1. MEMBERSHIP
1.1. FULL MEMBERSHIP:
Membership in Ikporo Onitsha USA shall be voluntary and open to all Onitsha female adults over eighteen (18) years of age by:
i. Birth (Father is from Onitsha)
ii. Marriage (Married to an Onitsha Man)
iii. Nwadiani (Mother is from Onitsha)
1.2. REGISTRATION
1.2.1. All members shall be deemed registered after completing the registration form and paying a one-time fee of $10
1.3. ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP
1.3.1. Members who have registered and are up to date with all their levies and dues are deemed active members, eligible for benefits and for casting votes when applicable.
1.4. ANNUAL DUES:
1.4.1. This organization does not require Annual Dues.
1.5. LEVIES:
1.5.1. Members are subject to levies to meet a targeted obligation or member benefit.
1.5.2. A minimum of $20 for the death of a member, member’s parents, husband or child.
1.5.3. A member must indicate beneficiary and declare family members in their membership registration form to be eligible for bereavement benefits.
1.5.4. A minimum of $10 for a member’s wedding or birth of a child.
1.5.5. Members are obligated to support our annual events and other fundraising activities through their financial support as determined by a simple majority of the general assembly, these may include selling of ads for our commemorative brochures, event tickets, raffle tickets etc. or present an equivalent dollar amount.
1.5.6. Any additional Levy and amount as determined by a simple majority of the general assembly as the need arise.
1.6. GRACE PERIOD
1.6.1. A new member must be in good standing for 6 months to be eligible for benefits.
1.6.2. A member must be in good financial standing before a sentinel event occurs (bereavement, birth or marriage) in order to be eligible for membership benefits.
1.6.3. Members have up to 3 months from the time a wedding, birth or bereavement levy is announced to pay the levy.
1.7. DISPOSITION OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT UPON RESCINDING MEMBERSHIP IN THE ORGANIZATION.
1.7.1. If a member receives any membership benefits but decides to rescind their membership, within 5 years of receiving said benefits, she is required to return the financial support received.
1.8. MEMBER BENEFIT
1.8.1. The joy of using our talents and skills to serve one another and our community.
1.8.2. Networking with fellow Onitsha women to foster our self-development.
1.8.3. The fulfillment of supporting one another in time of joy and sadness.
1.8.4. The advancement of our culture.
1.8.5. Investing our time to support our children in their cultural development.
1.8.6. Financial support of events such as death of a member, spouse, child or marriage and birth as determined by the general assembly.
1.9. MEMBER SUSPENSION AND/OR REMOVAL
A member may voluntary rescind their membership in Ikporo Onitsha USA without fanfare or rancor or may be removed or suspended for the following reasons:
i. Creating or joining an Onitsha women’s organization with a target membership that includes the core constituents of Ikporo Onitsha USA (Section 1.1), this constitutes a conflict of interest.
ii. Actively and passively recruiting members of Ikporo Onitsha USA to join in any seditious activity of splitting Ikporo Onitsha USA.
iii. Failure to accept and comply with the recommendations of Ikporo Onitsha USA grievance committee as verified by the membership and compliance committee.
iv. Willful disruption of meetings, fighting, verbal abuse, seditious activity upon investigation of the compliance committee and failure to comply with the findings and recommendation of the said committee.
v. Gross, reckless, and negligent use and abuse of power as determined by the membership upon investigation by the compliance committee.
vi. Embezzlement of the organization funds upon investigation of the compliance committee.
vii. Nonperformance or neglect of duties by a member of the Board of Directors.
viii. Any other acts, action, and activities considered contrary or a conflict of interest to our constitution and by-laws or detrimental to the best interest and good name of the organization as determined by the general membership.
1.10. MEETINGS
i. Meeting Times: Bimonthly teleconferences or via zoom on the 1st Sunday of every other month. Meetings may be rescheduled on the 2nd Sunday if our meeting date falls on a holiday weekend or as deemed necessary by the Advising committee
ii. Live Meetings will be held annually every Memorial day weekend (Last weekend in May of every year)
iii. Teleconference Guidance/Rules of engagement
1. We will like to see your face, so please join with video if you can
2. Please mute yourself if you are not speaking
3. Please do not ask for a number when you join the meeting
4. Please do not interrupt the meeting to great anyone once the meeting as started
5. If you join the meeting with a phone and your name is not displayed, you will be asked to indicate your name (please note that your name may be immediately associated to the phone # or device that you joined with
6. If you fail to disclose your name, you will be removed from the meeting.
7. You will be muted if you are in a noisy environment and fail to mute yourself, but you are able to unmute yourself when you wish to speak.
8. If you don’t have a number, please indicate as such in the chat room that you are waiting for a number and a number will be assigned to you.
9. Reports and Documents may be displayed on Zoom, so please join with the capacity to view the documents.