The Rice Foundation

“The organization is organized as an association with members.”

“Directors shall be elected as follows: (i) the first six producer directors shall be elected by the appropriate state rice producer research organization in each of the six principal rice producing states. Additional rice producer directors shall be elected at large jointly by the USA Rice Council, a Texas nonprofit corporation, and the US Rice Producers Group. (ii) all miller directors shall be elected by the Rice Millers' Association Board of Directors. (iii) all supplier directors shall be elected by a caucus of regular supplier members of the Rice Foundation. (iv) all user directors shall be elected by a caucus of the regular user members of the Rice Foundation.”

“A draft of the 990 is reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer and the President and CEO prior to filing the return.”

“The conflict of interest policy is disseminated three times a year in briefing materials prior to meetings to all boards, committees, subcommittees and task forces meeting. All board and committee meetings begin with an acknowledgement that the meeting is being conducted under the terms and conditions of the conflict of interest policy. All board, committee, subcommittee and task force members (including alternates) are required to sign acknowledgement of the policies and declare any conflicts of interest with the understanding that at any time during their volunteer service they are to disclose to the board any conflicts that may arise.”

“The Foundation does not have any compensated employees, directors, or officers. The CEO and CFO are compensated by The USA Rice Federation, a related organization. An independent executive search firm was responsible for recommending viable candidates and compensation for the CEO position using salary surveys and other information on comparable positions in similar Washington, D.C. area trade associations. The Federation's Board of Directors approved appointment of the current CEO and her initial contract, which contains language about the first year's compensation and subsequent changes. The Federation's Executive Committee conducts annual performance evaluations and approves any changes in compensation, which are confirmed in a letter from the Federation Chairman and filed in the CEO's personnel folder.”

“All documents are made available to the public upon request.”

“No change from the prior year.”