Dr. Kanwal then spoke about his interests in ASP; he felt that the membership should be enlarged and that our reserve fund needs to be increased.

Dr. Soin, gave a brief history of ASP and reviewed the goals, that were set when the Association was founded in 1984. He was very keen to have the children of ASP members involved.

Mr. Guljit Singh also commented that although the current assets were small, we had contributed approximately $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 to the community. We could do better if we increased our efforts. He had enjoyed the process of serving the ASP but also felt that the Constitution needed to be updated.

Dr. Harinderjit Singh made observations that he had joined later after seeing that ASP had actually begun to do some work. The hospital project in India had been a learning experience. He felt that we should continue with cultural activities, but that some political activities were indicated in this country to show our presence.

Gagandeep Sahni felt the need to open up regional chapters, so that members at the periphery would have involvement.
 

Members joined a group because of :

• The goals it had set

• The credibility and the track record of the group

• They felt that they were able to give back to the community and

• Their desire to do Sewa.

• Secondary considerations were of social contact, participation in its activities, communication and of possible tax benefits.

The past activities of ASP could be broken down into:

• Helping others. (Lohgarh Camp, SMART project, Fateh project and Akal Academy).
• Communications. (Production of videos, hosting of seminars, etc.)
• Awards. (Sikh Heritage Award, Junior Achievement Prize)
• Activities generated by ASP alone. (Sikh Education Aid Fund, Hospital Project in India)

Current Resources

• The current assets of the ASP were then reviewed. It was noted that we had approximately $170,000 in our general fund, $165,000 in the Sikh Education Aid Fund and about $65,000 in endowments for the Sikh Education Aid Fund.
• In addition, we had approximately 15 active members and about 30 passive members who had joined in the past, but had not contributed recently.
• Our other intangible assets included the reservoir of goodwill that ASP had generated and its ability to align with other organizations to work in similar goals and directions.

Current perceptions of ASP and Reasons for low membership

• It appears that the ASP is being perceived in the community as a "physician controlled", with "elitist" members.
• Members had heard that we restricted our membership, that membership dues were high and that our main activity was an education fund.
• There was a perception that the ASP did serve as an incubator for youth groups and that it had remained non-political.

Mr. Harpal Singh then made the observation that, as the size of the Sikh community increased, the input side of people participating in the activities of ASP needed to be increased. In particular he felt that input from members of different skills including the software industry, engineering fields, investment banking and other legal professions was needed in the process. Thus the output, in terms of service to the community, would be at a more meaningful level.

Going forward, what did ASP want to be known for:

• The consensus was that ASP should be known as an organization that took care of the youth in this country and supported them by way of counseling, mentoring and supporting them activities.
• In addition, they wanted ASP to be known for its networking abilities among the Sikhs in North America with the creation of resource database. This would promote contact between individuals and groups.
• They also wanted ASP to be a catalyst in initiating new functions and promoting new ideas and to serve as an incubator for new projects. The Association should be perceived as an all-inclusive organization welcoming all those seeking to work for the welfare of the community.

The two groups of activities that were picked were:

• Youth related activities, including the Sikh Education Aid Fund.
• As an incubator and catalyst for new projects in the Sikh community. Among these it was felt that the creation of a database of Sikhs in this community would be something that would be a big asset.

• It emerged that ASP membership was perceived to be restrictive
• That membership dues were high.
• The Constituion gave control to Founding Trustees who could be there for life
• The wording on the nomination forms was quaint and it was pointed out that the "daswandh" criteria for higher office were lacking.
• Lack of publicity within the Sikh community
• Mr. Harpal Singh then made the observation that, as the size of the Sikh community increased, the input side of people participating in the activities of ASP needed to be increased. In particular he felt that input from members of different skills including the software industry, engineering fields, investment banking and other legal professions was needed in the process. Thus the output, in terms of service to the community, would be at a more meaningful level.

• We felt that one good way to correct our negative perceptions in the community would be to have articles in newspapers. We identified at least three newspapers in New York, Chicago and the Los Angeles area that probably would be receptive to such articles.
• The group also felt that a new brochure for the ASP and more reading material needed to be produced. This could be sent out the prospective members.
• Students at various universities, including Sikh students associations were a big resource.
• Non- working spouses of ASP members should be involved in this project, but this would probably need to be coordinated through some form of central office.
• Several events per year would be needed to publicize our efforts.

• It was strongly felt that our present capital structure was not enough to support the work that we were contemplating. The level of membership would need to be significantly increased, but that this should be tackled only after the Constitution had been revised.
• Donations would probably come at a higher level if we solicited them for "project based drives" as we had done for the Akal Academy.
• The corporate matching program of various business enterprises in this country would need to be tapped and it was also felt that appeals at various Gurdwaras might be beneficial since they tapped a different class of Sikhs in this country.

Successful Sikh professionals in this country could serve as role models and as a beacon to solicit more funds for our activities.
 

• It was felt that Articles 1,2, and 3 should be left unchanged.
• Under Article 4, it was felt that the membership structure could be streamlined and membership should be given to those who did work for ASP, but were unable to contribute. Such members should probably also have voting rights.
• In addition, spousal members should probably not have a voting right, but a new class of membership needed to be created, which could be called Family Membership, (which would include spouses), but that the membership dues would be different.
• Voting rights for Emeritus members needed addressing since we did not want to be an "old members club" in the future
• It was felt that the Board of Trustees needed to be revamped and that there should be criteria provided for general members to rise to the level of Board of Trustees. This could be fairly restrictive with the members having served a number of years as active members before they could be nominated to the Board of Trustees; the Board of Trustees should not be a permanent Board of Trustees.

After some discussion on federal-versus-regional orientation of the ASP, the consensus was that as long as the membership remained low the federal structure would probably serve us best. When the membership increased beyond 50 or so, then regional chapters should be encouraged and they should be allowed to do their own programs.
 

We then explored the possibility of having a full time office person who could coordinate all the activities of the ASP. The roles of the person who would be a full time employee, would include:

• Answering phone calls and email.
• Doing the accounting work for ASP
• Organizing events as they happen in different parts of the country.
• To send out materials to prospective members.
• To support members in the projects that they were doing.
• Collect data from Sikhs in this country so that this could be put into a database for mailing purposes and help with the formation of a database.
• Write for grants for various ASP activities with the hope that these would supplement the income of ASP.

• The number of members who join the organization and grants that we could attract.

• The number of mailings that could be done for the ASP and for the Sikh Education Aid Fund.

• The number of events that could be organized and possibly the number of grants that we could attract from other organizations.

It was felt that in the current environment of technology, our next Annual meeting should be held in San Francisco area. Chicago would be the backup site if arrangements fell through. The meeting would be held in either of the last two weekends in Sept 2001. Gagandeep Sahni would lead the arrangements. We should finalize venue and dates by end of 2000.
 

• The adoption of two areas of excellence that ASP would carve a niche in, these would be:  support activities for Sikh youth in this country, including the Sikh Education Aid Fund, and serve as an incubator for new and innovative projects that support the Sikh Community
• The decision to change the Constitution according to the parameters listed above. Mr. Guljeet Singh and Dr. Daljeet Singh will get the suggested draft back to the ASP trustees within 90 days (by February 10, 2001).
• The decision to enlarge our fundraising base and activities, and established the goal of $1 million for the Sikh Education Aid Fund, and $1 million for the general operating fund for ASP. Dr. Harinderjit Sing, Sukhi Ghumann, and Mr. Tuli are to work on fundraising issues. They will submit a status report by January 31, 2001.
• The decision to establish a permanent office, probably in Chicago, with a full-time staff member. Dr. Gurpal Singh Bhuller and Mr. Harpal Singh were to explore the possibility of this and will report back to ASP by February 28, 2001.
• New members recruitment: Drs. Kanwal, Gagandeep and Sandeep will work on this. Report by January 31, 2001.
• Database: Dr. G.P. Singh, Mr. Harpal Singh, and Jaskaran Singh – feasibility study to be submitted by February 28, 2001.
• PR and Newspaper articles – Mr. Tuli, Dr. G.S. Kanwal and Dr. I.J. Singh.

The meeting then concluded with a vote of thanks to Dr. Harinderjit Singh who organized this and to Dr. Sukhwant Singh Khanuja for leading us through a very successful exercise.

The meeting concluded at 11:25 AM on the 29th of October.

Note:

All three invited guests who came to observe the deliberations joined the ASP as full members. The organization welcomes Mr. Darshan Singh Batia, Mr. Jagjit Singh Sidhu and Mr. Ranjit Singh into their fold.