I Am Als

“Co-founders and members of the board, sandra abrevaya and brian wallach, have a family relationship.”

“The form 990 was prepared by the outside accountants and reviewed by the organization's audit committee. The return was then provided to the full board, prior to filing with the irs.”

“Each director, officer, key person and member of a committee annually signs a conflict of interest statement, which affirms that such person has received, read, understands and agrees with the policy. A conflict of interest arises when a person has an existing or potential financial interest or other material interest that impairs, or appears to impair, his or her independence or objectivity in the discharge of responsibilities and duties to i am als. If a conflict arises, each related party discloses any direct or indirect financial or other material interest which he or she or his or her relatives has or reasonably expects to have in a related party transaction prior to or as soon as practicable following the start of any negotiations with respect to such matter. Interests will be disclosed in writing to the secretary of the corporation. The secretary of the corporation provides a copy of all such disclosures to the directors of the corporation. The board reviews all transactions, agreements or any other arrangements between the corporation and a related party, and any other transactions which may involve a potential conflict of interest. No related party votes on any matter with respect to which he or she has been determined by the board to have a financial interest. If the board or committee has reasonable cause to believe that a member has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it informs the member of the basis for such belief and affords the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. If, after hearing the member's response and investigating further, as warranted by the circumstances, the board or committee determines that the member has in fact failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, the board takes appropriate corrective action.”

“Whistleblower policy: i am als's whistleblower policy requires all directors, officers, and employees to report ethics violations or suspected violations, initially to their direct supervisor unless the supervisor is involved or the response is unsatisfactory, in which case reports are made directly to the compliance officer using the employee complaint form. The compliance officer investigates and resolves concerns, informs the board chair, advises the ceo, board, and/or audit committee as needed, and reports annually to the board. All complaints are acknowledged within five business days, investigated promptly, and corrective action is taken when warranted. The policy prohibits retaliation against individuals who report in good faith, with disciplinary action for retaliators up to termination, and allows confidential or anonymous reporting. The audit committee addresses complaints related to accounting, internal controls, or auditing, with the compliance officer engaged until resolution, and reports must be made in good faith, with false or malicious claims treated as a serious offense. Record retention policy: i am als's record retention policy provides guidelines for identifying, retaining, storing, protecting, and disposing of organizational records in compliance with legal and business requirements. The policy requires maintaining accurate, complete, and high-quality records for specified retention periods, with permanent retention for certain documents (e.g., governing documents, tax exemption letters, donor records for restricted gifts), and destruction of inactive records in an appropriate manner once retention periods expire. Records relevant to any actual, pending, or reasonably anticipated legal proceeding must be preserved for its duration. All staff, including volunteers under supervision, are responsible for compliance, with the secretary serving as the record retention compliance officer to oversee implementation, review, and proper destruction. Retention timelines vary by record type, ranging from permanent to two years, and include detailed categories for accounting, donations, legal documents, personnel, program/grant files, insurance, and tax records. Noncompliance may result in disciplinary action up to termination, and the policy is periodically reviewed to ensure alignment with applicable laws. Compensation process: to set the ceo's initial salary, the organization sought data from several sources to assess the appropriate compensation range, including an independent search firm, and reviewed several compensation studies from professionals for nonprofits to koya leadership partners. We determined the key criteria for our decision were: 1) competitive data from the sources i am als 83-2016277 listed above, 2) qualifications of the candidate including experience to date and graduate training, and 3) our compensation philosophy that we should pay competitively given the demanding and urgent timeline of the job. The search committee of the board developed the criteria via phone conversations and email in partnership with the independent search firm. This proposal was presented to the executive board on a weekly call and sent in writing to the full board for discussion at a board meeting. The ceo's most recent performance review was presented to the full board at the march 2023 board meeting. In addition to the ceo's salary, the board approves the annual budget, which includes the salaries of all employees. The process described here was last completed in 2024.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public per request.”