Conflict of interest policy

How the Rainbow DJ Lab keeps decisions about children, money, vendors and stage time free of conflicts of interest, and our own disclosure.

Status: Adopted (version 1). This policy was adopted by the Ras Tafari Inc. board on October 17, 2026. Every covered person's disclosure must be on file; that is item 15 on the launch checklist.

Our disclosure

• "Ras Tafari Inc. Consultants" is the name Ras Tafari Inc. uses for its proposal work. It is not a separate company.
• Ras Tafari Inc. wrote the Full Spectrum proposal and would run the Lab as its own program.
• No Ras Tafari Inc. officer, director or staff member is paid for work on the Lab today. Any paid role needs approval by directors with no stake in it (section 12).
• Ras Tafari Inc. also produces SelassieFest. SelassieFest makes its own decisions about its lineup, and Lab performers reach SelassieFest only by audience vote, counted by someone with no interest in the result (section 9).
• Q-Ality Sound provides sound, stage and lighting only, chosen as a documented sole source (section 7).

1. Purpose

This policy keeps the Rainbow DJ Lab (the "Lab") free of conflicts of interest, and of the appearance of them. The Lab is a free youth DJ program at Rainbow Beach Park, run in cooperation with the Chicago Park District (CPD). Families, CPD, funders and the public should be able to see that decisions about children, money, vendors and stage time are made fairly and by people with nothing to gain.

2. How the Lab is set up

This policy is written for the following arrangement. If any of it changes, the board reviews this policy before the change takes effect.

• No compensation. No officer, director or staff member of Ras Tafari Inc. is paid for work on the Lab.
• Equipment. The DJ equipment is owned by Ras Tafari Inc. through donations. It plugs into the sound system provided by Q-Ality Sound.
• Q-Ality Sound. Q-Ality Sound provides sound, stage and lighting only. Its people do nothing else for the Lab.
• DJ trainers. Trainers are not members of Ras Tafari Inc. They train. They do not influence or recommend who performs, who graduates or who receives any opportunity.
• Background checks and complaints. CPD runs background checks for adults who work with children. Day-to-day complaints about any adult go to CPD.
• SelassieFest. SelassieFest is produced by Ras Tafari Inc. but makes its own decisions about its lineup, separate from the Lab. Lab participants are chosen to perform at SelassieFest by event audience vote only.

3. Who is covered

This policy applies to:

• Directors, officers and anyone at Ras Tafari Inc. who plans, runs or administers the Lab, including those who handle contracts, the website and registration, and its records;
• DJ trainers working in the Lab;
• The owners and principals of Q-Ality Sound, as to their work for the Lab.

4. What counts as a conflict

A conflict exists when a covered person's own interest, or the interest of a relative, business partner or business they own or work for, could affect, or could reasonably look like it affects, a decision about the Lab. Examples:

• Financial: payment, a fee, a discount, a loan, a job or any other benefit connected to the Lab.
• Family or close personal: a spouse, partner, relative or close friend who stands to benefit from a Lab decision.
• Business: an ownership, employment or advisory role at a vendor, sponsor, venue or competing program.
• Performance: a covered person or their relative or business seeking stage time, a booking or an audience for their own work through the Lab.
• Organizational: a benefit to Ras Tafari Inc. or another organization of which a covered person is a leader, such as promotion, fundraising or talent pipelines. Organizational benefit is allowed. It must be disclosed.

5. Disclosure

• Every covered person completes the disclosure form (Appendix A) before starting and every year after, within 30 days of the board's annual meeting.
• Anyone whose situation changes updates their form within 14 days.
• A covered person who is unsure whether something is a conflict discloses it and lets the board decide.
• The board chair, or a director with no stake in the matter, keeps a register of all disclosures. The register is available to CPD and funders on request.
• If no conflict exists, the form says so. A blank form is not accepted.

6. Recusal

• A covered person with a conflict on a matter leaves the discussion after answering questions, does not vote, and does not try to influence the outcome.
• The minutes record the conflict, who recused, and the time they left and returned.
• Each recusal is written up on the recusal record (Appendix C).
• If recusal leaves too few decision-makers, the board adds a disinterested director or asks CPD to decide.

7. Q-Ality Sound

Q-Ality Sound was selected without competitive bidding because it has the equipment and skills the Lab needs, and because the donated DJ gear plugs into its system. A sole-source choice is acceptable when it is documented. To keep it that way:

• Before the first event, the board approves a written sole-source memo (Appendix B) by a vote of directors with no tie to Q-Ality Sound.
• The memo records whether Q-Ality is paid, donating or both, the amount and source of any payment, how price reasonableness was checked, and any relationship between Q-Ality and anyone covered by this policy. "None" is a valid answer and must be written.
• Q-Ality Sound's role stays limited to sound, stage and lighting. It does not take part in selecting performers, participants, trainers or other vendors.
• The arrangement is re-reviewed every 24 months, whenever annual payments to Q-Ality for Lab-related events exceed an amount the board sets, and whenever a new program part is added. A re-review either renews the memo or opens the work to competing quotes.
• Approval of the Lab does not make Q-Ality the permanent vendor for other programs or events.

8. DJ trainers

• Trainers sign an agreement directly with the program that includes this policy.
• Trainers train only. They do not select, recommend, rank or vouch for any child, performer or opportunity, and they do not sit on selection panels or count votes.
• While a child is enrolled and for 6 months after they leave, a trainer does not offer paid private lessons to enrolled students or book them for the trainer's own paid work, unless a parent starts the request in writing and the board has approved it.
• Trainers do not promote their own music, products or businesses to students through the Lab.
• Trainers disclose any paid work they receive from other Lab events or vendors.

9. Graduation, selection and voting

Graduation. Graduation, and the guaranteed Open Decks slot, depends on published criteria: attendance at a published number of sessions and completion of a published number of skill checks. A coach records the criteria as met or not met, and the program coordinator confirms them. No one uses discretion to add or waive a criterion.

Audience vote. Selection of Lab talent to perform at SelassieFest is by event audience vote only. To keep the vote fair:

• The votes are counted by a person or group with no interest in the result, such as CPD staff or an outside party named in advance.
• Each person gets one vote per ballot, and the voting method is announced before voting opens.
• Performing at SelassieFest is optional. A child performs only with written consent from a parent or guardian given before the vote is announced.
• Public ballots show first name and last initial only. They show no photos, ages, schools or contact details.
• The results, vote counts and counter's name are recorded and kept with the Lab records.

10. Separation from SelassieFest

• SelassieFest makes its own decisions about its lineup, vendors and venue.
• Lab roster, contact and attendance information is not shared with SelassieFest. SelassieFest receives only a winner's first name, last initial, performance details and the guardian's consent.
• Anyone who serves in both the Lab and SelassieFest discloses it on Appendix A and recuses from any matter that involves both.
• Public materials describe the Lab and SelassieFest as separate, and say how they are related.

11. Gifts and benefits

Covered persons do not accept gifts, favors or hospitality worth more than $50 in a year from a vendor, sponsor or anyone seeking a Lab decision. They report any larger offer to the board chair within 14 days. Donations of equipment to Ras Tafari Inc. are recorded as donations and are not gifts to an individual.

12. Handling money

• No Ras Tafari Inc. officer, director or staff member is paid for the Lab today. Anyone may be reimbursed for documented, pre-approved expenses.
• How a paid role is approved. The board approves the role, its duties and its rate before any paid work starts. The person who would be paid discloses the interest and leaves the room for the discussion and the vote; only directors with no stake in it vote. The rate is based on what comparable programs pay, and the minutes record the decision, the comparisons used and who voted. Pay goes through payroll, never through artist fees, vendor payments or cash, and it is reported on Ras Tafari Inc.'s public filings. Board service itself is always unpaid.
• Private practices stay private. An officer or director with a private professional practice, such as counseling or coaching, does not market it to Lab families and does not take Lab children or their families as private clients.
• The person who selects a vendor is not the person who approves that vendor's invoice, and neither is the person who signs the payment.
• Grant and sponsor funds are used only as the grant or sponsor agreement allows, and the board reviews a summary of Lab payments every quarter.

13. Reporting and complaints

• Concerns about any adult working with children go to CPD. Anyone, including parents and children, can make them. Ras Tafari Inc. also passes along anything it receives.
• Concerns that someone is breaking this policy go to a director with no stake in the Lab (named here once the board appoints one), or to CPD.
• No one is penalized for reporting a concern in good faith.

14. Enforcement, records and review

The board decides how to respond to a breach, which can include removing a person from a role, ending an agreement or reporting the matter to CPD or a funder. The register, recusal records, the Q-Ality memo and vote records are kept for at least 7 years. The board reviews this policy every year and publishes a short summary of disclosures and recusals.

Appendix A: Annual disclosure form

Name: _ Role: _ Date: ____

Answer each question Yes or No. Explain every Yes on the back.

• Do you or a relative receive or expect any payment or benefit connected to the Lab?
• Do you or a relative own, work for or advise Q-Ality Sound, or any other Lab vendor or sponsor?
• Do you or a relative have a business or personal relationship with Q-Ality Sound's owners or any trainer?
• Are you, a relative or your business seeking stage time, bookings or an audience through the Lab?
• Do you hold a role at SelassieFest or any other organization that deals with the Lab?
• Have you received a gift or hospitality over $50 from a Lab vendor or sponsor this year?
• Is there anything else that could look like a conflict?

I have read the Rainbow DJ Lab Conflict of Interest Policy and the information above is complete and accurate.

Signature: _ Date: _

Appendix B: Sole-source memo (Q-Ality Sound)

The full vendor terms are in the Q-Ality Sound vendor and equipment agreement.

Appendix C: Recusal record