Board and Officers
Status: Officers listed below. The board vote adopting the Lab's policies has not yet been held. It is required before the first class.
The organization
Ras Tafari Inc. is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) public charity.
- Address: 1401 E. 71st St., Chicago, IL 60619
- Other work: Ras Tafari Inc. produces SelassieFest, Chicago's roots reggae and cultural festival.
Officers
| Name | Office | Role in the Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Henry | President | Leads the Lab. He is the contact for parents and families. |
| Paul Kelly | Vice President and Treasurer | Financial oversight. A second officer who can receive concerns about the President (concerns about anyone's conduct with children go to the Chicago Park District). |
| Albert Harris | Corporate Secretary | Keeps the corporation's records, including board minutes and adopted policies. |
Pay for officers, directors and staff
No Ras Tafari Inc. officer, director or staff member is paid for work on the Lab today. A paid role is allowed only if directors with no stake in it approve it in advance, at a fair rate based on comparable programs, paid through payroll and reported publicly. The person who would be paid leaves the room for the discussion and the vote. Board service itself is always unpaid. They may be reimbursed for documented, pre-approved expenses. DJ trainers, who are not members of Ras Tafari Inc., may be paid from the class budget. See the conflict of interest policy and Financial transparency.
No coaches, staff or volunteers have been hired or named for the Lab yet. When they are, they must clear the Chicago Park District's background check, run under the Park District's rules, before their first class (see Staff screening). We will not post their personal information.
Board of directors
The full board roster will be posted on this page before the first class. We are not listing anyone here until that roster is confirmed for publication.
Board adoption of the Lab's policies
On October 17, 2026, the board adopted 37 Lab policies by unanimous written consent (Resolution 2026-10-17-02), signed by all five directors. The adopted policies are:
- the safety policies in Safety
- the privacy policies
- the conflict of interest policy (every covered person's disclosure must be on file: launch checklist item 15)
- the whistleblower policy
- the enforcement and self-accountability commitments and the annual safety review
Still to come before the board:
- the Q-Ality Sound vendor agreement and its sole-source memo, voted on only by directors with no tie to Q-Ality
- the data-sharing agreement with SelassieFest
Why a board vote matters
A policy written on a website is a promise. A policy adopted by the board is an official rule of the organization, recorded in its minutes, which the board can hold leadership to. That is why "a board vote adopting these policies" is item 10 on the Launch Readiness Checklist.
Sources
- Illinois General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 (805 ILCS 105), which governs Illinois not-for-profit corporations, including their boards and officers. Available from the Illinois General Assembly at ilga.gov.
- IRS, Instructions for Form 990, Part VI (Governance, Management, and Disclosure).