SHPE Call to Action

April 25, 2013

Dear SHPE Stakeholders and Members,

Every day I meet individuals who truly care about SHPE, have dedicated many years to the organization, love and want SHPE to be truly successful.  These individuals are willing to roll up their sleeves to make changes in a positive and cooperative environment.  Today, those who serve on the National Board of Directors (NBOD), Industrial PartnerSHPE Council (IPC), Management Committee and national staff do so because they see a challenge and are willing to bring people together to resolve it, see an opportunity and inspire others to join in the effort. SHPE has made phenomenal strides because of the cooperative nature of how the organization operates today.  If you are one of those ambassadors for SHPE, I urge you to distribute this letter and the State of SHPE newsletter to anyone willing to listen.  Many successes are to be celebrated.

SHPE FACTS:

• Has filed all appropriate taxes and has not incurred any penalties
• Is current on its bank loan and not in foreclosure with the Virginia property
• Today is able to compile and complete audited financials for 2011 and 2012
• Realized a $1.3 million profit from the 2012 National Conference
• Provides detailed accounting of all IPC funds for scholarships and ACE funding
• Established a scholarship and ACE reserve account to address cash flow issues
• Scholarship funds from IPC and corporations are distributed twice a year and are accounted for fully
• Today has over 9,900 members nationally
• Is currently updating its policies and procedures to more closely reflect the new leadership model and several other changes over the last four years
• New grants secured have provided funds, staff, tools and resources to chapters to truly make an impact one community at a time throughout the U.S.
• Has distributed STEM parent tool kits and has helped Hispanic parents fill out federal grant applications to help fund college
• Established a functioning Audit Committee
• Cut large organizational expenses so that fiscal year end losses no longer plague SHPE
• Dedicated effort has been placed on implementing numerous financial processes, procedures and oversight to ensure SHPE continues to realize positive year-end financials and reverses past trend that resulted in year-end losses
• Close monitoring of program income to expenses to ensure a healthier financially viable execution of SHPE programs

Recently many negative, disparaging comments have been made of this organization.  The financial challenges that have plagued SHPE have been ones that your National Board of Directors leadership, CEO, IPC Chair, and Management Committee have worked diligently to address.  Today’s leadership has tackled problems and is turning those challenges around.

We are proud of the hard work our team has done to address these issues.  While we address past SHPE financial issues, we do so with a commitment to move forward with renewed diligence.

This leadership has addressed head-on critical financial challenges and will continue to do so over the next several months.  All decisions made are based on carefully reviewing and considering financial impacts prior to taking action.

I encourage all of you to read and distribute the State of SHPE newsletter that is posted on the SHPE, Inc. website as that document delineates other facts about the organization.

Sincerely,

Pilar Montoya, SHPE CEO