IFOAM: new President and new Executive Director coming

IFOAM President Andre Leu opened the last IFOAM World Congress in Istanbul in 2014. (Photo © Karin Heinze)

On the General Assembly of IFOAM – Organics International in New Delhi, a new World Board and a new President will be elected. Half a year later, there will be also a change of Executive Director. Succession planning is ongoing.

IFOAM – Organics International is well prepared for succession in the World Board, the governing body of the organization, explains an IFOAM information. A Nominations Committee has ensured that 17 well-qualified candidates from around the world are available for election for the 10 World Board positions. President Andre Leu will confidently hand over leadership, but three of the current World Board Members will run for another term. Andre Leu was IFOAM President since 2011.

In 2018, Markus Arbenz, Executive Director, will move on to new challenges for family reasons. After 9 years of managing the organization, he will hand over the Executive Directorship. Markus will continue with full commitment, support the new World Board and manage operations, until a successor is in place and inducted. This is expected to be towards mid-2018. You can find the vacancy for the position of the Executive Director of IFOAM – Organics International here. The closing date for applications is the end of December 2017.

Existing World Board of IFOAM Organics International. Markus Arbenz on the left side in the back. (Photo IFOAM)

“The World Board would like to thank Markus for the years of dedicated and effective work that he has contributed to IFOAM – Organics International. Markus has been responsible for expanding the reach and activities together with his team. He has increased the number of staff as well as the operational budget. He achieved this in the face of economic constraints and limited funding, which forced many organizations to reduce their budgets and cut back on staff.“