ICCC Communique #1

Members Communique #1 (May 2017)


ICCC AGM 2017
We had a highly productive Annual General Meeting (AGM 2017) of the ICCC Members on the 22nd of April 2017. It drew a record attendance this year – 40 members attended the meeting and nearly 65 proxies were received from other members. The reports presented at the AGM are on the website: https://icccottawa.org/agm-2017-reports/.

Key highlights of the AGM 2017

  1. Board Elections: After conducting due diligence, the Nomination Committee Chair, Indu Gambhir presented the nomination and election proceedings to the General Body, and submitted the final slate of seven candidates to the AGM for approval:
  • Anil Agrawal
  • Subodh Anand
  • Chan Chandramouli
  • Rekha Dogra
  • Balu Kuriya
  • Maitreyi (Mita) Saha
  • Kanwal Talwar

The General Body passed a resolution to declare these seven members elected. Your Board members are experienced individuals with a proven track record of community service and a breadth of skills.

The incoming Board members are thankful for the trust vested in them to conduct the affairs of the corporation for two years.

  1. Community Centre Property: Mr Nitya Varma presented a Community Centre Property report and proposed to explore a joint project with the City of Ottawa for an Indo-Canadian Community Centre. The General Body passed a resolution that Mr Varma chair an exploration committee to further explore the joint project with the City of Ottawa and submit a final report of findings and conclusion within six months. This report will be presented at a Special General Meeting (SGM) of ICCC Members for further directions.
  1. New vision for ICCC: Kanwal Talwar, President shared a 2-part vision for ICCC in his report and the presentation: One, ICCC to establish a Virtual Hub, a Physical Hub, and a Spiritual Hub of the Community to foster unity and synergy by connecting and collaborating with the various Indo-Canadian and India-friendly organizations and individuals; secondly, ICCC to expand programs for the different segments of the community: First, build upon the already running Seniors programs, Social Network of Women (S.N.O.W.) programs, Speakers Forum and ‘A History of Indo-Canadians‘ project. Next, initiate programs for ‘New Generation Leaders (25-55)’ and ‘Leaders of Tomorrow (15-25).’ These ideas were favourably received by the membership.

Governing Organization of the Board

The incoming Board has appointed the following Officers:

  • Kanwal (Ken) Talwar, President
  • Rekha Dogra, Vice-president
  • Chan Chandramouli, Secretary
  • Anil Agrawal, Treasurer
  • Subodh Anand, Director
  • Balu Kuriya, Director
  • Maitreyi (Mita) Saha, Director

Key Principles of Operations
Going forward, your Board of Directors plans to conduct its affairs with the following key principles:

  • Adhere to the By-laws.
  • Conduct its affairs with integrity and full transparency:
    • A periodic ‘Members Communique’ (an email newsletter) will keep members informed about our key initiatives, activities and accomplishments.
    • The community at large will be kept informed via various communications, i.e. the website (https://icccottawa.org), event calendar, announcements via event-specific emails and other avenues such as South Asian Connection, Regional Association/Special Interest Newsletters, special purpose emails, etc.

N.B. It may kindly be noted that personal communications with individual members may not be feasible. But the Board is open to receiving input and feedback from members. Contact us here. Due consideration will be given to any issues raised and recommendations received in the overall interest of the community. Key deliberations will be reported in the periodic Membership Communique.

Key deliberations of the Board since the AGM

  • A transition from the old to the new Board: The outgoing board handed over documents, pending items, and commitments outstanding to the incoming Board. The new Officers completed the signing at the bank and formally took over the signing authority.
  • All board members are on the same page: Shared objectives, vision and values. All the members of the Board agree.
  • New community partnerships: Agreed to forge key partnerships community-wide.
  • Functional Organisation: Resolved to create a solid organisation of volunteers and form committees, subcommittees and action teams to move various initiatives forward.

Recent initiatives

  • ‘South Asian Connection’ Directory: ICCC has updated its listing in this important directory and secured a free ad page. Negotiations are under way to take part in their monthly mailing as our means to communicate with the Indo-Canadian community.
  • Asian Heritage Month: To make the Indo-Canadian Community visible in the Asian Heritage Month of May 2017, ICCC has approached 50+ Indo-Canadian and India-friendly organisations and individuals to provide their cultural and social events in the month of May. We are posting those events in the Asian Heritage Month Ottawa Calendar to promote and showcase the community initiatives. This has been a small beginning in reaching out to the wider community.
  • Festival of Kerala (27th of May 2017) event: This is a regional festival launched in collaboration with Malayali Association and the High Commission of India. This festival will showcase the culture, arts, and cuisine of Kerala; 600+ attendance is expected.
  • The website: Efforts are under way to revamp the website with three major additions: One, an Event Calendar encompassing all events of the ICCC and the local community; two, Photo Gallery of community events; and three, measures to build a Directory of Indo-Canadians to serve as an email list and to conduct polls and surveys to reach out and cater to the interests of the different segments of the community.
  • Partnership with Festival of India, Ottawa: We have a closer partnership this year to collaborate with and join hands in the Festival of India-Canada 150 celebrations.
  • Grant approved for three summer students: We are hiring three summer students for administrative, membership development and directory building work.
  • Community outreach initiatives: Efforts are under way to connect, cooperate and collaborate with Barrhaven Seniors Association, Deshantari of Ottawa and others.
We invite your feedback and input.
Contact us here with whatever is on your mind.

On behalf of ICCC Board of Directors

Kanwal (Ken) Talwar, President
Email: president@icccottawa.org * Telephone: 613-866-5623
Website: https://icccottawa.org