The American Society of Baking (ASB) wrapped up more than eight months of work updating the organization’s bylaws and is inviting members to review the new governing rules before members vote on them. The bylaws are posted in the member portal of the association’s website, and voting will be March 1-15.

ASB’s Board of Directors commissioned the Bylaws Task Force, which was made up of six board members, to review the bylaws and ensure they were in compliance with legal requirements and accurately reflected current practices and strategic plans of the association.

“The board recognized the need as we were going through the leadership transition, but especially as I was learning the role and learning how to operate and support the governance of the organization,” said Kristen Spriggs, who is wrapping up her first year as ASB’s executive director. 

The bylaw changes include switching from a set number of Board of Directors members to a range of eight to 20, which provides flexibility. If a member must leave the board, ASB won’t have to scramble to fill a seat right away. 

ASB also added a new membership class of associate members that includes students as well as digital members for those who don’t attend in-person events but want access to ASB’s online assets like its new Education Hub.

ASB is interested in recognizing students, who will be the next generation to lead the industry, Spriggs said.

“This really does begin to demonstrate our commitment to the student population,” she explained.

The nine pages of bylaws provide instruction for committee members, and they serve as a guidepost for many more governance documents about policies and procedures, which are established by the board or committees.

Although the bylaws likely won’t affect average members much, they will help set the organization up for success, said Eric Lewis, chairman of ASB’s Board of Directors and vice president of quality assurance/regulatory at Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga.

“What it really does is set us up for the future,” he said. “We have bylaws to maintain necessary structure, but we also can set and adjust policy to afford us flexibility as an organization to move with the times, so we don’t have to rewrite the bylaws every single year. This gives us a good foundation to grow and maneuver as necessary.”

ASB has been determined to ensure the process for these changes be as transparent as possible and that members have plenty of time to review the changes and ask questions before voting begins. 

“Governance is a strategic priority for us this year,” Spriggs said. “I’ve been working with each of our committees and our staff liaisons to strengthen our governance foundation. We have been talking governance throughout the year. Each of our volunteer leaders now looks at their committee charters that outline their roles and responsibilities to have a much clearer picture of our objectives.”

In addition to emails sent to ASB members inviting them to login to the member website and review the bylaws, highlights of the proposed changes will be presented Feb. 29 at ASB’s annual convention, BakingTech. Additionally, Lewis, who served as Governance Committee chair, is holding virtual office hours 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST Feb. 12 and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. EST March 7 to answer questions. Links to those meetings can be found in the member portal along with the bylaws. Or members can contact ASB staff for help.

ASB’s bylaws were last updated in 2019. They should be reviewed every three to five years, said Nisha Thakker, partner, Tenenbaum Law Group, which helped the association with the overview and changes. The firm specializes in this work.

She said state statutes governing nonprofits can change, so organizations must review them to ensure they are in compliance, and they should accurately reflect how the organization is run as well as best practices for nonprofit organizations.

“When we do these reviews, we like to make sure we’re advising our clients on trends that are more relevant today than maybe the bylaws five years ago,” she said.