their role, each HBA and regional/chapter/affiliate board member, officer, employee and volunteer will read the confidentiality policy and acknowledgement their agreement.

The above-referenced review/acknowledgement shall occur:

• In the majority, during the fourth quarter, subsequent to HBA and chapter board of directors elections, and not later than January 1st of the following year.
• Upon an individual becoming a director, officer, employee or volunteer of HBA, regardless of time of year

Access to HBA and/or chapter/affiliate documents, resources, meetings, etc. shall be denied until they have acknowledged their receipt and acceptance of these policies. 

Roles and responsibilities

HBA board and chapter/affiliate boards

• Oversees process outlined in article V
• Determines whether a conflict of interest exists based on information provided by relevant sources (i.e. Acknowledgement form, external sources of information)

HBA regional deputy chair/chapter operations directors

• Records all minutes of the HBA board meetings. 
• The minutes shall reflect a conflict of interest was disclosed, the decision of the board that confirms whether a conflict exists and whether the interested party was recused during the final discussion or vote on the business issue at hand if a conflict exists.
• Draft/update as appropriate acknowledgement form, and attach current copy of this document in Section XI below.
• Enforces compliance with this policy by providing clarification to questions concerning the intent and administrative processes associated with the policy.
• Supports the HBA staff to:
  • Insure the policy and acknowledgement forms have been distributed
  • Secure completed forms in a timely manner
  • Collect and file all completed signed acknowledgement forms and maintain in the master file on an annual basis
• Ensures the chapter/affiliate secretaries execute their duties with respect to this policy.
• Includes awareness of potential conflicts, conflicts and complaints/reports/inquiries at the chapter/affiliate level in her/his board report(s).
• Leads process to resolve matters escalated from chapter/affiliate board(s) to the HBA board.

HBA staff

• Work in accordance with regional deputy chair and chapter operations director to:
  • Disseminate the policy and acknowledgement form
  • Secure executed acknowledgement forms
  • Keep HBA secretary/treasurer and chapter/affiliate secretaries apprised of individuals who have not yet executed/submitted acknowledgement form
  • In absence of completed acknowledgement form, work with relevant staff, HBA board directors, and chapter/affiliate board directors to restrict access to HBA information and resources typically available to HBA representatives.

 Further explanation/support

The HBA board of directors recognizes that to fulfill the association's responsibilities to its members and the healthcare industry at large, it is dependent upon qualified and dedicated leadership. Additionally, the US Internal Revenue Service has issued a new Form 990 annual tax return/report that must be submitted by most federal income tax exempt organizations that, to a significant extent, is an effort to gain greater disclosure and improved governance in nonprofit tax-exempt organizations. 

Because one aspect of determining qualifications is avoidance of conflicts of interest, HBA supports this conflict of interest policy.

Confidentiality policy

Policy statement

It is the policy of the HBA that its directors (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate), officers (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate), employees and volunteers shall not disclose, divulge, or make accessible confidential information belonging to, or obtained through their affiliation with the HBA to any person, including relatives, friends and business and professional associates, other than to persons who have a legitimate need for such information and to whom the HBA has authorized disclosure. Directors (HBA and chapter/affiliate), officers (HBA and chapter/affiliate), employees and volunteers shall use confidential information solely for the purpose of performing services for the HBA.

This confidentiality policy (this “policy”) is not intended to prevent disclosure where disclosure is required by law.

Rational/purpose

Confidentiality is a hallmark of professionalism. The directors (HBA and chapter/affiliate), officers (HBA and chapter/affiliate), employees and volunteers of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Inc. (“HBA”) shall ensure that all information of the HBA or of a third party that is obtained while performing duties for or on behalf of the HBA, that is confidential or privileged or that is not publicly available, is not disclosed inappropriately.

Scope of policy

Who should read?

Representatives, defined as:

• Directors (HBA, regional or chapter/affiliate)               
• Officers (HBA, regional or chapter/affiliate)
• Employees                                                    
• Volunteers
• Contractors

Procedures/process

Dissemination/Acknowledgement of Policy

Every board leader or committee member (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate), employee and volunteer will read the confidentiality policy and sign the acknowledgement form, provided by HBA central.

Guarding confidential information

Board leaders or committee members (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate), employees and volunteers of the HBA must exercise good judgment and care at all times to avoid unauthorized or improper disclosures of confidential information.

Conversations in public places, such as restaurants, elevators, and airplanes, should be limited to matters that do not pertain to information of a sensitive or confidential nature.

Board leaders or committee members (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate), employees and volunteers of the HBA should be sensitive to the risk of inadvertent disclosure, including but not limited to:

• Refrain from leaving confidential information on desks or otherwise in plain view
• Refrain from the use of speakerphones to discuss confidential information if the conversation could be heard by unauthorized persons.

Separation from HBA

At the end of a board leader or committee member (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate) term in office or upon the termination of an employee’s employment or a volunteer’s service, he or she shall return to HBA or destroy all documents, papers, and other materials, regardless of medium, that may contain or be derived from confidential information in his or her possession.

Compliance

Disclosure of confidential information will be viewed as a serious offense and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including:

• Removal as a board leader or committee member (HBA, regional and chapter/affiliate)
• Termination of employment
• Dismissal from the volunteer position.
• Civil lawsuits, depending on the circumstances
• Violations/potential violations of the confidentiality policy

Reporting of policy breaches:

• A complaint, report or inquiry may be made under this policy on a confidential or anonymous basis.
• The above should describe in detail the specific facts demonstrating the basis for the complaint, report or inquiry.
• The complaint, report or inquiry should be directed to the HBA chapter care team.  

Disposition of policy breaches

The HBA chapter care team will review the complaint, report or inquiry to determine:

• Credibility of the complaint, report or inquiry
• Severity of offense
• Potential course(s) of action
• If there appears to be substance to the complaint, report or inquiry, the situation will be brought to the attention of the mediation committee

If the chapter care team finds substance to the complaint, report or inquiry, the chapter care team will present the situation and recommended course of action to the HBA mediation committee.

In the case that the Mediation Committee’s help is warranted, the following process has been designed to support the timely support of the conflict. Adjustments to this process will be made to best meet the needs of the situation.

Leaders experiencing the conflict submit relevant documentation to explain their situation to the committee (in general, this should not exceed a few pages).

A member (or members) of the mediation committee will speak with each member involved in the conflict individually (in person or via phone, skype, etc.) To understand the situation and the parties’ preferred solution.

The mediation committee will facilitate a joint session with all parties (when possible the best practice would be to meet in-person) to develop a shared understanding of the issues so the parties can identify and ideally agree to solutions and next steps.

Steps 2 and 3 may be repeated as deemed necessary by the mediation committee based on the severity of the conflict and the willingness of the volunteers experiencing the conflict to stay in the mediation process.

The mediation committee issues a written recommendation shared with all parties on how to move forward.

As the purpose of this process is to help facilitate conflict resolution, the proceedings and the recommendations are confidential to those involved. In the instance when there may be legal implications, the HBA executive committee and possibly the board of directors may need to be notified.

The mediation committee process ends with their recommendation. At that point, the volunteers experiencing the conflict are strongly encouraged to follow the recommendations of the mediation committee, and to work to implement a resolution to their conflict. The parties may decide however to progress to the existing procedures (found in Appendix II) to formally remove the volunteer board member(s).

Code of conduct policy

Purpose

HBA has adopted this code of conduct (this “code”) to guide its board of directors (the “board”), officers, committee members, employees, volunteers, independent contractors, agents and other representatives, when acting on behalf of HBA, to enable it to build and continue a tradition of integrity, honor and the advancement of women’s careers in the healthcare industry

The foundation of this code consists of the following basic standards of business compliance as well as personal conduct:

• Honesty, fairness, trustworthiness, and candor in its activities, observing the spirit as well as the letter of the law and regulations;
• Avoidance of conflicts between personal interests and the interests of HBA, or even the appearance of such conflicts;
• Maintenance of its reputation and avoidance of activities which might reflect adversely on HBA;
• Integrity in dealing with HBA’s property and assets;
• Striving to create a safe workplace;
• Fostering an atmosphere in which equal opportunity extends to every member of HBA’s diverse community; and
• Through leadership at all levels, sustaining a culture where ethical conduct is recognized, respected and promoted by all directors, officers, committee members, employees, volunteers, independent contractors, agents and other representatives.

It is every director’s, officer’s, committee members, employee’s, volunteer’s, independent contractors, agent’s and other representative’s responsibility to be familiar with this code and to be sensitive to any situations that may violate it. Claims of ignorance, good intentions and bad advice may not be acceptable as excuses for noncompliance.   

This code is not intended as a stand-alone policy. It does not embody the totality of HBA’s ethical standards, nor does it answer every ethical question or issue that might arise. Rather, it is one element of a broader effort to create and maintain a quality organization that gives ethical conduct the highest priority. This code will be reviewed periodically.

Directors, officers, committee members, employees, volunteers, independent contractors, agents and other representatives should:

• Make all reasonable efforts to satisfy HBA’s constituents’ needs and concerns within the scope of HBA’s purpose, and strive for excellence and innovation and demonstrate professional respect and responsiveness to constituents, donors and others;
• Make an effort to understand, respect and support HBA’s constituents from other cultures, exemplified by the contributions of HBA’s staff and executive leadership, and to contribute to an organizational culture that respects the diverse, individual contributions of staff and leadership;
• Respect the confidentiality of sensitive information about HBA and its directors, officers, committee members, employees, volunteers, constituents, donors, independent contractors, agents and other representatives;
• Comply with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and fiduciary responsibilities in an effort to create transparency in all of our operations;
• For the HBA board, provide credible and effective oversight of HBA’s work without personal bias;
• Not accept commissions, gifts, payments, loans, promises of future benefits or other items of value from anyone who has or may seek some benefit from HBA in return, other than occasional gifts of nominal value that comply with good business ethics;
• Not use the name of HBA (or any part or abbreviation thereof) in connection with any mail campaign, telephone solicitation or other marketing initiative without the advance written approval of HBA;
• Not use HBA’s membership information for commercial purposes;
• Abide by the governing documents and policies of HBA and its chapters;
• Be accountable for adhering to this code;
• Honor HBA’s commitments and promises to the best of our abilities;
• Appropriately acknowledge contributions from other individuals and organizations who help facilitate HBA’s goals; and
• Advocate for all nonprofit organizations, but not for any specific initiative - being respectful to the sector as a whole.

Compliance, monitoring and reporting

The HBA board and its designees are responsible for communicating this code to HBA’s directors, officers, committee members, employees, volunteers, independent contractors, agents and other representatives and for ensuring that such individuals adhere to this code at all times. This code has been reviewed and accepted by the HBA board. The HBA board must approve any changes to, or deviations from, this code.

The volunteer recognition policy exists to standardize the awards which are given to volunteers, in an effort to create consistency, increase awareness of the awards, and increase prestige by ensuring a strong brand for the awards.

Policy author

Petrina Hurtado, membership, manager

Amy Crolius, stakeholder relations, vice president

Policy Users

This policy is used by volunteer recognition committee members, as well as those who are voting on award winners per the award details listed below.

Policy Details

Award Criteria

The HBA has provided a menu of six awards which may be used to recognize volunteers. Detailed criteria for each award can be found in the “HBA Volunteer Recognition Awards” deck in the Leader Library.

The available awards are:

• LEAD award: An annual award, board nominated, for excellence in leadership. Highest level award.
• Legacy award: An annual award, board-nominated, for outstanding contributions over a period of 5+ years.
• Marie Curie award: Awarded annually as needed, board-nominated, for outstanding innovation.
• Everest award: Awarded annually as needed, board-nominated, for significant accomplishment in the face of challenges.
• Honored Volunteer award: A monthly or quarterly award, board-nominated, for recent outstanding volunteer service.
• Spark award: An ongoing peer-to-peer recognition.

Associated rewards

The HBA Volunteer Recognition Awards deck spells out what recipients of each award may receive. These rewards are to be administered by the chapter or region giving the award. A certificate template is available in the leader library.

Nomination and Communication

The volunteer recognition committee manages the nomination process for all awards. There are three templates available in the HBA volunteer Survey monkey account which must be used to collect nominations for each award- detailed instructions for using the templates is available in the document titled “How to create chapter nomination collectors” in the Leader Library.

Communication of awards must be planned in conjunction with the chapter or regional marketing and communications team. 

In-person recognition of award winners must be planned in conjunction with the chapter or regional programming team.

Compliance Tracking 

The HBA central staff will work with the Engagement COE Presidents, dals and committees to monitor and track compliance to the HBA’s policies and procedures. 

If a violation of these policies occurs, the regional team will take action to work with the chapter or committee to immediately address and correct the situation.