Friendship Force International  

Dear Friendship Force International Leaders:

I am writing, as the current Chairman of The Friendship Force International Board of Trustees, to our leaders around the world to advise of a recent change in our leadership. Please share this communiqué with as many of your members as possible.

On 10th November 2002, Mr. Chip Carter resigned as President, and his mother Mrs. Rosalyn Carter resigned as Honorary Chairperson of Friendship Force International.

Other than these voluntary resignations on the part of Chip and Mrs. Carter, and two other Trustees, the management of Friendship Force International remains unchanged, with Constance Swank in post as Executive Director, and all office staff operating as previously.

The Board of Trustees and management of Friendship Force International foresee a very positive future for the organization, with Exchanges between clubs in 2003 and future years being the mainstay of the organization, supplemented by special exchanges and other innovative Friendship Force activities.

The Board believes that our organization must balance its budget, by matching operating costs with income in the medium term, but I wish to emphasize that any proposed changes to our modus operandi will relate only to the way that the organization is structured in terms of central management, and will not impact in any way on the enjoyment of exchanges between clubs, nor on the number of exchanges which will be available.

It is our firm belief that Friendship Force International will prosper and grow under the current leadership, and that the number and variety of exchanges will expand as we progress.

The circumstances surrounding the resignations of Chip Carter and Mrs. Carter are clear, but the reasoning behind their actions, which led to their resignations, are not known.

At a Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday 7th November 2002, the Board considered nominations for Board memberships to be effective from 1st January 2003, and elected 5 Board members accordingly to replace retiring Board members. Voting took place in a regular and correct manner and the nominations were approved on November 7th.

On November 9th, Chip Carter reported to all attendees present at the International Conference in Dallas, that his mother had advised him that the Board should remove 2 of the newly appointed Trustees from the Board, and elect instead two nominees that she had suggested but who were not elected by the Board at its meeting on November 7th; and that furthermore, if the suggested changes did not take place that she would resign as Honorary Chairperson, and Chip also advised that he too would resign if the Board appointments were not changed as his mother had suggested.

The Board met again on Sunday November 10th, and at that time the foregoing proposition from Mrs. Carter was formally presented to the Board. The matter was duly discussed by the Board, and a motion made and seconded that Mrs. Carter's suggested changes to the nominations which had been approved on November 7th be accepted. A vote was taken and the Board rejected the motion. Mrs. Carter and Chip Carter then resigned from their posts with The Friendship Force, and the Board reluctantly accepted their resignations. Immediately following this announcement, two other members of the Board announced their resignations.

The Board has placed on record its thanks to Mrs. Carter and Chip Carter, who have between them made a terrific impact on the development and management of our organization. The Board did not ask them to resign, and indeed did not want them to do so, but on the other hand the Board (by majority vote) could not accept that Board nominations that had been properly voted on and accepted should subsequently be changed at the insistence of one person, whomsoever that person may be.

The Board believes that it has acted properly, in accordance with its legal obligation to undertake due diligence and execute fiscal probity in its role within The Friendship Force, and while truly sorry to loose the services of both Mrs. Carter and Chip, the Board do not see any other appropriate action which could have been taken in the circumstances.

I would encourage all members to remember the fact that we have had 25 successful years of The Friendship Force to date, and are looking forward to the next 25 years of enjoyment and accomplishment throughout The Friendship Force in a very positive manner.

In Friendship,

Tony Coates

Chairman, Board of Trustees

Friendship Force International