Publish governance records

[1kevgriff]

Summary

Stands up this repository as RevolutionVA's public operations record. Sourced from the organization's Google Drive, which is where the governing documents have lived until now.

Four commits:

1. Governing document transcriptions — Articles of Incorporation, the 2016 Articles of Amendment, Bylaws, and the IRS determination letter, as Markdown.
2. Board documentation — current and founding boards, composition rules, meeting and minutes requirements.
3. TODO — eleven open items, each labelled required or recommended with the source of the obligation named.
4. README — organization facts, document index, corporate history, and what is deliberately not published.

Decisions worth reviewing

Markdown only, no source PDFs. Each transcription states that the signed original is retained by the organization per Bylaws § 16.4, controls in the event of any discrepancy, and is available on request. Independent verification is available through the Virginia SCC (entity 07985765), IRS TEOS and ProPublica, all linked.

The Bylaws transcription reads "RevolutionVA" throughout. The executed original is titled Bylaws of RevolutionConf and predates the 2016 name change. The name substitution is the only change from the executed text, and the header says so. Restating the Bylaws formally is tracked as TODO #5 so the operative and published versions agree.

Nothing sensitive is published. No W-9s, sales-tax exemption certificate, banking or payment-processor records, executed acknowledgments bearing personal signatures, contracts, or personal information about community members. No Form 990s in this PR — how to publish those is TODO #8, because the accountant's client copies carry a director's home address, the preparer's PTIN, and a Form 8879-TE bearing the preparer's EFIN/PIN.

Findings surfaced by the document review

• The Conflict of Interest Policy is missing. All three founding directors signed acknowledgments on 2015-11-30 confirming receipt of it, but the Policy itself is not on file anywhere. Bylaws Article XIII requires the Board to maintain one and § 16.4(e) requires keeping a copy — yet Form 990 Part VI line 12a answers No. TODO Publish governance records #1.
• Form 1023 is not on file, though Bylaws § 16.4(d) requires keeping it and IRC § 6104(d) makes it subject to public inspection. It may carry the Conflict of Interest Policy as an attachment. TODO #4.
• No board minutes exist, despite Bylaws § 16.1 requiring permanent records of them. TODO #6.
• The Articles and Bylaws disagree on board size — 1–15 vs 1–7 directors. Both are stated rather than reconciled; reconciling needs a Board resolution. TODO #5.
• Whistleblower and document retention policies are absent. Neither is legally required and answering No on Form 990 lines 13 and 14 is permitted. Both recommended, labelled as such. TODO #2 and #3.
• The corporate name change was 2016, not 2017 — adopted 2016-05-18, filed with the SCC 2016-06-13, with SCC fees recorded in July and September 2016. The 2017 filing in the records is a change of address with the IRS.

Test plan

• Every relative link resolves (governance/*.md, board/README.md, TODO.md), and the code-of-conduct and ProPublica links are live
• Transcriptions match the executed documents — spot-check Bylaws Articles II, XIII and XVI, and the determination letter's EIN, effective date and public charity status
• Organization facts match the determination letter: EIN 81-0738973, SCC ID 07985765, 170(b)(1)(A)(vi), effective 2018-05-15
• Board roster matches the 2025 Form 990 Part VII
• No personal addresses, account numbers, signatures or member data anywhere in the diff
• Markdown renders correctly on GitHub, tables included

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_01P7Pv2cyJQJktZeGqx5H3iW