Rgisc Inc.

“Rgisc solicits annually to the public to become members by contributing funds in different levels. But is not governed by members but by a board of directors.”

“Melissa r. Cigarroa 1101 mier st. Laredo, tx 78040 juan livas 208 newcastle laredo, tx 78045 richard sames 3219 windfall laredo, tx 78045 alyce mccain 1421 longhorn dr. Laredo, tx 78045 ruben soto jr 7917 mcpherson rd. Ste 203 laredo, tx 78045 gabriela "maita" fernandez de ponce 6950 mcpherson rd. C laredo, tx 78041 eddie garza 1310 junction dr. Suite b laredo, tx 78041 adrian zapata 117 horizon loop laredo, tx 78046”

“A draft of form 990 is presented to the board of directors for review prior to cpa's electronic submission of tax return.”

“Rgisc monitors and enforces compliance at least annually and when new officers, board members and key employees are added.”

“Compensation is reviewed by board of directors and any decision made is based on comparable pay in similar positions, demographics of region, and merit.”

“The executive director makes recommendations on compensation of other key employees. This is reviewed by board of directors and any decision made is based on comparable pay in similar positions, demographics of region, and merit.”

“Governing documents are available upon request.”

“The rgisc mission is to preserve and protect the rio grande-rio bravo, its watershed and environment, through awareness, advocacy, research, education, stewardship and bi-national collaboration for the benefit of present and future generations.”

“1st exempt purpose accomplishment: education/awareness border wall advocacy: in 2020, our organization spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort on advocacy efforts to oppose construction of the border wall because of the devastation that it would on wreak on our landscape, our environment and our river. We organized multiple events and non-violent direct actions which included: 500-person march and rally in downtown laredo for mlk day ("i have a dream no border wall"), covid-safe protests in front of the laredo federal courthouse to support lawsuits filed by landowners, kayak protests on the rio grande, and the painting of a giant street mural, "defund the wall, fund our future" in downtown laredo. We also formed a strategic alliance with the new rio grande landowners coalition that included landowners of all backgrounds and political leanings. We contracted two field organizers to conduct outreach to nearly 700 landowners in webb county and zapata county to advise them of their legal rights as they were served with rights of entry and condemnation documents by the federal government. Meanwhile, we deepened our alliance with activists along the border in texas and the other 3 border states that are facing impacts from wall construction. This included indigenous communities, artists, veterans, activists, and other nonprofit organizations. We also organized a 2,000- mile long concert called "rock the border, stop the wall" with multiple musicians, some grammy-award winning musicians, and garnered approximately 250,000 views. Watch parties were conducted in multiple cities. Our profile rose nationally through our actions and with many multiple interviews with national and international media outlets. By late summer, we organized against the devastating award of 4 contracts for the laredo sector, totaling nearly 1.05 billion to construct a security enforcement zone and 30-foot steel wall along 71 to-be-confiscated river mileswithout owning a single acre of land. Meanwhile, we were tied up in a federal lawsuit, rgisc et al v. Trump et al, filed by earthjustice against a separate 52 river miles to be funded by dod funds. We also launched a campaign called "fund our future" to provide perspective on how much could get done in laredo if those federal wall funds were redirected and reprioritized on education, affordable housing, health care, and sustainable infrastructure. In november, rgisc's ongoing work to "cancel and delay" the border wall project took a momentary and uncertain pause in an attempt to grasp and understand the outcome of the presidential election. Work resumed quickly, however, to make inroads with the biden transition team and connect with a larger network of allies along the border. This was critical since the outgoing administration moved into warp speed, tripling the number of attorneys at the local u.s. Attorney's office to work on land condemnation suits. Annual meeting: in the second quarter of each year, as per its bylaws, rgisc holds an annual meeting with its membership. It's the moment when we recap our organization's work over the past year, give an accounting of our finances, elect a new board of directors, recruit new dues-paying members, and recognize our community honorees with several awards, and in some years, our scholarship recipients. Due to covid, we held this event virtually and had nearly 115 participants (our largest annual meeting yet) with guests from different parts of texas and: minneapolis, boston, seattle, austin, mcallen, longview, san antonio, and nuevo laredo among other cities. Laredo birding festival: each february, rgisc holds its annual laredo birding festival, in partnership with the monte mucho audubon society and laredo convention & visitors bureau. In 2020, rgisc held its 8th festival - a highly structured, multi-day niche festival designed to attract birders from all over the u.s. And canada to laredo. The goal is to highlight the economic and sociological benefits o”

“2nd exempt purpose accomplishment: green space preservation monarch gardens & mural we constructed a monarch pollinator garden at eliseo valdez jr. Park, and began plans for building a larger one at the laredo water museum. Meanwhile, we commissioned and completed a 135-foot "plight of the monarch" mural at the site of the garden. River mural in december, we announced the commission of a new large-scale river mural - 238 feet x 10 feet - at the inner city park/library/pool, that will cover two walls facing locust and barcelona streets. Single-use plastic bags -in 2020, rgisc became part of the breakfreefromplastic u.s. Movement support team, occupying one of three regional grassroots seats. -in july, we carried out an online campaign for plastic free july, and also produced a video detailing the history of laredo and rgisc in the single- use plastic bag battle against industry. Other -in late december, we participated in the annual laredo christmas bird count in partnership with the monte mucho audubon society. -rgisc also provided numerous talks and presentations year-round to different groups and schools about certain environmental threats, and to inform them about the presence of ecologically rich areas in our midst. Litigation -in july, rgisc joined nearly 20 environmental groups across the country in national litigation against the administration to challenge the evisceration of the nepa (national environmental policy act), filed in the northern district of california. Clean-ups in 2020 due to covid, we held no community cleanups along the river, creeks or trails.”

“3rd exempt purpose accomplishment: grant deliverables climate action in 2020, we began to brainstorm on how to build a climate program for rgisc. Nalac in december, we were notified that we had received a 75,000 grant for cultural organizing from the national association of latino arts and culture (nalac), as it relates to our border wall campaign and river work. Water security in august, we finalized a two-year grant contract with the u.s. Bureau of reclamation for a new watershed planning group, which a central part of our new water security program. Diesel (nadbank) in 2020, we carried out an air quality grant for the north american development bank (nadbank) and u.s. Environmental protection agency. We focused on idling reduction technologies for industry, given that laredo is the largest inland port and sees nearly 14,000 diesel trucks moving through here daily. The grant entailed researching and writing a report; producing visuals and short videos; and finally, outreach to truckers, fleets, logistics, truck driving schools, and warehouse locations.”

“4th exempt purpose accomplishment: fundraising activities rio mio project in 2020, we conceptualized and carried out a fundraising involving an invitation only river art exhibit and sale called the rio mio project. Due to covid, we had to convert the event into an online auction. It was laredo's first ever river auction/exhibit, and featured 47 top artists and photographers. Run with the monarchs 5k in 2020, we held our 2nd run w the monarchs 5k (first time in 2018 at the chacon hike & bike trails). However, due to covid, we had to make this a virtual run and had only 40 registrants. Earth day due to covid, we were unable to organize and host our annual earth day festival, and laredo kayak races. Instead, we produced and launched a series of 13 microtalks and produced a video celebrating and explaining the 50th anniversary of earth day. We also organized and launched rgisc kids week, a five day virtual event on our social media platforms.”

“Field organizer canvassing 16,932 0 0 program coordinator 1,118 0 0 contract services 1,561 0 0 artist & art production 1,150 0 0 consulting 14,044 0 0 graphic design & social media 2,467 0 0 performance & production 13,750 0 0 videography 5,571 0 0 contract labor -pa 2 200 0 0 graphics /social media pa 2 100 0 0 muralist - pa 2 10,000 0 0 videography - pa 2 300 0 0 contract labor -pa 3 3,550 0 0 consulting - pa 3 5,565 0 0 grant admin. - pa 3 1,540 0 0 graphics /social media pa 3 3,125 0 0 translation - pa 3 1,550 0 0 videography - pa 3 1,000 0 0 clerical fees - gen oper. 0 100 0 stipends- g o 1,065 0 0 contract labor - grants - g o 901 0 0 graphic design - g o 1,500 0 0 total 86,989 100 0”