IAPA holds first online Annual General Meeting

IAPA holds first Online Annual General Meeting

On Tuesday, 13 October 2020, IAPA held its first virtual Annual General Meeting ever.

60 participants followed the reports of the Chair Linda James and her board team treasurer Goran Rannefors and Board member Michael Xie as well as Managing Director Patricia Brunner.

For the first time, IAPA also used an online voting tool. Registered full voting members had received the login to the tool as well as information about each motion several days earlier with the option to cast their vote before the actual meeting. Most of them made use of this option. Live votes during the AGM were added automatically to these votes so that results could be announced live during the meeting itself.

Throughout the meeting, members could comment or ask their questions via the Zoom Chat and they made full use of this facility.

Annual report on activities and developments 

The Board and management informed members about activities, campaigns and developments over the past one and a half years.

Managing Director presented the various activities from WETM-IAC in Luxembourg in 2019 to IAPA´s presence on various social media channels.

Michael Xie provided information about the International Workshop in Mexico that was held in November 2019 in front of 40 participants from 22 agencies.

International Workshop Mexico 2019

In 2020, IAPA has offered many online activities such as webinars, panel talks or virtual get-togethers. IAPA will continue to offer online sessions on relevant topics.

IAPA Au Pair of the Year

The Au Pair of the Year award 2020 was given to Wandi Zhu from China who stayed with a family in Germany. Wandi was placed by IAPA member agencies Kulturist(link) Germany and Hellopair (link), China. Since the Award could not be given to the lucky winner in Malta during WEM-IAC, Managing Director Patricia Brunner had visited her and her host family in their home near Hamburg to hand out the award.

A video about Wandi and the story of the 2020 award was shown live during the AGM. See also full report and watch the video

Celebrating International Au Pair Day every 24 November

The International Au Pair Day, an IAPA initiative, was celebrated for the first time on 24 November 2019. This was only the beginning. IAPA plans to hold an Au Pair online day on 24 November this year and hopes that all members will participate and help to create a buzz about it. A video with highlights of last year´s many celebrations around the world was shown.  Watch the video

IAPA Finances: 

Losses expected, but IAPA is financially stable

Treasurer Goran Rannefors presented the 2019 audited annual accounts, the expected financial results for 2020 and the budget for 2021. Members accepted the audited accounts and discharged the IAPA Board and Management for their service in 2019 and agreed to all motions presented by the Board.

Reduced Membership fees for 2021

In light of the COVID19 pandemic and the severe economic impact on the au pair industry, the Board proposed a reduction of membership fees for the year 2021 by 50 %. Goran Rannefors stated that IAPA is in the lucky position to have accumulated cash reserves over the years which can now be used to support the membership. With this substantial cut in fees, the Board hopes to be able to ease the financial burden for its members and to keep the community together. This proposal was well received and accepted by the voting members.

Membership Development

Linda James presented the Membership development update. IAPA now has 171 members, though some resignations and disaffiliation can, unfortunately, be expected over the next months.

But also 10 new member organisations were ratified and welcomed.

Honouring Long-Standing members

The members honoured their many longstanding members who have been loyal to the association for more than 10, 20 and 25 years. Usually, these members receive a certificate handed out in person during the AGM. This year they received their certificates by e-mail. Pictures and mini-interviews with our long-standing members will be posted on social media over the next few weeks.

Executive Board Elections

Congratulations to Linda James who was confirmed by the voting members as chairperson of the International Au Pair Association. Linda James had taken over the chair position from predecessor Delphine Vaills beginning of 2020 when Delphine decided to step down from the chair position for personal reasons.

Linda James and the whole Board and membership thanked Delphine for her dedication and hard work over the last seven years as Board member and chair of IAPA.

Since no one had applied to become a new board member, the election of this position will be postponed until the AGM in March 2021 in Malta.

IAPA seat to be moved from Denmark to Germany

The voting members also agreed to the Board´s plans to move the seat of IAPA from Denmark to Germany where IAPA´s office has been located since 2016. This move is not only necessary due to stricter EU regulations but it will also be more practical.

Future Project: IAPA Academy

Xie presented a new project idea –  The IAPA Academy – that IAPA would like to develop in the future: A training and learning opportunity for agents (members and non-members), to gain certificates as certified agencies. The idea was previously discussed by the Board during our agency workshop in Mexico in 2019. However, it had to be put on hold as it was more important to react to the developments in 2020. The Board would like to take up the idea again now and will first create a survey to ask members for their opinion and input. The first reactions from the audience were very positive.

Linda James closed the meeting after just over 1,5 hours thanking the participants for their support and trust and with the hope of being able to meet again in person next year during WETM-IAC in Malta from 20-22 March 2021.

Some feedback from participants about the first IAPA online AGM:

“Congratulations on this Online AGM, I believe it was very clear, very outstanding informative, objective, and follow up time frame so it was perfect!”

“Thanks a lot for organizing the AGM online, it went very well and all the topics were interesting; a lot is changing in our « small world »; let’s stay positive and optimistic.”