ICA People: Elected Officials and Staff
ICA Central Office Staff
Director-General
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Iain Macdonald (United Kingdom)
Before his appointment as ICA Director-General, Iain was Head of Co-operative Strategy at the Co-operative Group where he had worked since 1986. Previously he worked for the Co-operative Union as its Sectional Educational Officer in Scotland and the majority of his co-operative career has been spent in that country. Before joining the Co-op, he worked in Local Government and the Civil Service in London as well as a short period with the BBC.
Iain also served for 17 years on Strathclyde Regional Council in Glasgow. Much of his work there was involved in the development of community and co-operative enterprise and he was on the Board of Directors of the Strathclyde Credit Union Development Agency and Community Enterprise in Strathclyde. He was a prospective parliamentary candidate for Argyll and Bute in 1996.
Iain has had extensive international experience with the Co-operative Movement, not least as co-author of the 1995 report of the International Joint Project on Co-operative Democracy "Making Membership Meaningful". He has also been very active in the international peace movement and is a board member of the United Kingdom co-operative think tank, Communicate Mutuality.
Iain was appointed Director-General of ICA in September 2002 and since then has concentrated on raising the profile of international co-operation particularly in its potential for alleviating poverty through cooperative enterprise. He represents ICA as an observer to the International Labour Office Governing Body and the UN Economic and Social Council. He sits on the Board of the Committee for the Advancement and Promotion of Co-operatives (COPAC) and on Freedom from Hunger's Ambassadors Council. In 2005 he was elected as President of the UK Co-operative Congress.
Contact: Email macdonald@ica.coop; Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 34
For information on recent activities: See the Director-General's web page |
Deputy Director-General
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Maria Elena Chávez Hertig (Chile/Canada)
Maria Elena Chávez Hertig is presently working on half-time basis with the International Co-operative Alliance as Deputy Director-General and continues her primary responsibilities as Director of UN/NGO Relations. The other half-time, she is Coordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). Ms. Chávez Hertig joined the ICA in October 1987 as UN/NGO Liaison Officer. In 1997, she was appointed Secretary of the ICA Global Women's Committee and is now Secretary of the ICA Gender Equality Committee. Ms. Chávez Hertig is also currently Vice-President of the International Federation of Institutions Established in Geneva (FIIG), which represents the interests of international organisations vis-a-vis the Swiss authorities and identifies areas of collaboration among its members. Before joining the ICA she worked with COPAC in Italy and has also worked with the World Council of Credit Unions. She holds Bachelor of Arts Degree from Smith College (USA) in Political Science (international relations) and French Studies. Ms. Chavez Hertig also has undertaken graduate studies in international relations and international administration at Swiss universities.
Contact: Email: chavez@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 25 |
Director of Finance and Administration
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Guy Malacrida (Switzerland)
Guy Malacrida joined ICA in March 2002 as its financial advisor. He has extensive financial experience having worked primarily with businesses having multinational activities. Of Swiss nationality, Mr Malacrida is fluent in French, English, Italian, and Portuguese. He was officially appointed as ICA's Director of Finance on 1 July 2002.
Contact: Email: malacrida@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 29 |
Director of Development
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Jan-Eirik Imbsen (Norway)
Jan-Eirik Imbsen, ICA's Director of Development and interim Regional Director of ICA Africa, joined the ICA in 1991 where he has been coordinating and monitoring the implementation of ICA's global co-operative development programme. Before joining the ICA, Mr. Imbsen served for five years in the Gambia as the Resident Representative of the Royal Norwegian Society for Development in charge of the Norwegian co-operative movement's programme of assistance to co-operative development in West Africa. Prior to his assignment in West Africa, Mr. Imbsen spent six years in East Africa working first as a teacher and later as Executive Officer of the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya. He has carried out a number of missions, studies, and consultancies on co-operative development. He also worked for two years with co-operative development issues at the Royal Norwegian Society for Development's head office in Oslo.
Contact: Email: imbsen@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 17 |
Agricultural Advisor and Sectoral Information Manager
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Han-Ho Choi (Korea)
Over the last 10 years, Han-Ho Choi worked for the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) in Seoul, Korea as an economic researcher in the NACF research institute and a senior manager in the NACF international cooperative office.His works were mainly related to agriculture, finance and co-operative businesses. He was involved in organising and coordinating international activities among NGOs and co-operatives. He holds a master's degree in Business Administration from Korea university business school.
Contact: Email: choi@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 12 |
Membership Data Systems Officer
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Gretchen Warner (United States)
Gretchen Warner joined the ICA in 2006 as Membership Data Systems Officer. Ms. Warner comes from the US co-operative movement and was a youth representative to the ICA. For five years, she was Legislative Director of the U.S. Overseas Co-operative Development Council (OCDC) where she represented co-operative members with various domestic and international government bodies. She also worked for NRECA International Foundation and Land O`Lakes International Development Programmess. Ms. Warner has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Montana State University (USA); and a Masters degree in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service (USA).
Contact: Email: warner@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 30 |
Global 300 Project Officer
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Hassan Kashef (Egypt/Switzerland)
Hassan Kashef is the ICA Global 300 Project Officer.
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Contact: Email: global300@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 26 |
Office Administrator
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Christian Weidmann (Switzerland)
Christian Weidmann joined the ICA in November 2009 as Office Administrator. Mr. Weidmann after graduating in International Business and in Marketing at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (Australia), started his work experience in the multinational field as a sales and marketing assistant before joining the ICA. He is fluent in French, English, Spanish and German. He have been indirectely involved in various co-operative projects in Latin America, especially in Colombia.
Contact: Email: weidmann@ica.coop Direct phone +41 22 929 88 22
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Personal Assistant to the Director-General
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Martin Inwood
Martin Inwood is assistant to the Director-General.
Contact: Email: inwood@ica.coop Direct phone: +41 22 929 88 19
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