Greetings to my fellow Naparima College Alumni and all other stakeholders of our great institution.
I would firstly like to thank all members of the Association who saw it fit to elect me as your Treasurer. It is a privilege that I hold in the highest regard, and vow to execute my responsibilities in a manner fitting for such an esteemed office.
I have faced many professional challenges in my career, however the challenge ahead in this role ranks among the most difficult. Associations such as ourselves are not insulated from the economic challenges presented by Covid-19, and an assessment of our opening cash position speaks directly to that. Over the past two years, the cash and cash reserves of the association has been depleted by over 80%. That, combined with the ongoing uncertainty still lingering as it relates to public gatherings, presents a significant challenge for myself as Treasurer and the rest of the Executive.
We have already hit the ground running and working assiduously to firstly implement a more rigorous financial infrastructure via implementation of online banking, a best fit accounting software and the creation of a financial policies and procedures document to govern receipt and disbursement of cash and kind.
Once these are in place, the second objective is to increase the frequency of reporting to the membership via quarterly online forums to present and discuss the financial state of affairs with more regularity. These first two tenets are necessary in order to increase the accountability and transparency related to your financial contributions to the organization going forward, while also serving future Executives in good stead.
The third tenet will be an emphasis on more innovative fundraising strategies to not only rebuild the cash balance of the Association for deployment to the students, but also to reinstitute a Trust Account for the association by the end of our two year tenure.
Those are the high level strategic objectives that I will be striving to achieve along with the help of my fellow Executives, the Finance Committee and the continued support of the Naparima Alumni membership. Thank you all again for this opportunity to serve.
Andre Jeffers
Treasurer
