Upwell Turtles

“The Operations Director reviews the Form 990 with the Executive Director via teleconference. She then emails a complete copy of the organization's Form 990 and schedules to the Board of Directors for their review in advance of filing.”

“All Directors and Key Employees are required to review the Conflict of Interest Policy and to sign a Conflict of Interest statement on an annual basis, making any disclosures as needed. Board or committee members with the exclusion of the involved person shall decide if a conflict of interest exists and vote on the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. Persons considered to have a conflict of interest will be prohibited from participating in deliberations or decisions regarding related party transactions. To this end, the Executive Director does not participate in deliberations or decisions by the Compensation Committee regarding the Executive Director's salary.”

“The organization purchased a copy of "Fair Pay for Northern California Nonprofits: The 2023 Compensation & Benefits Survey Report" produced by Nonprofit Compensation Associates, Inc. to inform a benchmarking report based on comparable data for similarly qualified persons at similar organizations. The organization purchases the compensation report in odd-numbered years to inform a new benchmarking report every 2 years. In intervening years, the salary range is informed by the last available benchmarking report with adjustments (based on merit and cost of living) in line with organizational budgetary capacity. The Operations Director worked with the Board Chair and Treasurer to update the 2024 salary for the Executive Director based upon the most recent benchmarking report, cost of living adjustments and merit increases, as appropriate. A memo was signed by the board members involved and filed as a record of the proceedings. The compensation review process was completed prior to the start of 2024 to enable review and approval of the following year's budget, inclusive of the compensation changes. This process occurred last in 2023.”

“"The organization purchased a copy of ""Fair Pay for Northern California Nonprofits: The 2023 Compensation & Benefits Survey Report" produced by Nonprofit Compensation Associates, Inc. to inform a benchmarking report based on comparable data for similarly qualified persons at similar organizations. The organization purchases the compensation report in odd-numbered years to inform a new benchmarking report every 2 years. In intervening years, the salary range is informed by the last available benchmarking report with adjustments (based on merit and cost of living) in line with organizational budgetary capacity. The Executive Director worked with the Operations Director to set the compensation for key employees in 2024 based upon the benchmarking report, cost of living adjustments and merit increases, as appropriate. This process occurred last in 2023.”

“All governing documents, public filings, financial statements and conflict of interest policy are available for public inspection at Upwell's office in Monterey, California. Upwell's Form 990 and audited financial statements are also posted to Guidestar.org.”

“Cont'd from page 2: 2. Partnered with Two Oceans Aquarium in South Africa to satellite tag and track rehabilitated juvenile loggerhead sea turtles that had previously cold-stunned. This joint research demonstrated that early-stage loggerheads actively swim rather than passively drift, even in the fast-moving Agulhas Current, and collected valuable data on the movements and behaviors of rehabilitated turtles following their release. 3. Established a partnership with the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and Sea Turtle Ecology Lab in Japan to satellite tag and track juvenile loggerhead sea turtles raised at the aquarium. The joint team analyzed the data to better understand use of the Kuroshio Current for trans-Pacific migration and fisheries-related threats in the East China Sea, a crucial feeding and post-nesting habitat for ~70% of North Pacific loggerheads.”