August 2022 Votes by ASPIRE Founders

Please review each change and vote each one individually.

If you voted "No" for any change, please provide an alternate view on how it can be improved.

"No" votes without giving perspective will not be very helpful for other members to consider your dissent.

You shall vote only when you have read everything and have either attended the August 5 review meeting or have watched the video of the review meeting on August 5. If you have not, please watch it first here:
Meeting Recording

- Please do not vote "Yes" or "No" if you don't know the background. Watch the recording first and if you are still confused, talk to members that participated in the discussions.

We aim to accelerate the growth of the knowledge economy in Pakistan by leading the development of innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, engaging experts, facilitating local & foreign investments, and by connecting all the relevant stakeholders in Pakistan’s Innovation Ecosystem.

BHAG - f $30B towards GDP by 2030
- Develop 12 vibrant innovation ecosystems nationwide
- Engage all stakeholders in the target ecosystems, connecting them locally and globally
- Establish a standard system to encourage and drive startups culture, promoting global standards
- Promote Innovation and entrepreneur mindset

1. Aspire Pakistan is a non-profit organization, i.e., not to financially benefit any individual.

2. All of the Aspire’s initiatives will also be non-profit in nature also.

3. Profits as generated by any Aspire direct initiative will be used for the initiative itself and its parent Aspire Pakistan only.

4. Aspire or its initiatives can assist, incubate, facilitate, or help individuals, startups, academia, and other organizations.

The Strategic Framework developed by Mansoor et el. provides a concise picture of alignment between different strategic components.

- Programs – Strategic programs by ASPIRE that are directly aligned with our strategic goals

- Collective Initiatives – projects/programs that we would like to collectively develop to support ASPIRE financially and to increase its network

- Member’s driven initiatives – projects/programs initiated by an individual member. Other members may collaborate and support in return for equity, recognition, or other benefits.

- Startup Pakistan
- National Idea Bank
- Pakistan 100 Bootcamps
- Memberships and Alliances
- Pak100 Angels
- Startup Showcase
- Innovation/Invention Showcase

- Lead Generation
- STZ Leasing
- Unicorn Factory

Paid Annual Membership
- Founding Members - USD 1,000 annually, for the first two years. After that board will decide if there would be an ongoing fee.
* Anywhere in the by-laws document, a reference to Founding Members or Founders shall refer to this category

Free Memberships
- Honorary Founding Members (Pakistan included)
- Network Members
- Highly Talented Individuals (by invitation)

Free Members' Benefits
- Business Networking - Expand as an entrepreneur
- Connections - Expand your business
- Experienced Mentors and Coaches - Expand your horizons
- Access to investors - Expand financially
- Access to startup training - Expand Intellectually
- Connect with experts worldwide - Expand professionally

- Pakistan non-profit – under process, may take another year or two
- US non-profit – 501c3 status received
- Until Pakistani non-profit got registered, US non-profit will host the main non-profit and manage the structure

Board Election
- Defined in the main by-laws document very clearly
- A committee of three must be setup for election
- Committee cannot be a candidate for the board
- Different categories of members have different votes as defined in the original approved by-laws
- Founders have two votes each as per the original approved by-laws
- Board nominations and voting shall happen in the form of panels, not individuals

Board Structure
- Total Executive Panel Members 7
- Term 3 years
- Term of the founding board 5 years
- Board panel composition
- - Chairperson
- - Vice Chairperson
- - Secretary General
- - Finance Secretary
- - 3 Joint Secretaries (Academia, Government, Industry)

Committees
- Convener appointed by the Chairperson, must be a founding member
- Terms of reference set by the board
- Any Aspire member can be a committee member, appointed by the convener

Key Committees
- Strategic Planning
- Ethics and Code of Conduct
- Memberships Development
- Partnerships and Alliance Development
- Dispute Resolution
- Finance Committee

- As soon as finances permit, an executive director shall be appointed by the board to become the chief executive
- Until such time, chairperson of the board can act as the chief executive
- Chief Executive shall be responsible to execute on the vision and mission using organizational resources as needed
- Chief Executive’s contract shall be renewed every year after the performance evaluation against the targets agreed at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of the contract

- Board members go through proper board management training
- Chief Executive shall be ex-officio member of the board and shall not be the board chairperson at the same time, excluding the exception provided in the previous section
- No employee or paid consultant shall be on the board
- No two close relatives be on the same board, and any close personal/business relationships be disclosed
- No personal or business relationships between board members and executive team
- There shall be clear code of conducts for all members, founders, board members and employees
- There shall be a process to deal with code of conduct violations
- There shall be a dispute resolution committee to deal with disputes among members
- Compliance to maintain IRS 501c3 and other similar Tax free status

1. Conflict of Interest
2. Sexual Harassment
3. Code of Conduct (include non-compliance process)
4. Whistle Blower
5. Document Retention and Destruction
6. Fiscal Management
7. Employee Compensation
8. Investment Policy
9. Gift Acceptance
10. Joint Ventures
11. Cooperation and Alliances
12. Travel
13. Board Expense
14. Board Members Election Nomination
15. Volunteer team leads, their role, responsibilities, etc.
16. Collective Initiatives

Following Stakeholders be covered in the Code of Conduct Policy:

- Board Members
- Founders
- Regular Members
- Sponsors
- nstitutional Members
- Advisors & mentors
- Investors

- A panel of seven members shall be nominated by at least 5 voting members other than the panel members.
- Only voting members or their representatives can be nominated for the board panel.
- Names are initially reviewed by the election committee to ensure that all panel members qualify for the directorship
- Each nominated member accepts the nomination and sign the directors code-of-conduct
- Nominations are officially accepted by the nomination committee
- Competing panels are announced at the pre-defined date
- Stakeholders' representatives to the board are elected through a separate vote by all members in the category. Free or paying members can be nominated.
- Winning panel elects the chairperson after the voting is concluded and chair appoints office holders.