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DVTI Bylaws

Amended and approved on October 1, 2020

Purpose

The Diablo Valley Tech Initiative (DVTI) studies and promotes the ideas that enable the Diablo Valley region to cultivate and benefit from a thriving technology sector.

The Diablo Valley region, for the purposes of this document, is west/northwest of Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County, California. It includes the cities along Highways 24 and 680 in the East Bay.

Structure

The DVTI is led and run by volunteers in the Diablo Valley community. It does not have any legal standing of its own and is not recognized by the IRS as a legal entity. As such, it does not maintain a bank account or physical address.

Rather, DVTI is a virtual organization with regular meetings and minimal governing structures and titles. The goal of DVTI is to do the work that fulfills its Purpose.

 

DVTI is currently housed at, and affiliated with, the Diablo Valley College (DVC) Workforce Development and Business Administration Departments.

Affiliations

Affiliations with community organizations can be proposed at a Meeting and approved with consent from the prospective affiliate and a majority of Members. 

 

Affiliations should be displayed on the Website and may be displayed on other public documents.

Roles
Chair

The Chair of the DVTI serves as its leader both internally and externally. The role of the Chair is to organize the work and maintain good order within the organization.

The Chair will serve a two-year term and cannot serve more than two terms consecutively. 

 

The Chair must have been a Member for at least one year prior to election.

 

Specific duties include: 

  • Membership

    • Maintain the Member roster

    • Approve new Members 

  • Meetings

    • Invite relevant guests to Meetings

    • Organize and lead Meetings

    • Ensure Minutes are taken and saved

  • Communication

    • Communicate with third parties, including the press

    • Ensure Website content remains current

    • Ensure there is adequate communication to membership regarding Meetings and other work

Vice Chair

The Vice Chair will serve a two-year term and cannot serve more than two terms consecutively. 

The Vice Chair must have been a Member for at least one year prior to selection.

Specific duties include:

  • Support the Chair

  • Perform Chair duties when the Chair is unable to do so

  • Organize and oversee the Standing Committees

Committee Chairs

The Chairs of each Standing Committee will serve a one-year term.

Specific duties include:

  • Lead meetings for the Standing Committees as needed

  • Provide reports at Meetings as needed

Members

Members are those who help DVTI fulfill its Purpose by attending Meetings and doing work as needed in between Meetings.

Any Member may propose adding a new Member to the Chair. If approved by the Chair, the new Member must then be approved by a majority of Members.

 

A Member may be removed from the roster by a majority of Members.

 

Duties of Members include:

  • Attend and participate in Meetings 

  • Attend and participate in Committees as needed

Subscribers 

Subscribers will be the individuals or organizations who benefit from DVTI programs. Prospective Subscribers may register an account on the Website in order to become a Subscriber. 

Elections

Every other year, on the first meeting after the first of September, the Chair and Vice Chair will be nominated by Members, or they may nominate themselves. The Chair and Vice Chair will be chosen by a majority of Members. 

 
Co-Chairs

Members may choose to nominate two Chairs or two Vice Chairs. If both parties accept a Co-Chair or Co-Vice Chair arrangement, then they may be elected as such. 

Meetings
Agenda

The Agenda will be distributed to the Members at least 24 hours prior to the Meeting.

 

Standing Agenda items will include:

  • Roster changes

  • Standing Committee updates

  • Ad Hoc Committee updates

  • Website changes

  • Budget review

  • Public comments

Attendance

Members are expected to attend meetings. Members who do not attend any Meetings in a 12-month period will be removed from the roster. 

 
Publicity

Meetings will be posted on the Website prior to the Meeting date and open to the public. The Chair will maintain an accurate schedule of future Meetings on the Website.

 
Approvals

The following motions require the support of a majority of Members at the Meeting when the motion is proposed:

  • Changes to Member roster

  • Changes to Affiliations

  • Changes to Chairs

  • Changes to Bylaws

Quorum

Quorum is at least seven Members. Meetings may be held without Quorum but Approvals cannot be made without a Quorum. 

Committees

The work done outside of Meetings will be administered by Committees. There will be two types of Committees: Ad Hoc and Standing.

 
Ad Hoc Committees

Ad Hoc Committees may be formed during a Meeting. It may be composed of both Members and guests.

 
Standing Committees

Standing Committees will be formed and overseen by the Vice Chair. Standing Committees are to be based around the regular ongoing work of the DVTI and composed only of Members.

Website

The Website will be the primary point of reference for all of DVTI's programs and work. Since DVTI is a virtual organization, it is critical that its website be maintained and updated. 

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