Science Foundation Arizona

“Science foundation arizona's chief operating and financial officer reviews the 990 tax return in detail and agrees items reported to supporting schedules and the audited financial statement. Once the review is complete, the 990 is presented to the audit committee for review and approval. The board of directors receives the tax return for review and approval once the audit committee has approved.”

“Annual statements. Each interested person shall annually sign a statement which affirms that such person: (a) has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy,(b) has read and understands the policy,(c) has agreed to comply with the policy, and (d) understands that sfaz is an organization exempt from tax as one described in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, and that in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. A) duty to disclose. In connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested person must disclose to the directors and members of pertinent committees with board delegated powers that are considering the proposed transaction or arrangement:(i) the existence and nature of his or her financial interest, and (ii) all facts known to the interested person respecting the subject matter of the transaction that an ordinarily prudent person would reasonably believe to be material to a judgment about whether or not to proceed with the transaction. The directors and/or members of pertinent committees with board delegated powers that are considering the proposed transaction may request from the interested person such additional information or documents relating to the transaction as are required for adequate disclosure. B) 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 or she shall leave the board or committee meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon. The remaining board or committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists. If they determine that a conflict of interest exists, additional actions shall be taken as provided for herein. C) procedures for addressing the conflict of interest: i. An interested person may make a presentation at the board or committee meeting concerning the transaction, but after such presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting and not participate in any future meetings during the discussion of, deliberations about, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement that results in the conflict of interest. Ii. The chairperson of the board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. Iii. After exercising due diligence, the board or committee shall determine whether sfaz can obtain a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with reasonable efforts from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. Iv. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine by a majority vote, but at least two, of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in sfaz's best interest, for its benefit, and fair and reasonable to it, sfaz and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination. V. The interested person shall not influence or attempt to influence the decisions of the board or committee considering the transaction. D) violations of the conflict of interest policy. If the board or committee has reasonable cause to believe that an interested person has failed to disclose actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall inform the interested person of the basis for such belief and afford the interested person an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. If, after hearing the response of the interested person and making such further investigation as may be warranted in the circumstances, the board or committee determines that the interested person has in fact failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shal”

“Sfaz has a compensation committee, which is a sub-committee of the board of directors. Annually, the committee performs a performance review on the president/ceo and recommends to the board any increase in compensation. Sfaz has an outside human resource specialist who performs wage comparison data from non-profit and universities to determine salary levels for new employees. Once comparisons are completed, information is presented to senior management. Sfaz senior management determines salaries based on the comparisons, in consultation with the human resource specialist. The human resource specialist coordinates annual performance reviews for all employees. Merit increases or bonuses are based on meeting performance objectives for the year determined by senior management. In consultation with the board chairman, sfaz senior management determines all compensation changes based on comparative information and the employee meeting performance objectives.”

“Financial statements, conflict of interest policy and governing documents are available upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth in section 6104(d). Electronic and paper copies of each are available at sfaz's offices. The conflict of interest policy can also be found on the foundation website. The governance documents are filed and can be found by visiting the arizona corporation commission's website. The foundation's 990 can be found on guidestar and upon request to the organization.”

“In march 2016, the board decided to reduce the number of board members from 12 to 4. Thereafter, the board contains 4 members, with the remaining former members becoming "emeritus" status.”

“The national science foundation (nsf) provides funding to sfaz for engineering pathways. The state of arizona provides funding to sfaz for advisory services.”