Friendship Force International Names New Class of Board Members, Officers for 2015

ATLANTA - Nov. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- The 15-member board of directors currently includes representatives from Canada, the US, Colombia, Australia, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, Kenya, Singapore, and Switzerland. Joining this distinguished group of current and just departing directors will be newly elected leaders from Canada, the US and Brazil. The organization, which is 37 years strong, currently has operations on six continents.

Replacing members coming off their board term on rotation beginning January 1, 2015 will be: Jyotsna Custead, a member of the Saskatoon Friendship Force club in Canada and former board chair of the United Way of Saskatoon;  Edward Ekis, a veteran businessman, currently president of Ekis and Associates and an active member of the Friendship Force of Chicago; Simone Lanzoni, a former lawyer with her own firm, currently a partner with the language learning company TESE Prime, and president of the Friendship Force club of Ribeirao Preto in Brazil; and, Ramona McGee who is a past president, vice president and treasurer of the Friendship Force club of Sarasota, bringing years of banking and finance experience to her new board role.

"By nominating such a professionally skilled and talented class of FFI directors, who have long dedication to Friendship Force’s important global work, our organization will focus on building a vibrant future in which we'd like to see our efforts to cross the barriers which divide people grow and strengthen in the world,” said FFI Board Chair Jack Mullen of the United States.

New board officers for 2015 who will serve as the board's new executive committee were also voted on in September's meeting and are as follows: Cecile Latour of Canada, who is currently the vice-chair of the board and a member of the Canadian Capital Region club, will become chairperson; Bob Duncan, currently a board member from the Friendship Force of Baton Rouge in the US, will serve as vice-chair; Jack Mullen, currently serving as the board chairperson from the Friendship Force of Western North Carolina, will become treasurer; and Loes Epping, currently serving as the board's secretary from the Friendship Force of the Netherlands-East club, will remain as secretary.

Nominations for the internationally prestigious FFI board appointments are called for in early spring and require a candidate to have many unique skills, most importantly an understanding of cultures and regions of the world in which Friendship Force clubs operate or where the organization is growing.

There are many factors the board considers, including the candidate’s home region, his or her Friendship Force experience, professional skills and other international efforts, though being a Friendship Force member is not a requirement for board candidacy.

Mark Rebstock, chair of the FFI board nominations committee this year, said, "All of our candidates demonstrated professional talents and leadership that our organization can embrace as we build a future concentrated on growth. They each have a passion for our mission and great ideas to bring opportunities to Friendship Force. While our nominees were all deserving, we elected those we felt had the most needed skills."

New members will serve a four-year term at the international board level for FFI and are responsible for developing policy and overseeing the global operations of Friendship Force International.

Contact:

Jillian Walters, Communications Manager

jwalters@friendshipforce.org, (404) 965-4359