as of February 2019April 2024

Resolution establishing the travel fund, March 2014

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The Application for Travel Fund Awards

Eligibility: All DPCA members (both voting and non-voting) Democrats Abroad members in good standing are eligible to apply for Travel Fund Awards; applicants need not be in an elected position to be eligible.  Individuals who have received a Travel Fund Award in the previous five (5) DPCA Global Meetings are not eligible to apply.

Application:  An applicant must complete and submit an application form, which shall be provided by the Travel Fund Committee through DPCA Leadership messaging and on the DPCA websiteWiki.  Information to be supplied by the applicant will include, but will not be limited to, a two- to three-paragraph statement from the applicant detailing the applicant’s past and present involvement with DPCA Democrats Abroad at the chapter, country committee, and/or international levels, and describing the vision of the applicant’s future roles within Democrats Abroad.  All applicants will also supply a letter of reference from a current DPCA member. 

Determination of Need:  The applicant must give an indication on the application form of genuine financial need.  No personal financial information will be collected by the Committee.  The applicant must also provide an estimate of travel costs to the Global Meeting, to exclude lodging and miscellaneous expenditures.

Determination of Underrepresentation at Global Meetings:  The applicant must provide information about the home Country Committee’s in-person attendance at past Global Meetings and the applicant’s own history of in-person attendance at past Global Meetings.

Sensitivity to Diversity:  The applicant may voluntarily provide information to assist the Committee in meeting affirmative action and gender balance goals, in line with recommendations established by the Diversity Committee.  Diversity information will not be used as a primary factor in evaluating applications but will be used by the Chair Co-Chairs as a tie-breaker in the event two applications are ranked the same.

Endorsements and Letters of Reference:  Applicants who are not serving in elected positions within the DPCA at either the international, country committee, or chapter level must provide a letter of reference from an elected DPCA member at the time of application All applicants, whether in an elected leadership position or not, must solicit one letter of reference from a current DPCA member prior to the close of applications.  The referring DPCA member need not be in a position of superiority to the applicant nor must the referring DPCA member be resident in the applicant’s country or region.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the referring DPCA member submits a letter of reference to the Travel Fund Committee.  Applications lacking a letter of reference at the close of applications will not be considered.

Conditions of the Award:  Travel Fund Awards will be granted to recipients by the International Treasurer at the DPCA Global Meeting as reimbursement to ensure that the recipients are physically present at the meeting.  Recipients are required to provide travel-related receipts to the Travel Fund Committee Chair Co-Chairs and International Treasurer no later than two weeks in advance of the Global Convention and DPCA Global Meeting.  Recipients are required to attend, in person, the Global Convention and DPCA Global Meeting in its entirety.  Failure to attend the meeting in full, absent a genuine and verifiable emergency, will result in forfeiture of the Award.  Awards will not be prorated for partial meeting attendance.

Determining Recipients of Travel Fund Awards

1. Invalid, incomplete, or late applications are discarded by the Chair Co-Chairs of the committee.   Furthermore, the Chair reserves Co-Chairs reserve the right to verify past DPCA Global Meeting attendance and service to Democrats Abroad with the DPCA International Secretary and/or relevant regional and local officials, and to reject applications determined to contain false information.
2. The Co-Chairs remove identifying information from all applications and letters of reference prior to distribution to committee members.
3. All members of the committee read all valid applications and associated letters of reference.
4. All members of the committee rank all valid applications in order (1, 2, 3, 4…), submitting their ranks secretly to the Chair Co-Chairs of the committee.
5. The Chair Co-Chairs of the committee sums all the ranks for each applicant to determine an overall ranking.
   1. In the event that more multiple applications have an equal aggregate ranking, the Chair Co-Chairs of the committee shall determine the order between them.
   2. In the event two recipients are from the same Country Committee, the award of the lower-ranked individual will be offered to the next highest-ranked individual not from a Country Committee not already represented among the recipients.
6. The committee shall award $500 to each selected applicant, beginning with the applicant receiving the lowest numerical score, until less than $500 is left in the fund. The remainder is left in the fund for the next in-person DPCA Global Meeting.
7. The Chair Co-Chairs of the committee will contact each potential recipient in order.
   1. If a recipient states that he or she will not attend the meeting, then $500 will be awarded to the next highest-ranked applicant, taking into consideration applicants falling under 4(b).
8. Under no circumstances should the committee increase the amount awarded to an applicant or even inquire whether a larger award would allow an applicant to travel. Any money not awarded due to lack of valid applicants or applicants willing to attend should be kept for the next DPCA Global Meeting.
9. The names of award recipients shall be publicized through appropriate DPCA channels, including the DPCA Leadership group and at the Global Meeting.
10. The Chair Co-Chairs of the committee should request the record of attendance from the International Secretary as soon as practical after the meeting and submit a full report to the International Chair for the use of the next Chair or Co-Chairs of the Travel Fund Committee.

Report of the Travel Fund Committee

The Chair Co-Chairs of the Travel Fund Committee shall submit a written report to each in-person DPCA meeting, including:

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