NAME AND DOMICILE
1. The name of this Club shall be The International Women’s Club of Helsinki r.y. and its domicile shall be the City of Helsinki. The languages of the Club shall be English and Finnish.
VALUES
2. The values of the club are the mission to uphold an atmosphere of mutual respect and to be as inclusive as possible and to provide a programme that takes the interest of all members into consideration.
PURPOSE
3. The purpose of the Club is to promote contacts between Finnish women and women of foreign nationalities residing in Finland enabling intercultural encounters in Helsinki.
For these purposes, the Club shall arrange a programme that unlocks the access to extraordinary places and people. In addition, different interest groups shall be encouraged to be formed.
The Club shall be non-political.
MEMBERSHIP
4. Membership shall be open to Finnish women and women of foreign nationality residing in Finland, who are interested in an intercultural exchange.
The Executive Board shall make every effort to recruit new members and to secure an active membership.
The Executive Board will actively oversee a balanced membership between foreign and Finnish members.
The membership secretary shall inform the board of all new applicants.
The termination of a membership from the Club shall be made in writing to the Membership Secretary, to be recorded in the minutes at an Executive Board meeting.
A motion for the expulsion of a member shall require approval by a two-thirds vote by the Executive Board.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
5. The members of the Club shall pay the due set by the Annual General Meeting. The membership due shall be paid by September 30th. One reminder will be sent out on October 1st and if the membership fee is not paid by October 31st, the membership will be revoked and the member’s access to the club’s activities and website will also be revoked.
The Executive Board can expel a member whose conduct within or outside the Club is harmful in respect to the purpose of the Club and/or damaging its reputation.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
7. The Executive Board shall consist of a President, who is called the President of the Club, and 6-12 other regular members plus 3-6 alternate members.
The President, the Board members and their alternates shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting for one year at a time. A President can be re-elected consecutively only for two years at a time.
The Executive Board shall elect from amongst its members two Vice Presidents for the Club as well as appoint necessary officials either from amongst its members or outside.
The Executive Board shall be convened by the President, or in the President’s absence, by the Vice President. The President, or the Vice President, and at least half of the members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Board.
If a matter is put to a vote, the majority opinion shall prevail. In case of a tie, the President shall have the casting vote, except in an election, which shall be decided by the drawing of lots.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
8. The Club’s decision-making authority shall be exercised by an Annual General Meeting of the Club. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in May on a date and at a place decided by the Executive Board.
An Extraordinary General Meeting can be called by the Executive Board or by at least one-twentieth of the membership, requesting in writing that such a General Meeting can be called for the consideration of a specific matter.
NOTICE OF AN ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
9. Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be made to each member at least fourteen days before the date of the meeting. The notice shall state the order of business of the meeting.
AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
10. At the Annual General Meeting of the Club,
1) – the meeting is called to order;
2) – the meeting elects its chairman and secretary;
3) – the scrutineers of the minutes of the AGM are selected;
4) – the annual report, the accounts of the year and the auditors’ report are presented;
5) – the closing of the accounts is confirmed and action is taken on the release of the Executive Board from liability;
6) – the plan of activity for the following year is presented, the membership dues for the following year are decided and the budget for the following year is confirmed;
7) – action is taken on the number of regular and alternate members of the Executive Board; 8) – the President of the Club for the following one-year period is elected;
9) – other regular and alternate members of the Executive Board are elected;
10) – two auditors and two deputy auditors are elected;
11) – other matters mentioned in the notice are considered.
Questions that a member wishes to be considered at the Annual General Meeting shall be presented in writing to the Executive Board six weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting.
AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE
11. The name of the Club shall be signed by the President or the Vice-Presidents, one of them together with another regular member of the Executive Board.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS
12. The fiscal year of the Club is April 1 – March 31 and the business year is July 1 – June 30. The accounts shall be submitted for auditing by April 15. The auditors shall give their report to the Executive Board by the end of April.
AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
13. Any amendment of these by-laws shall require approval by at least a two-thirds majority of the votes cast at an Annual General Meeting of the Club. Any proposed amendment to the by-laws and the contents of the proposal shall be mentioned in the notice of the Annual General Meeting.
DISSOLUTION OF THE CLUB
14. A motion for the dissolution of the Club shall require the approval of a three-fourths majority of the votes cast at two separate General Meetings of the Club with an interval between them of at least two months. In the event of the dissolution of the Club, its assets shall be handed over to be used for promoting the purpose of the Club in a manner decided at a General Meeting during which the dissolution is agreed.