Smithsonian Institution

“The bylaws of the organization delegate authority to the executive committee to act on behalf of the board of regents when the board of regents is not in session. The board of regents elects from its members an executive committee consisting of three members. The executive committee has and may exercise all powers of the board of regents when the board of regents is not in session, except those expressly reserved to itself by the board of regents, provided that all such proceedings are reported to the governance and nominating committee and the board of regents on a regular basis. The chair of the board serves as chair of the executive committee. The vice chair of the board serves as a member of the executive committee.”

“Pursuant to federal statute, the board of regents consists of the vice president of the united states, the chief justice of the united states, three members of the u.s. Senate, three members of the u.s. House of representatives, and nine additional citizen regents. The three senators are appointed by the president pro tempore of the u.s. Senate, and the three members of the house of representatives are appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. Their appointment terms coincide with the terms for which they are elected, and they may be reappointed if re-elected. The citizen regents are nominated by the board of regents, and appointed by a joint resolution of congress which is signed by the president of the united states.”

“The form 990 return is reviewed by the controller of smithsonian, the office of general counsel, chief operating officer and the secretary of the smithsonian. The return is also reviewed by an independent accounting firm. After this review process, the 990 is made available to the full board for its review and comment. The audit & review committee conducts a final review of the return at a regularly scheduled committee meeting prior to its filing.”

“All officers, key employees, and certain other employees are required to complete and file annually a confidential financial disclosure report. These reports - which require disclosure of certain assets, earned income, liabilities, outside positions, outside contracts and agreements, gifts, hospitality, reimbursements, and other interests related to the employee's smithsonian position - are reviewed by the institution's office of general counsel for compliance with applicable conflict of interest policies and laws. In addition to this required reporting, all key employees are required to comply with the institution's standards of conduct, which, among other things, requires that employees not engage in private or personal activities that might conflict or appear to conflict with smithsonian interests, requires that employees obtain office of general counsel approval before engaging in an outside activity for compensation, and requires employees to consult with the office of general counsel whenever a doubt exists as to whether an activity or planned activity violates the standards. All members of the smithsonian's governing body are required to complete and file annually the board of regents annual disclosure statement. These statements - which require reporting by members (including any reportable interests held by immediate family of members) on outside positions and substantial shareholding in for-profit business entities, outside positions in non-profit entities, and interests and affiliations of the member that have or sought to have a relationship to the smithsonian - are reviewed by the institution's general counsel for compliance with applicable conflict of interest policies and laws. In addition to this required reporting, all members of the smithsonian's governing body are required to comply with the board of regents ethics guidelines, which, among other things, define conflicts of interest and establish procedures for disclosing and reporting of conflicts and recusal from decision-making.”

“The smithsonian ensures that compensation paid to officers and other key employees is reasonable and comparable to similar organizations. Employees of the smithsonian may be paid with federally appropriated funds or with nonfederal ("trust") funds. Most trust funded (nonfederal) officer and key employee positions are subject to market-based compensation, and the board of regent's committee on compensation and human resources engages an independent consultant to develop and assemble comparability data for its consideration and to inform its decisions. The committee's annual deliberations and decisions are documented as part of the final recommendation materials submitted to the board of regents. Salaries for federal employees are determined by statutorily established pay ranges for civil service employees. As a matter of policy, the smithsonian has established similar ranges for certain trust funded officer and key employee positions and maintains those ranges in proportion to the appropriate federal pay ranges.”

“The smithsonian makes its governing documents, statement of values and code of ethics, and audited financial statements available on its public website (www.si.edu). Documents may also be viewed at the office of finance and accounting or mailed.”

“The smithsonian institution is a trust instrumentality of the u.s., created by congress; organized pursuant to 20 u.s.c. Sec. 41 et seq. Form 990, page 1, line m state of legal domicile: as a trust instrumentality of the united states, the smithsonian institution is a federal entity that is not domiciled in any state.”

“Education, public programs and exhibitions: after the smithsonian intermittently closed its museums due to the covid-19 pandemic, smithsonian museums and the national zoo returned to a traditional schedule of seven days a week. In conjunction with local and national guidelines, the museums adhered to new health and safety protocols to protect against the spread of covid-19. In response to the ongoing global pandemic, the smithsonian prioritized digital approaches to education, public programs and exhibitions. The smithsonian developed and curated the educational resources students, teachers and caregivers needed to support distance learning. As part of those efforts, the smithsonian provided educational interactives, documents and in-depth lesson plans that aligned with common core and national and state standards. In november 2021, the arts and industries building opened to the public for the first time in nearly two decades with the part-exhibition, part-festival, "futures." on view until july 2022, "futures" was the first and largest exploration of the future on the national mall, welcoming nearly 650,000 visitors. The landmark museum experience produced digital initiatives that invited people of all ages from across the globe to experience a radically imagined future. To engage audiences worldwide, the national museum of african american history and culture (nmaahc) launched the searchable museum in november 2021. The initiative is one of the museum's largest digital undertakings, using emerging technologies and scholarly expertise to bring online exhibitions, virtual symposia and digital programs to audiences across the globe. In june 2022, the national museum of the american latino opened the molina family latino gallery, the first gallery dedicated to the latino experience. Housed at the national museum of american history, the molina family latino gallery gives the public a preview of the american latino museum until the museum opens. The bilingual gallery incorporates universal principles of inclusive design to create an empowering visitor experience for those with varying physical, sensory and cognitive conditions. Its first exhibition, "presente! A latino history of the united states," introduces visitors to key concepts, moments and biographies that illuminate u.s. Latinos' historical and cultural legacies. After a two-year hiatus, the smithsonian folklife festival returned to the national mall with public programs, concerts and events. The festival, which ran in june and july 2022, explored the cultural traditions of the united arab emirates (uae) and the smithsonian's earth optimism program through two weeks of workshops, demonstrations, performances, family activities and discussion sessions highlighting the importance of culture and community in creating a sustainable future. In july 2022, the smithsonian hosted a free, two-day national education summit in washington, d.c. The summit brought together thousands of teachers, museum educators, curriculum specialists, librarians and education agencies from across the nation to discuss key issues in education and explore learning strategies with smithsonian experts and collaborators.”

“Research and collections: the smithsonian's collections of nearly 157 million objects (art, artifacts and scientific specimens) are the heart of the institution. Research, public programs and exhibitions are based on these collections, which additionally include more than 33 million digital records of online material. Care of the collections involves the work of registrars, conservators, museum specialists, designers, curators and editors. Approximately 148 million objects and specimens are part of the national museum of natural history collections and are primarily used for research by both smithsonian scientists and researchers from around the world. In some cases, the museum has the definitive, irreplaceable collection of a certain species which is essential for comparative studies. In an effort to significantly increase the number of black, latinx, asian american, lgbtq+, indigenous and women artists represented in the nation's collection, the smithsonian american art museum's renwick gallery acquired more than 200 objects from leading craft artists across the u.s. The acquisitions campaign-which coincided with the renick's 50th anniversary-deepens the history of the studio craft movement and reinforces the relevancy of national collections by collecting contemporary artworks. In june 2022, a whooping crane-one of the most endangered species of cranes in the world-hatched at the smithsonian conservation biology institute (scbi). Through their research at the whooping crane breeding facility, scientists at scbi continue to play a leading role in the smithsonian's global efforts to save wildlife species from extinction and train future generations of conservationists. Researchers at the smithsonian tropical research center discovered that coastal plants and animals can thrive in the open ocean by colonizing plastic pollution. Scientists observed coastal species hundreds of miles out to sea in the north pacific subtropical gyre, commonly known as the "great pacific garbage patch." the discovery shows previously unthinkable ways of adaptability in the open ocean and poses questions about the potentially harmful effects on the existing ocean ecosystems. Astronomers at the center for astrophysics revealed the first image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the milky way galaxy. This breakthrough provides valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the center of most galaxies. It is the second-ever picture captured of a black hole. Scientists at the national museum of natural history discovered a new extinct species of a lizard-like reptile that inhabited jurassic north america about 150 million years ago. The discovery of opisthiamimus gregori helps complete the evolutionary history of new zealand's living tuatara. The research brings scientists closer to understanding an evolutionary chasm between lizards and rhynchocephalians, an order that diverged from lizards at least 230 million years ago.”

“Membership: the national associate program is the institution's largest and most basic membership program. The program provides members with smithsonian magazine, which is published 11 times a year. The print and online publication provides in-depth coverage of history, science, nature, art and world cultures. "friends of the smithsonian" is a higher-level membership program for people interested in a deep philanthropic connection to the smithsonian. Friends receive smithsonian magazine, plus they are invited to various events and are given the opportunity to learn about and support the institution's exhibitions and research. The smithsonian associates is a self-supporting membership program which produces informative, enlightening, entertaining, and insightful programs inspired by and going beyond smithsonian research, collections and exhibitions. Programs engage audiences from pre-k to post-retirement who have keen interest in furthering their understanding of the arts and sciences, the past, present, and future of world cultures. The largest museum-based educational program in the world, smithsonian associates annually produces more than 1,000 online and in-person seminars and lectures, multi-part courses, studio arts classes, study tours, concerts and children's programs. Performances at discovery theater and summer camps on the national mall are among the programs that foster the joys of learning for young people. Smithsonian associates has continued to expand its virtual programming to increase engagement with national and international audiences. Notable guests included primatologist frans de waal, actor and writer kal penn, pulitzer-prize winner author geraldine brooks, best-selling author jodi picoult, and chefs j. Kenji lopez-alt, christopher kimball and pati jinich.”

“The smithsonian's audited financial statements are included in the united states government's consolidated audited financial statements.”

“Proceeds from sales of collections -109,682.”

“The smithsonian institution is separately audited. The smithsonian institution's audited financial statements are included in the united states government's consolidated audited financial statements.”