| I find myself questioning change at this moment as I announce that Board member Marti Johnston has decided to step down from the Hekab Be Biblioteca, Inc. U.S. Board. ☹
Many of you have known Marti for years as she used to run the yoga studio at the Akumal arch and championed the environment and sustainable living here for many years. Perhaps you know Marti via her involvement in the Akumal Arts Festival as she, along with Hekab Be Board member Jennifer Smith, is a founding member. And over the last few years, she was a critical Hekab Be Board member, involved in many aspects of our US 501(c)(3) operations, serving as our accountant, fundraiser, and maintaining the lines of communication with all donors via her gracious and joyful thank you e-mails and notes.
Last Summer, Marti made the decision to move back to the States to be closer to her mother who lives in southwest Oregon. As she has continued to transition to life back in the U.S., it now makes sense for Marti to step down from the Board.
Marti has been a critical part of the Hekab Be Board and we are incredibly grateful to her for her numerous contributions! She will be sorely missed!
Our immediate focus is to hire a Bookkeeper to take on those responsibilities. I am currently interviewing U.S. Bookkeepers that specialize in handling non-profit clients. We expect to make a decision and begin the onboarding process within the next week.
Once we get caught up on pending projects, Jennifer, Kathleen, and I will hold a Board Meeting and begin the process of adding new Board members.
In the meantime, the kiddos at Hekab Be are having an amazing year chock full of physical activity, art classes and a new weekly English class recently rolled out by one of our amazing volunteers!
Progress has been made with CFE and Government red tape related to the Akumal Art & Water Community Park. More details on that in our next quarterly newsletter!
And a new, scaled-down, “boutique” version of the Akumal Arts Festival is being pondered with a potential relaunch in Spring 2024.
We hope that you’ll come to visit us during your next trip to Akumal and keep tabs on what we’re doing by following us on Facebook and Instagram as well as via these periodic newsletters.
We’re grateful to all of you receiving this newsletter as your interest in our mission is what keeps us motivated to keep doing the hard work! Gracias!
Kelly A. Maher
Board Treasurer
Hekab Be Biblioteca, Inc.
on behalf of the Hekab Be Biblioteca Board |
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