Anniversaries on the agenda at Paris board meeting
The IAVE board of directors held its annual meeting in the French capital city of Paris on October 10-12, 2009. The gathering came at an important time: IAVE’s 40th anniversary is coming up next year, and the following year of 2011 marks the tenth anniversary of the UN International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) and the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Singapore.
The board meeting was hosted by France Benevolat with assistance from the Malta Order.
On the agenda at this year’s meeting were regular reports from the president, vice president, and IAVE’s various offices and representatives around the world. The hot topic of elections for the vacant African regional representative’s position was discussed, and a new youth representative was elected to the board. The host city of the 2012 IAVE World Conference was chosen; and preparations for regional events in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Arab region were made.
The board also engaged in conversations with Markus Held from the European Volunteer Center and Wi Wi Goh from the Singapore government’s Paris office, to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern.
As at every board meeting there were warm welcomes for new arrivals and fond farewells for departing members. The directors who have come to the end of their terms of office are North American representative Kathi Dennis (who is the new executive director of IAVE), corporate representative Claudia McNamee (who is now working with the White Nights Foundation), Arab regional representative Milo Ghossein, and national volunteer center representative Tan Chee Koon (who is concentrating on organizing the Singapore World Conference and taking care of her grandchild). Replacing them are David Styers (North America), Sam Santiago (corporate sector), and Patricia Nabti (Arab region). Following the resignation of youth representative Yumiko Mase earlier this year, Daniel from Colombia was elected to the board.
The IAVE board of directors is a truly international body, with representatives for all major regions of the world, including the Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Arab nations, Africa, and Europe. There are also representatives for youth, the corporate sector, international organizations, national volunteer centers and national representatives.
Some of the other announcements at this year’s meeting included the new IAVE website, which went online in time for the meeting; and reports from the corporate sector, including news about four new members of the GCVC, and progress on the employee volunteering research project. Plans for the 2011 World Conference in Singapore are also moving ahead - the new date for that event is January 21-23.
The next event of the IAVE calendar this year is the Asia-Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on November 26-29.