Dear SAA Members,

There have been some misinterpretations in regards to SAA financials and transparency. The SAA Board would like to clarify the following for the benefit of all members:

  • SAA is incorporated in the State of Delaware, and is therefore subject to, and compliant with, legal requirements set forth in that state.

  • As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the only required financial disclosure is our annual Form 990. We are exceeding this requirement by posting both our annual audited financial statements and our 990s on the SAA website.

  • Unlike certain regulated sectors in which there are explicit budget appropriations (e.g., some entities which are primarily government funded, homeowner associations, etc.), budgeting at SAA is governed, managed and monitored in accordance with board-established policies for fiscal oversight. Particularly in unpredictable times, this has added value as it enables a prudent degree of fluidity to adjust programming and expenses in response to changing circumstances. For those interested in seeing a functional allocation of expenses, these are published in both the Form 990 and the audited financial statements: SAA Financials | Suzuki Association of the Americas

  • An official SAA Strategic Priorities Survey was sent to all members on December 4. If you did not receive it, you can click here to take the survey now. Responses are due by December 14. We hope there will be broad participation in this Survey as we adjust our Strategic Priorities.

    The SAA Survey was developed by outside professionals but is being administered internally, providing very substantial cost savings to SAA. While log-in is needed to ensure that only members complete the survey, response reporting will be fully anonymous.

  • DEIA initiatives are undertaken under the direction and authority of the (recently expanded) Board of Directors, which is also working with the CEO and nearing the completion of a selection process to retain a consultant to help us strengthen DEIA throughout our organization. Our expanded commitment to DEIA will be guided largely by the combination of the professional expertise of the DEIA consultant and membership input conveyed through responses to this survey, a summary of which will be shared with the membership.

The Board is committed to listening to SAA membership, and asks that questions or concerns about Board-related issues be communicated directly to the Board via email: [javascript protected email address].

We look forward to working collectively with all members in the SAA community as we respect the values and vision of the Suzuki Method.

Sincerely,
The SAA Board of Directors