Finote-Tibeb Mission Statement

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Deriving its name from the two Geez words, Finote and Tibeb, with the combined meaning, "road for wisdom", the Center strives to create and develop the culture of appreciation for Ethiopian literary art. Its sole mission and objectives are:

Establish, nurture, and promote Ethiopian literature, theatre, music, and visual arts.

Encourage individuals and groups who promote and foster the beauty of diverse Ethiopian art for the community at large.
Serve as a link between all Ethiopians in Diasporas by way of keeping them connected to their root.
Building communal relationships.

Change the literary art appreciation tradition or practice of the society.

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well as avoiding any kind of discrimination based on race, religion, sex or any other background, the Center is just another accent for unity in diversity. In achieving its main goal of building communal relationships, it organizes events, occasions, and plans different projects that help cultivate a valuable generation. FTLAC strongly believes that art makes a difference.
The Center was founded by five establishing members, who discussed on the need for such a center that encourages expression of feelings through writing. Many talented individuals read their poems on different occasions where quite numerous Ethiopians gathered for a cultural show. That triggered the need for the conception and birth of FTLAC. After the necessary ground work was completed, the group held its first small event on September 5, 2004. Since then, it has been a standing custom to do such events every month. The purpose of these small events is to get together and enjoy literary art as well as help writers by commenting and complementing on their creative works. Encouraging writers to succeed is the whole purpose of the critique group. Therefore, it's beneficial to be a member of this Center both as a writer or simply being an appreciator of Ethiopian literature.
As we strive to make a difference in the society, creating the desired bridge between the past and the future is critical for this generation. Therefore, the Center appreciates your participation either as a writer or listener.

Thank you for your participation.

FTLAC Constitution

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FTLAC CONSTITUTION

I. Name of organization:

A. Finote-Tibeb Literary Art Center,
hereafter referred as the center, is an
art center organized in September 2004, free of any discriminations based on
political, religious, ethnic, sex and age.

II. Objective:

A. Finote-Tibeb Literary Center is established with the objective of organizing
and assisting those talented Ethiopians in theatre, poems and other areas of
literary art, in exchanging experiences, creating a conducive environment for
presentation of their creative works to the community, advancing their knowledge
and experiences by learning from each other towards developing their talent, as
well as introducing the broad Ethiopian literature to the society at large.

III.Mission: FTLAC

A. Organizes those interested and talentedindividuals under the center and
trainsthem if possible.
B. Presents events that comprise theatres,poems, and
other art related creativeworks every once in a while.
C. Works in
collaboration with differentgovernmental or private institutions asneeded.
D. Organizes different sub-committeesunder the center as needed in order
toaccomplish its objectives.
E. Facilitates the opportunity for membersto
present their creative works to thepublic.
F. The center collects great
literary worksby other Ethiopians and introduces themto the society.
G. Finding the necessary fund to expand itsservices.
H. Teaching the Ethiopian
language to theyoung generation and non-Ethiopianswho are interested.
I. When situations allow, the center will participate on international or other
cultural shows and exchange programs in Minneapolis and the surrounding.

IV. Membership:

A. Anyone who lives in Minnesota and its surrounding can be a member if he/she
accepts the constitution of the center.

V. Membership rights: If interested, a memberhas the right to:

A. Run for any of the officer positions andbe elected.
B. Participate in the
general assembly.
C. Take part in accomplishing the dutiesand
responsibilities of the center orprovide his/her ideas

VI. Membership obligations:

A. Paying membership fee as determinedby the center.
B. Participating on
the activities as his/herqualification allows.
C. Contributing what they can
in assistingwith the center's objectives.

VII. Disciplinary actions:

A. Acting against the center's basic ethical codes or outside the scope of
membership rights is cause for automatic dismissal from membership.

VIII. Organizational structure

A. General assembly
B. Board of directors
C. Officers
D. Sub-committees
E. Members
A. General assembly
1. Meets every three months.
2. Quorum will be satisfied with the presence of 2/3 of members.
3. Approves the nominated board members and elects officers.
4. Audits and approves the yearly financial reports.

B. Board
1. Will have seven members.
2. The president and secretary will automatically be board members.
3. Board members could be appointed from different other institutions.
4. The board directs the center's work program.
5. Evaluates the center's performance, and approves the plan.
6. Creates the connection with other organizations.
7. Leads the center with full authority.
8. Creates a way to encompass the center within the community.
C. Officers:
• It will have five members. The job distribution will be as follows:
a) President
b) Secretary
c) Treasurer
d) Coordinator of subcommittees
• Any decision will be valid with the presence of 2/3 of the officers.
1. President
a) Leads the meeting of officers and the
General Assembly (G.A).
b) Represents the center in dealing with other
organizations.
c) Approves and signs expenses prepared by the treasurer.
d) Presents the performance report to the G.A and the board.

2. Secretary
a) Prepares and documents minutes on
officer and G.A meetings.
b) Keeps the center's documents carefully and
safely.
c) Leads the officer and G.A meetings in the absence of the
president.
3. Treasurer
a) Collects membership fees.
b) Makes
payments as decided by the officers committee and the president.
c) Keeps
the book of financial records.
d) Prepares financial reports to the
committee.
4. Coordinator of sub-committees(two)
a) Coordinating the leadership with different sub-committees with specific
tasks.
b) They carry out some of the committee's responsibilities.
c)
They vote on decisions made by the officers committee.
D. Sub-committees.
• With different responsibilities, they are established, for a specific task, by assigning members to work under the coordinator.
E. Members of committees
1. In order to execute the purpose of the center, different sub-committees shall be organized by the G.A. or the officer's committee.
2. Their job descriptions shall be made available by the officer's committee.
3. At least one officer shall be appointed to work with the subcommittees in order to facilitate coordination (as mentioned in 4).

IX. Quorum.

• For any meeting, if two third is present, it is quorum.

X. Time of implementation.

• This constitution is officiallyimplemented as of September 05, 2004.

XI. Amendment conditions.

• This constitution could be amended withthe motion and decision of two third
ofall members.

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Any member who has completed his/her membership obligations as indicated below will have the enlisted benefits.

Benefits

♦ Free to enter any show that is organized by FTLAC.
♦ Discounts may be negotiated when the center becomes a co-organizer of events with other organizations.
♦ Using its wide connections, FTLAC may negotiate other discounts for its members from different entertainment or literature related shows in town.
♦ Provides help to member's creative works by way of group or individual critique, advertisement, and publication assistances may be made available through special arrangement with the creator.

Obligations

Make sure to do the following to ensure the benefits.

♦ Payment of membership fee indicated on themembership form.
♦ Regular attendance in most of the meetings and scheduled events.
♦ Active participation in coordinating events