Upwardly Global

“The organization updated its bylaws in 2022 so that a majority of the members present, whether or not constituting a quorum, may adjourn any meeting to another time and place. A meeting at which a quorum is initially present may continue to transact business, notwithstanding the withdrawal of members, if any action taken is approved by at least a majority of the required quorum for that meeting.”

“The responsibility for the formal review of the form 990 lies with the, finance committee of the board of directors of the organization, with the full board accepting or rejecting the recommendation of the finance committee. With the support and input from the organization's cpa firm, management completes and reviews the form 990 before formally presenting it to the finance committee for review. In collaboration with management, the finance committee directs relevant edits or changes to be made by the organization's cpa and does a final approval after all changes are finalized. After the finance committee approves the form 990, they submit it to the full board to accept or reject the recommendation. The approval of the form 990 is recorded in the finance committee meeting notes, and the acceptance of the full board is recorded in board meeting notes.”

“Upwardly global has implemented an annual conflict of interest signoff process for all employees and directors. This procedure ensures that all officers, directors and key employees maintain independence with the organization on an annual basis. Within the past year, the organization has required all new employees to certify that no conflicts exist. These responses are monitored by human resources. Procedures for addressing the conflict of interest: (a) an interested person makes a presentation at the governing board or committee meeting, but after the presentation, he/she leaves the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. (b) the chairperson of the governing board or committee, if appropriate, appoints a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. (c) after exercising due diligence, the governing board or committee determines whether upwardly global can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. (d) if a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under circumstances not producing a conflict of interest, the governing board or committee determines by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in upwardly global' best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination it makes its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement. 2. Violations of the conflicts of interest policy: (a) if the governing board or committee has reasonable cause to believe 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. (b) if, after hearing the member's response and after making further investigation as warranted by the circumstances, the governing board or committee determines the member has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it takes appropriate disciplinary and corrective action. In addition, everyone who signs the annual coi attestation will list their possible conflicts. The chair of the board, secretary of the board, and upwardly global's ceo will receive the list(s). All will be tasked with ensuring the conflicted party is excluded from transactions that would be affected by the relationship.”

“In demonstration of its dedication to internal pay equity and alignment with market norms, upwardly global engaged the services of an independent consultancy firm in the year 2021 to execute a comprehensive compensation benchmarking analysis encompassing all job roles, including that of the chief executive officer. Subsequent to this study, adjustments were made to the remuneration structures within the organization. The board of directors diligently assessed and approved the salary range for the chief executive officer position, while the salary ranges for all other positions, including executive, were reviewed and authorized by the chief executive officer. The last compensation review took place in october 2021 for salary changes effective 2022.”

“The organization makes its governing documents and conflict of interest policy available upon request. The audited financial statements are available on the website.”