The 2018 Annual Meeting of CIRI Shareholders provided more than an opportunity to hear the results of the previous year’s financial performance and vote to elect the members of the CIRI Board of Directors – attendees visited with friends old and new, enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the Hearth Eatery and Catering, which is owned by CIRI shareholder Virginia Fraase, were treated to a performance by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Jabila’ina Dance Group and shared their ideas for how to make CIRI a successful company with CIRI Directors, staff and members of the CIRI Shareholder Participation Committees.
The event was held Saturday, June 2 at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. The 2019 Annual Meeting will be in Puyallup, Wash. To best accommodate its geographically diverse shareholder population, CIRI rotates its Annual Meetings between Anchorage, Kenai and the Pacific Northwest – the regions with the highest concentrations of CIRI shareholders.
While some shareholders have expressed their preference for holding all Annual Meetings in one location, a 2014 CIRI shareholder survey showed that 71 percent of respondents wanted CIRI to keep rotating the location of its Annual Meetings.
Again this year, CIRI offered to donate $1 to the Brother Francis Shelter for every shareholder with a valid, active proxy (for any proxyholder or candidate) on file by the proxy deadline. Brother Francis Shelter provides temporary, emergency shelter to Anchorage’s homeless population, serving 3,540 homeless men and women and providing 89,313 nights of stay in 2017. CIRI’s planned donation to Brother Francis is estimated to be $3,500.
CIRI shareholders will once again have an opportunity to gather in the fall, when CIRI and The CIRI Foundation host their annual Friendship Potlatches. Details will be made available on ciri.com and in future editions of the Raven’s Circle newsletter.