Global Alliance AGM elects new board for 2017-18

Global Alliance AGM elects new board for 2017-18

The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management held on June 12 2017, its 15th Annual General Meeting in New York City. During the meeting, Global Alliance Chair Gregor Halff presented the 2016 Annual Report, providing an overview of the key activities and initiatives conducted by the Global Alliance in 2016.

A new board of directors was also elected at the AGM, taking office July 1 2017. The incoming board includes leading practitioners, academics and industry association leaders, with representation from every continent.

Position                                                            Name & Member Affiliation

Chair                                                                José Manuel Velasco, Dircom (Spain)

Immediate Past-Chair                                     Gregor Halff, IPRS (Singapore)

Treasurer                                                         Joe Truncale, PRSA (USA)

Secretary                                                        Therese Manus, NCA (Norway) 

Chief Administrative Officer                          Mateus Furlanetto (Non-voting), GA

Delegate-at-Large                                          Fiona Cassidy, PRINZ (New Zealand)

Delegate-at-Large                                          Cecilia Schon-Jansson, SACP (Sweden)

Delegate-at-Large                                          Alastair McCapra, CIPR (UK)

Delegate-at-Large                                          Alex Malouf, MEPRA (UAE)

Delegate-at-Large                                          Paula Portugal Mendes, APCE (Portugal)

Delegate                                                         Justin Green, PRII (Ireland)

Delegate-at-Large                                         Tina McCorkindale, Institute for Public Relations (USA)

Regional Delegate (Latin America)              Tato Carbonaro, ABERJE (Brazil) 

Regional Delegate (Asia)                              Prita Kemal Gani, APRN (Indonesia)                  

Regional Delegate (Africa)                           Joseph Allotey Pappoe, IPR,G(Ghana)           

The members of the GA expressed their gratitude to the outgoing board under the chairmanship of Gregor Halff, whose achievements include the first regional GA conference (in Nairobi, November 2015), the 9th World Public Relations Forum (in Toronto, May 2016), the launch of the Global Communications Report, the launch of the Global Capalities Project, the launch of the Learning Management System for all members while rebalancing the Global Alliance”s budget and achieving the largest and most diverse membership in its history.

The incoming Chair, Jose Manuel Velasco, congratulated his predecessor, Gregor Halff, and all board members and said “I´m very proud to serve together with very reputable and experienced colleagues to raise the standards of our profession”. He added: “The digital era has brought us lots of challenges, all with ethical implications. Answers should come from independent professional organizations like the GA. I support the GA mission because my purpose is to help PR managers to be better professionals and better citizens”.

Jose Manuel Velasco welcomed the new board members Justin Green (PRII, Ireland), Alastair McCapra (CIPR, UK), Alex Malouf (MEPRA, UAE) and Joseph Allotey Pappoe (IPR, G, Ghana) and encourage them to participate actively in helping to promote the association in a global scale and creating value for national members.     

The board has also approved the appointment of a new CAO – Chief Administrative Officer, Mateus Furlanetto, who is going to support the GA Board and the GA Members at the executive activities of the association.

The 2017 Annual Meeting was hosted in New York City on Monday June 12 by The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).