Message from the IWDA President

Dear Supporters and Friends of IWDA,

The work at IWDA with our sisters in the Asia Pacific Region, supported by our donors, is moving ahead very well as we enter the second half of 2010.  Next month we look forward to a very special event as Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia hosts a reception to acknowledge IWDA’s 25th Birthday.  This will be a wonderful celebration and an opportunity to stop and reflect on our work over the decades and to look forward to new directions.

I wanted to let you know that our Executive Director Jane Sloane is leaving to take up an exciting new position and to be nearer her family.  Jane has been at the helm of IWDA for the past 3 years and her commitment and inspiration will be greatly missed.  You will be particularly aware of Jane’s sterling work with the formation of Australia’s very own Asia Pacific Breakthrough.  Here at IWDA we appreciate and will miss her dedication to every aspect of the ongoing work of a small and busy international NGO.  We wish Jane peace and joy in her time with her family and fulfilment and success in her challenging new position.  IWDA trusts Jane will stay a firm friend and supporter and looks forward to continuing to benefit from her unique gifts and wisdom.

The Board has begun a national recruitment process and is confident that IWDA is in a strong position to attract a good field of candidates for a new Executive Director.  In the interim the board is delighted to announce that our immediate past President Coleen Clare has agreed to step down from the Board and undertake an acting Executive Director position to guide the organisation through this transition period.

Coleen is well known to you all as a board member for the past decade and the past Chair of Asia Pacific Breakthrough.  She has a strong career record in education, counselling, senior adviser positions in Federal Attorney General’s and Office of the Status of Women, CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and as a social policy consultant.  Coleen is very familiar with the IWDA program, has strong international ties and has worked in New Zealand, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Maldives.

Change is always both sad for what is lost and exciting for what is to be gained and as we step out into a new period for IWDA we value  your continued support and I will keep you updated with significant changes as they occur.

Warm wishes from the staff and board here at IWDA.

Sincerely,

Mary Hawkins

IWDA President

Tags: Jane

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 under Media.