The name of the Society shall be Kashmiri American Society for Healthcare, Medical Education and Research (KashmEr) a Non-Profit Corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New York. The principal office of the Society shall be in the state of New York or as determined by the board of directors.

SECTION 1 – VISION STATEMENT

Kashmiri Healthcare Professional networking Society is dedicated to improving healthcare, education and research

SECTION 2 – OBJECTIVES:

The Objectives of the Society are:
1. To promote general health and prevent disease through high quality education, advocacy, research and training.
2. To improve health and wellness of populations with limited access to quality healthcare in the United States and internationally, particularly in regions with underdeveloped healthcare infrastructure like Jammu and Kashmir.
3. To promote professional networking and collaboration among healthcare professionals and actively engage with other medical societies and organizations with similar objectives.

SECTION 1: MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS.
• Membership to the Society shall be open to any healthcare professional of Kashmiri heritage residing in the North American Continent (US & Canada).
• Membership will be granted irrespective of caste, color, gender, financial status or religion.
• Members shall be expected to support and work for the goals and objectives of the Society
• Membership shall be subject to the approval of the Board. New membership applicant must submit a completed membership form to the Membership Committee. Based on the Committee’s recommendations the Board shall approve and notify its decision to the applicant within 60 days of its receipt.
• Members must pay the Annual membership dues every year to retain their respective membership status and committee assignments if any.

SECTION 2 – TYPES OF MEMBERSHIPS

The membership of the Society shall consist of the following categories: Active, Associate, Affiliate, Life and Honorary:

1. ACTIVE MEMBERS

Active member shall be a US or Canadian based healthcare professional of Kashmiri heritage. The Membership Committee may accept applicants of Non- Kashmiri descent under this category after evaluation on a case-by-case basis. Active members shall have the privilege to hold any elected office, vote and participate in elections

2. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

The associate membership will be open to students, Residents, Fellows, Research Scholars of Kashmiri heritage who are pursuing training in various healthcare fields in US or Canada. Associate members shall have privileges of active members except that they may not hold any elected office. Associate members can vote in elections. Membership dues shall be lesser than that for an active member, as recommended by the Membership Committee.

3. AFFILIATE

Individuals of Kashmiri heritage who are not a health care professional but demonstrate interest in the activities of the Society and are interested in promoting the vision and mission of the organization may be accepted as affiliate members. Individuals of nonKashmiri heritage may be accepted as Affiliate members on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Membership Committee. Affiliate members shall have privileges of active members except that they may not vote
nor hold any elected office. Affiliate members can propose projects. Membership dues shall be lesser than that for an active member, as recommended by the Membership Committee.

4. LIFE

Individuals who are active members may pay discounted membership dues for 15 years are considered life members. They will have the same privileges as active members – hold any elected office, vote and participate in elections. Membership dues from life members shall be discounted.

5. HONORARY

Individuals who render distinguished service to the “Society” and/or have a record of high achievement and significant contribution in the field of healthcare may be proposed for honorary membership by any member of the Society. The Board of Directors based on the recommendation by the Membership Committee may grant this membership.Honorary members shall have all the privileges of active members except that they may not hold any elected office. Honorary members can vote in elections. Honorary members shall not pay any annual dues.

SECTION 3 – DUES
On the recommendation of the Membership Committee, the Board of Directors shall determine and revise as needed yearly dues for: Active, Associate, Affiliate and Life members. The membership dues shall cover membership privileges and the subscription to the official publications. Any member who is delinquent in paying dues for a period of 60 days shall be notified by email of such failure and suspended as a member and all member rights and privileges shall temporarily cease. If all dues are not paid within the succeeding 30 days, the membership is automatically terminated. Yearly dues are to be deposited by January 31st of each calendar year. Membership becomes inactive if dues are not paid by April 31st. Members are responsible for providing and updating valid email address.

ENDOWMENT FUND:

The society will work on creating an Endowment Fund that can take the shape of a Savings Account or Fixed Deposit type of account. “Life Membership” could provide the “Seed Money” for the endowment. The society will institute a policy of 50% of the “membership dues “ collected per financial year for this account to be deposited on the last day of the year. This strategy of creating an endowment fund is essential for the long-term survival of the organization. This account will be funded every year starting in 2020 unless extenuating financial circumstances are present to skip a year. This will need to be voted on and approved by 2/3rds of the board.

SECTION 1 DUTIES

The board of directors shall be the governing body of the society, which has the authority and responsibility for supervision, control, and direction of the Society in
accordance with the bylaws and applicable local laws.

SECTION 2 MEMBERSHIP
1. The Board of Directors shall consist of 9-11 members with the following composition:
– President
– Immediate Past President
– Secretary
– Treasurer
– Chairpersons of 4 committees (Membership, Scientific, Healthcare Delivery, Media and Communications) except the Election Commission/By Laws committee while active on the committee shall become members of the Board upon election by the respective committees.
– Three Members at large
In its first year of operation, the general body of members of the organization shall nominate/elect seven members for holding office. The members with the highest
number of nominations will be elected the President, followed by President-Elect, Secretary and 4 board members amongst whom 1 member shall volunteer for the office of treasurer. Four members of the Board shall be the Chairpersons of all committees (with the exception of By-laws/ Nomination committee). An election will be conducted by the Election Commission/By laws committee every two years to elect a Treasurer and two Members at large from general body of active and life members. The Treasurer shall in subsequent election year (i.e. after two years of service as treasurer) become the Secretary, and the Secretary in subsequent election year (i.e. after two years of service as secretary) becomes the President and the President in the subsequent election year stays as the Immediate Past President.

No board member shall be a part of the Board of Directors for more than 8 years unless reelected as per the election process described above after a gap of 1 year.

If a board member fails to complete his/her term due to resignation, termination or death- the vacancy for the remainder of the term shall be filled by Presidential appointment following consultation with the Board of Directors and a simple majority vote of the Board members in support of the appointment.

In the case of the President who fails to complete his/her term due to resignation, termination or death- the Secretary shall take over the responsibility of the President and if the Secretary is unable or not willing to do so, the Board Members shall elect a President by simple majority vote within the existing Board Members. Another member of the board chosen by majority will serve as the temporary secretary for the gap time period. In situations where either the Secretary or President post cannot be filled either due to personal wishes or other circumstances, Board will Vote to Choose new Secretary or the President. The nominee should be a previously elected officer of the board with at least 1- year experience on the board.

SECTION C MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1. The board of directors shall meet at least 6 times annually in person or by teleconference
2. Simple majority of the 6 members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a Quorum.
3. The Secretary shall organize the meeting, draft agenda, record meeting minutes and document the decisions. Notice of each meeting and the statement/agenda
of its purpose shall be emailed in advance to the Board of Directors.

1. The officers of the Board of Directors shall be:
– President,
– Immediate Past President,
– Treasurer,
– Secretary,
– Members at Large.
No member may serve as an officer in more than one capacity at the same time. In the event of the death or resignation of the president or inability to function (as determined by the board of directors) the Secretary shall become the president for the remaining term. If the Secretary is unable or not willing to do so, then the Board Members shall elect a President by simple majority vote within the existing Board Members An elected officer may be removed for adequate reasons by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors with the officer being considered for removal not participating in the vote. An officer removed by this process may appeal his/her decision in writing to the President/Secretary.
The President/Secretary may reconsider this decision after discussion with other Officers.
None of the officers shall receive compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for pre-authorized expenses that would be considered operational or  administrative costs of the organization. Pre-authorization and Reimbursement for these expenses may be authorized by the Treasurer and the President.
Officers shall be FULL members with the main residence in US or Canada

SECTION 2

DUTIES.

1. The President shall preside over all BOD meetings and facilitate decisionmaking by obtaining a vote from the members in attendance. The President shall
support other officers of the BOD for their activities.
2. The President-Elect(Secretary) shall serve as the delegate of The President for all activities of the President where needed.
3. The Secretary shall be responsible for ensuring BOD meetings are held in accordance with the bylaws, shall be responsible for documenting the
proceedings and minutes. The Secretary shall also be responsible for drafting the organization’s annual report.
4. The Treasurer shall be responsible for developing a budget, maintaining bank accounts, maintain the accounting information, approving and maintaining of any
financial transactions and obtaining any outside audits as needed.
5. The immediate Past President shall have an advisory role in all matters of the organization.
6. A member at large serves as a liaison to the general membership. Duties change as defined in organization bylaws or as needed to fulfill board requirements and
address overall organizational goals.
7. Each MAL will also be the Co-Chair or Lead II of each committee. Each MAL will be voted and will serve in this role for two years.

SECTION 1 – GENERAL:

Standing committees of the Society Shall be:
• Membership and Professional Networking Committee
• Scientific Committee (Education Research and Training Committee)
• Healthcare Delivery committee
• Media and Communications committee
• Election Commission/By Laws Committee
• The board can add Ad Hoc and Affiliate committees as it deems fit with a majority vote.

1. Committee memberships will be open to all the members and a member may work in more than one committee at a given time.
2. The membership committee will make recommendations to the president and BOD to ensure sufficient representation in each committee to address
the vision and mission of the organization.
3. Unless otherwise provided by these bylaws such committees shall have as many members as deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors.
4. Unless they resign or are expelled from the membership the members could choose to remain in the committee indefinitely.
5. Each committee will choose a chairperson by simple majority vote every 2 years that will be responsible for conducting the business of the committee and
participate as a member of BOD except the Election Commission/By Laws Committee.
6. The committees will also elect a vicechair person by simple majority vote. The vice chairperson will lead the committee in the absence of the
chairperson and conduct other activities which may be assigned by the chairperson.
7. The process of electing a chairperson and vice chairperson will be an internal one for each committee by a simple majority preferably after the general
elections every 2 years and if needed each committee may seek the assistance of Election Commission/By Laws committee to conduct the election process.
8. The President may nominate or appoint members to represent the association in committees of any other organization when in the opinion of the president such
action will aid in advancing the purposes of the organization.
9. The President may also on authorization of the Board of Directors ask committees to act in concert with other organizations for a particular purpose.
10.All committees shall report in writing their proceeding and details of their activity to the Board of directors and seek approval of any projects they may undertake.
11.To promote networking, the committees could have several sub committees/task forces based on particular project or geographic distribution or specialty of practice.
12.The subcommittee/taskforce will have a group leader, who will lead the effort in a focused manner.
13. All committees shall conduct at least 6 official meetings in a year, in- person or via teleconference. Vice-chairperson of the committee shall record minutes of the meeting.

SECTION 2 – COMMITTEE DETAILS: 

MEMBERSHIP AND NETWORKING COMMITTEE

1.Shall review all applications for all categories of membership and shall be empowered to approve membership applications.
2. Shall promote membership inclusion, overview of the roll roster and periodically assess the needs of the members.
3. Manage and maintain a directory of the members and make it available to members of the organization as needed.
4. Support other committees with tasks related to resourcing and membership needs.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE (Education and Research Committee)

1. Will be responsible for promoting scientific mission of the organization, which includes but is not limited to education, training and research.
2. Host conferences, workshops and seminars in USA and abroad for promoting health education, training and research.
3. Partner with other professional societies or personnel in USA and abroad to promote the mission of the organization.
4. Provide support and mentorship to healthcare professionals in training.
5. Engage in Advocacy and Awareness Programs
6. Develop projects related to education and research and partner with other committees in organization for material support and funding to accomplish
these projects.
7. Seeks approval of the BOD for any activity , which involves actions outside of the organization.

HEALTH CARE DELIVERY COMMITTEE

1. Responsible for developing projects to improve the overall health care of the community.
2. Partner with other committees in the organization or outside of the organization or personnel in USA or abroad.
3.Propose to BOD’s recommendations regarding grants, funds in cash or kind with the goals of improving health care to other entities within or outside USA.
4. Respond to needs of the community in case of natural or other disasters.

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

1. Shall be responsible for developing policies and processes for effective communication within and outside of the organization.
2. Develop resources, means and methods to promote vision and mission of the organization among general masses and community at large.
3. Develop website, social media pages or other resources to promote free discussions among members and supporters to promote the mission of the
organization.

ELECTION COMMISSION/BYLAWS COMMITTEE

1. Will be responsible for developing Bylaws for the organization and propose any amendments to the bylaws as needed from time to time to accomplish the
mission and vision of the society. The board via majority vote will make the final decision about the amendments and modifications. The board retains the power
to introduce amendments if required independent of the bylaws committee by a 2/3rd. majority vote provided a quorum is present.
2. The committee will facilitate nomination/election process for officer/s or BOD
3. Hold elections yearly/ when needed at the request of the Board of Directors as per the Bylaws.
4. Assist committees in electing their chairperson and vice chairperson upon request as needed.
5. No member of the Board of Directors may be a member of the Election Commission/By Laws Committee nor any of the members of the Election
Commission/By Laws Committee participate as a Board of Director.

SECTION 1 MEMBERSHIP

The Oversight/Advisory council shall consist of two past presidents (excluding immediate past president) and 3 other members. The President based on the majority vote of the BOD will appoint the other members. This council will mainly have an advisory role in the organization. These members shall fulfill at least one of the following:
– Senior Healthcare Professionals of Kashmiri descent with a minimum 25 years of experience.
– Have previously demonstrated success in non-profit work experience(s).
– Be able to serve as subject matter experts in governance, legal, regulatory and budget related matters of the organization.
– Be recognized as leaders of the community whose expertise could help progress the vision and mission of the organization.
– Advisory council members shall have a total duration of not more than 5 years term.

SECTION 2 DUTIES

The Oversight/Advisory Council shall keep under continuous review the entire operations of the organization to ensure that its activities are aligned with its purpose and vision.
The Oversight/Advisory Council shall provide recommendations to the board of directors for effective functioning of the organization
The Oversight/Advisory Council shall actively promote and advocate for the organization’s mission, vision and projects

SECTION 3 MEETING OF THE OVERSIGHT/ADVISORY COUNCIL

1. The Oversight/Advisory Council shall meet at least once annually or anytime upon a written request of the board of directors.
2. Simple majority of the Oversight/Advisory Council shall constitute a quorum.
3. The notices of each meeting and the statement of its purpose shall be emailed to each member of the advisory council ahead of the meeting by the President.
4. The meeting proceedings and recommendations shall be recorded by the Secretary

These bylaws may be amended by two third vote of the BOD present and voting at meetings called for this purpose.
Bylaws Committee will ensure the decisions are drafted and approved by the President before execution.
Any proposed change will be circulated among the members of the society and they will have 30 days to give their comments or suggestions.

1. The Board of Directors may establish policies and procedures that are consistent with these bylaws.
2. After approval from Board of Directors these maybe implemented and take effect till changes are made by revised policies and procedures or by bylaws amendments.

1. INDEMNIFICATION.

Directors, officers, authorized employees, volunteers and other agents of the Society shall be indemnified against claims of liability arising in connection with their positions or
activities on behalf of the Society to the full extent permitted by the law.
2. Fiscal year of the Society shall be January 1 to December 31.
3. DATE BYLAWS WERE ADOPTED: March 8, 2020
4. DATE BYLAWS WERE AMENDED: October 6, 2019e January 1 to December 31.