Director Election Results

The election results are in; here are the USHPA directors for the 2021-2022 term.

The election closed on October 26, 2020 at 5 pm MT. Thank you to everyone who voted in the board of directors election. In total, 19% of USHPA members voted, meeting the 10% quorum requirement. The four elected directors will take office January 1, 2021, and serve through the end of 2022.

2020 Election Results
  • Bill Hughes
  • Tiki Mashy
  • Paul Voight
  • Kate West

Congratulations to our new directors, and thank you to all the candidates that ran for the board! We'd also like to sincerely thank our outgoing directors for all their time and work on the board. We encourage anyone interested in working with USHPA to volunteer on committees and to run for the board again.

The full 2021 board will consist of the following directors, plus an additional two directors that will be appointed by the new board per the bylaws at their first meeting in January:

2021 USHPA board of directors
  • Jugdeep Aggarwal
  • Bill Hughes
  • Tiki Mashy
  • Steven Pearson
  • Kimberly Phinney
  • Paul Voight
  • Sara Weaver
  • Kate West
  • Director to be elected by the board in January
  • Director to be elected by the board in January

The officers for 2021 will also be elected by the board at the first meeting in the new year.

The voter breakdown by wing type was as follows:

Wing Type Ballots Submitted
Both 204
HG 564
PG 791
None 66
TOTAL 1625

This election completes the board restructuring process as the board decreases to its final count of 10 directors in January 2021.

Diversity Selection Process

This was USHPA's second national election, and the second member election that used the diversity algorithm to determine the results. The algorithm seeks to ensure that the 10-person board of directors continues to represent all regions and wing types, as well as a mix of ages and genders.

The aim of the diversity algorithm is to fill each of the following categories out of the national election:

  • at least 1 director from each region
  • at least 3 of each wing type (hang gliding or paragliding)
  • at least 3 under age 40 and 3 age 40 or older
  • at least 2 women and 2 men

The categories are filled based on the number of votes received by each candidate, meaning that the results are determined purely by the algorithm and cannot be altered.

This table shows an overview of the diversity selection process, along with an explanation of the its application in this election.

The algorithm first looks at the sitting board to determine which categories are lacking. For this election, we needed one director from Region 4, one director from Region 5, one hang glider pilot, one paraglider pilot, one director age 40 or older, and one director under age 40 to meet the diversity goals.

Candidates were ranked by the number of votes they received, and then the diversity algorithm was applied. For the first priority, region, we needed one director from Region 4. The candidate from Region 4 with the highest number of votes was Tiki Mashy, making her the first new director.

We also needed one director from Region 5. The candidate from Region 5 with the highest number of votes was Paul Voight, making him the second new director.

Next was wing type, with one hang glider and one paraglider pilot needed. Tiki Mashy's selection fulfilled the hang glider pilot criteria. The paraglider pilot with the highest number of votes, Bill Hughes, became the third new director.

Finally, we needed one director age 40 or older and one director under age 40. The first selection, Tiki Mashy, also fulfilled the age 40 or older requirement. Since a director under age 40 was still needed, the candidate in that category with the most votes, Kate West, became the fourth new director.

For more details on the election and the diversity selection process, please see the elections page. Thank you once again to everyone who voted, and congratulations to our new USHPA directors!

If you have any questions regarding the election process or diversity matrix, please contact [email protected].

Mark G. Forbes
USHPA Elections Committee chair
[email protected]