New Business. Open Discussion.
Time and Location:
Makersmiths Leesburg Lower Classroom and on-line
7pm ET, Virtual Meeting at https://meet.google.com/cih-ehxi-wbc
Dial in (audio only): (US) +1 650-781-0577 PIN: 453 302 284#
Other numbers: https://tel.meet/cih-ehxi-wbc?pin=9082856231045
Call to Order:
Meeting called to order by Jonathan at 7:04 pm.
| Name | Position | Term | |
| Jonathan White | Board Member | 2026-2029 | Y |
| Brad Hess | Board Member | 2025-2028 | Y |
| Jim Waldron | Board Member, Secretary | 2025-2028 | Y |
| Jennifer Chu | Board Member | 2024-2027 | Y |
| Bo Wernick | Board Member | 2024-2027 | |
| Evin Grano | Board Member, Chairperson | 2024-2027 | Y |
| Mary Waldron | Treasurer | 2025-2026 | |
| (Vacant) | President | 2025-2026 | |
| Christa Stern | Bookkeeper | 2025-2026 | Y |
| Rob Donahue | Board Member | 2026-2029 | Y |
Approval of Prior Minutes
2026-06-24 Meeting of the Board of Directors
Motion by Jonathan to approve prior meeting minutes
Second:
Vote: Passed by unanimous consent of those Directors present.
Consent Agenda
Any Board Member may make a motion in the Consent Agenda. The purpose of the Consent Agenda is to propose motions that have been discussed by Board Members in advance and/or are expected to pass without objection. If the item does not fit this description, it should be proposed in New Business. Discussion of Consent Agenda items should be done via Slack prior to the meeting. Any Board Member present at the meeting may request that an item be moved from the Consent Agenda to New Business. The motions in the Consent Agenda (after any items are moved to New Business) may be passed as a group if there are no objections. Any motion that requests spending $250 or more must include a section on "Relevance to our tax exempt purpose".
CA1: Extension of Fume Room Budget spend deadline (Jim for Mike Brady)
Issue: The original approved budget for building out the fume room had a deadline of May 31, 2026. The build out is near completion and there are only a few remaining items to purchase for this project.
Solution: Extend the May 31, 2026 deadline to August 31, 2026. To date we have spent $1,375.08 of the $1,500 budget. This covered all of our planned expenses. Now, nearing the completion of the build, we would like to use the remaining $124.92 to purchase anti-fatigue/anti-slip mats for the floor, additional bracing for the spray booth exhaust duct, as well as miscellaneous hardware and supplies for the room.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Extended the deadline for the Leesburg Fume Room project to August 31, 2026, at which time any remaining funds will be returned to the Equipment Reserve Fund.
CA2: Additional Budget for Plotter Supplies (Jonathan)
Issue: The Purcellville Plotter consumables budget is currently overspent by ~$9 and more consumables are needed. The new plotter in Purcellville needed replacement of consumable paper and ink in excess of the budget set out at the beginning of the year.
Solution: Approve additional funds for ink and paper to finish 2026.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to add $250 to cover ink and paper consumables to the MSP plotter budget (63245).
CA3: New Newsletter Editor (Jim for Diane P)
Issue: Meaghen Flynn, our newsletter editor, has resigned. She is moving to GA for graduate school. Diane Painter interviewed Makersmiths member, Jen Lupo Reese for the editor position. She has a journalism degree and social media experience.
Solution: Appoint Jen Lupo Reese as Newsletter editor and grant her admin rights in Wild Apricot.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to appoint Jen Lupo Reese as Newsletter Editor and grant her admin rights in Wild Apricot.
CA4: New Marketing Chairperson (Jim for Diane P)
Issue: Marketing Committee has no Chairperson (and has been vacant for quite some time).
Solution: Appoint Allie Graves as Marketing Chair. Diane Painter and Jim Waldron will be the additional members to make up the minimum committee membership.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to appoint Allie Graves as Marketing Chair.
Information and Bio's for Newsletter Editor and Marketing Chairperson.
View file name nominations for Makersmiths.pdf height 250
Consent agenda: Approved by voice vote.
Officer Reports
Chairperson:
.
President: (Vacant)
Secretary:
We still need a President.
Treasurer:
View file name Makersmiths Inc_June 2026 Financial Management Report.pdf height 250
Committee Reports:
Membership Committee (Ken Fuentecilla)
Report Received 7/23.
Marketing Committee (Vacant)
Leesburg Facility Committee (John Carter)
.
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Purcellville Facility Committee (Dave Painter)
No Report Received.
Scheduling Committee (Jennifer Chu)
Report Received 7/29.
IT Report (Rob Donahue)
Report Received 7/24
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Newsletter Committee (Vacant)
Newsletter went out July 6th
Grant Committee (Christopher Meid)
Report Received 7/24.
Makersmiths Inc. Grant Committee Report
July 23, 2026
Reporter: Christopher “Christo” Meid
The following are the activities that have been completed or started in late May up to July 23, 2026. Details follow.
Tasks Log | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Topic | Date | Owner | Status |
1. ARPA Grant Class | Jun 17, 2026 | Completed | |
2. Draft Grant Application for Classroom Capability Expansion | May 20, 2026 | Completed | |
3. Complete Grant Application for Classroom Capability Expansion | Aug 28, 2026 | Christopher Meid | In progress |
4. Initiate development of 2nd grant, working with KidWind participant as author | Aug 28, 2026 | In progress | |
- ARPA Nonprofit Professional Development: Building Capacity for Diversified Funds: Christo Meid completed the grant classes and submitted the homework grant (Item 2) for review by the committe and panel on July 3. Successfully completed the class and received certificate.
- Draft Grant for Classroom Capability Expansion: Application was updated based on first round of comments.
- To complete the grant application, the following needs to be completed:
- Incorporate comments from panel.
- Request and incorporate new updates from identified instructor, Brian Jo.
- Submit funding request to Board of Directors to procure initial robotics kit and Intro to Robotics Rev 2 from RevRobotics.com if Brian concurs. Justification:
- Procuring the robotics kits and initial course will show the foundation that Makersmiths has ‘skin in the game’ and is investing in this project already.
- The kit and course will enable the kids to learn the basics of robotics in order to better be able to compete in the robotics competition
- Request of Board of Directors authorization to get quotes for the ventilation improvements now so we can incorporate more accurate costs into the grant proposal.
- Work with KidWind participant to develop a grant for additional KidWind funds, leveraging a foundation that specifically prioritizes grant requests from children.
Note: The Classroom Capability Expansion Grant needs to be submitted by September 1, 2026, with an award scheduled for December 31, 2026. Here is the draft so far (still not ready for review). The draft budget is here. Reminder that at this time, this is a homework assignment and should only be considered a notional grant application; prior to September 1 submission, it will need to be validated and updated.
Standing Rules Committee (Jonathan White)
Meeting held and changes to the Bylaws and Standing Rules are presented for approval at this Board Meeting.
Finance Committee (Mary Waldron)
No Finance Committee meeting was held. Nothing to Report
Unfinished Business
OB1:
New Business
NB1: Changes to the Bylaws and Standing Rules (Jonathan)
Issue: A review of he Bylaws and Standing Rules by Bylaws and Standing Rules committee has resulted in suggested changes to the Bylaws and Standing Rules.
Solution: Approve the “… As Proposed” versions of the Bylaws and Standing Rules at the July 29 Board of Directors Meeting.
Bylaws: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nF-2fAj0Zlt4-R9KjUqHVc06-UBLJjgNh-ZTRdMnhFU/edit?usp=sharing
Standing Rules: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1po1xd7-tYcl6sFNTET4-gKRro6__8mAkRpimMKgSnQU/edit?usp=sharing
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to approve both the Bylaws and Standing Rules versions “…as Proposed July 29th, 2026”.
Second: Jim
Vote: Passed by voice vote
NB2: Additional IT licenses for CorelDraw Maintenance (Jim for Rob)
Issue: We need CorelDraw licenses to keep up with software maintenance releases.
Solution:Cost: $23 per license x 6 = $138.00/yr
Gap: CorelDraw requires regular maintenance cost. Allows recurring minor updates. Was not
included in original budget as new IT Steward unaware of recurring maintenance expense.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to add $138.00 to the IT Budget for CorelDraw Maintenance Licenses
Withdrawn. Approved by consent in Lieu.
Second:
Vote:
NB3: Embroidery Machine (Jim for John C)
Issue: The embroidery machine we have is not suitable for our needs.
Solution: Acquire new Embroidery machine.
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Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move that the Board approve $8,000.00 from the Equipment Reserve Fund to purchase a new Embroidery machine. Funds to be spent by September 30 with any remaining funds returned to the Equipment Reserve Fund.
Amended to: Motion: Move that the Board approve $7,615,29 from the Equipment Reserve Fund to purchase a new Embroidery machine. Funds to be spent by September 30 with any remaining funds returned to the Equipment Reserve Fund. To include an increase of $10 to the Arts/Crafts/Sewing Consumables budget.
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Second: Jonathan
Vote: Passes by Voice vote.
NB4: New Woodturning Tools (Jen)
Issue: The steel of the three bowl gouges in the Woodturning Shop have been spent down to the base and can no longer be sharpened or used. These bowl gouges are for member use and are also used for the bowl turning classes. The Woodturning Shop does not have a maintenance budget because the shop steward did not submit a budget to the treasurer.
Solution: Purchase three new bowl gouges for the Woodturning Shop.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to approve $340, allocated from the Equipment Reserve Budget, to purchase three new bowl gouges for the Woodturning Shop, to be spent by 07/31/2026, with any remaining funds to be returned to the Equipment Reserve Budget.
Withdrawn by Jen.
Second:
Vote:
7Day Waiver Required for the following motions:
Motion By Jonathan
Second by Jen
Vote: Carries by voice vote.
NB5:Replacement slab roller for the ceramics studio (Bo for Glenda)
Issue: The ceramics shop has been steadily growing over the past 3 years. One of the more heavily used tools is the slab roller. The one we originally purchased was small and low cost to get the studio started. It has seen a lot of love over the years and is breaking down. The handle connection is stripped, the roller guides are plastic and have broken, been fixed, and broken again. It was not meant for the level of use we are seeing now.
Solution: Purchase a higher end slab roller that can handle the regular use of the space and is large enough to meet the needs of the members.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Allocate $1400 from the equipment reserve for a Shimpo 30 inch slab roller, with shipping, for the ceramics studio. All remaining funds will be returned to the general fund by October 31.
Second: Jen
Vote: Passes by voice vote.
NB6: Change MSP Internet provider to AT&T Internet Air (Jim)
Issue: Comcast bill has risen to $250 per month and discounts are about to expire.
Solution: Move to AT&T Internet Air for Business at $30 per month (introductory for 1 year, $60 thereafter) 50-300 Mb service.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to install AT&T Internet Air for Business at MSP. Observe operation for the initial 30 day test period. At the end of the test period, if the service is found to be suitable, cancel the Comcast subscription.
Second: Rob
Vote: Passes by voice vote.
NB7: Changes to Bylaws (Jonathan)
Issue: Incorrect dues in Bylaws
Solution: Remove from Bylaws 6.3.1.10 and 6.3.2.5
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to remove from Bylaws 6.3.1.10 and 6.3.2.5
Second: Rob
Vote: Passes by voice vote.
Open Discussion
Executive Session
Member issue. Resolved no action.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned by Jonathan at 7:50
Next Board Meeting will be August 26th.