Staff
Short biographical notes on members of WACC's staff
|
General Secretary Randy, Canadian and ordained, was installed in the position of General Secretary in July 2001. He is responsible for liaison with the Asia region. He has worked for the United Church of Canada as a congregational minister, missionary, regional programme officer and as General Secretary for Communication (12 years), during which time he served on WACC’s Central Committee as a member and President from 1991-96. He was honoured for his work in communication with a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1995. He was head of communication of the National Council of Churches (USA) from 1997-2000. He has also worked extensively on communication policy in Canada and the United States, and was awarded the Everett C. Parker Award in 2000. |
||||
|
Lavinia Mohr
Lavinia is the Deputy General Secretary and the |
||||
|
Philip Lee Philip Lee, a British national, joined the staff of the World Association for Christian Communication in 1975 and is currently Deputy Director of Programmes. He is also the editor of the international journal Media Development and is responsible for liaison with Africa. Recent publications include Requiem: Here’s Another Fine Mass You’ve Gotten Me Into (2001); and Many Voices, One Vision: The Right to Communicate in Practice (ed.) (2004). He speaks English, French and Spanish. |
||||
|
María Teresa Aguirre María Teresa Aguirre's interest in communication goes back to her secondary school days when she actively contributed to the publication of her school magazine, both in her native city of Valparaíso, Chile and in Pomona, California, where she lived and studied for a year. Maria Teresa first studied journalism at the Journalism School of the University of Chile in Valparaiso. After moving to the UK María Teresa graduated with honours from the School of Communications at the University of Westminster in London. Before joining WACC ‘Tita’ Aguirre worked for the research departments of two large British Trade Unions. She also worked in community development for the London Borough of Hounslow and The Deptford Fund in Lewisham. She joined WACC as a Project Assistant for the Latin American and Caribbean region. She is now a Programme Manager with special responsibility for partnerships and projects and liaison with Europe and the Middle East. She speaks English, Spanish and Italian. |
||||
|
Julienne Munyaneza Born in Rwanda, Julienne joined WACC in 1994 as Regional Coordinator for Africa and the Middle East. She is now a Programme Manager with special responsibility for ecumenical relations and liaison with the North American and Pacific regions. Previously she worked as Director of the Communication Dept of the Protestant Council of Churches of Rwanda for 8 years. She studied communication at Daystar University College, Nairobi, Kenya and at the European School of Languages, Mainz, Germany and holds a Masters Degree in Communication/Media Policy from City University in London. Julienne represents WACC on different ecumenical bodies such as the HIV/AIDS Strategy Group of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance in Geneva and the WCC Africa Regional Group. Amongst others she also sits on the committees of Middle East Media UK. Besides two African languages, she speaks English, French and German. Julienne is married to the Rev. Malachi Munyaneza and they have 3 children. |
||||
|
Sarah Macharia She joined WACC in April 2007. Of Kenyan origin, she is a feminist political economist with extensive work experience in the field of gender and human development. She has worked with African civil society and international development organisations. She is also currently a contributing researcher at the International Secretariat for Human Development housed at York University, Toronto, Canada. In addition to two East African languages, she speaks English and French. Sarah has a Ph.D. in Political Science from York University. |
||||
|
Richard J. Cridlan Richard, a British national, is WACC's Programme Manager/Finance Controller in the UK. A chartered accountant with an Honors degree in German and French and a postgraduate certificate in education from Nottingham University, England, he joined WACC in 1977. |
||||
|
Kristine Greenaway Kristine is Programme Manager with special responsibility for WACC's 2008 Congress and for liaison with the Caribbean region. She has been active in WACC since the late 1980's when she was appointed to the NARA-WACC executive, served a term as vice-president for the region and was elected to the (former) Central Committee. She was a member of the evaluation and planning team appointed at the time of the WACC Congress in Mexico. She is a Canadian who has been active in the ecumenical movement having served with the World Council of Churches as Director of Communication. She speaks English, French and Spanish and has worked as a freelance journalist and television producer. |
||||
|
Dave Wanless Dave Wanless is the Cape Town Organizer for Congress 2008. He is a minister of the United Congregational Church, and has just completed nine years of service as Mission Enabler with the Africa Region of the Council for World Mission. Dave has worked professionally in radio and print media, and has been associated with WACC since his time as Director of Communications for the South African Council of Churches. He currently also serves as Treasurer of the WACC Africa Region. |
||||
|
Tim Meadley As Manager of Administration, Tim is responsible for a broad range of activities which support the work of the Association, including: facilities management, purchasing, human resources, insurance, and project management. Although born in England, he spent much of his life in Canada and has both UK and Canadian citizenship. Prior to joining WACC, he held a number of senior positions both in industry and working with charities. He has an MSc in nuclear physics, is a Life Member of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, and is a Serving Brother of the Order of St John. |
||||
|
Juan Carlos Recio Born in Costa Rica, Juan Carlos Recio joined WACC in 2007. Holding a PhD in international development and policy research from Hiroshima University in Japan, and a Master in Development Administration from Western Michigan University, “JC” (as he likes to be called) brings a solid history of research and development work in organizations committed to sustainability, socio-economic development and partnership in Canada, Costa Rica, and Michigan (USA). In Canada, his work has involved global coordination and management of ICLEI’s “Sustainable Communities and Cities”, which involved fundraising and programme development. He has previously served as a project proposal evaluator and project coordinator in Costa Rica, at the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, where he oversaw formulation and implementation of national and regional development projects. Among them the Costa Rican project proposal “Sustainable Development National Plan for Indigenous People” and the “Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Brunca Region”. His career has also been influenced by early work as a Social Worker for the Fennville Migrant Program in Michigan State, USA. Besides his native Spanish, he speaks English, and understands Japanese. |
||||
|
Jitu Somani Jitu, born in Uganda, joined WACC in September 2006. An experienced accountant, he has a long history of serving the faith-based community both as an employee and a volunteer. |
||||
|
Gisèle Langendries Gisèle is a graduate of Latin American Studies from the University of Essex in the UK. Born in Belgium, she joined WACC in 1999. She speaks French, English and Spanish. |
||||
|
Teresia Mutuku A graduate from the University of Gregorian, Rome, Italy, Teresia joined WACC in July 2007. She has worked for various organizations in the field of communication and gender. In 2002, she founded a women's project in her home village to promote the rights of women and children. Previously, Teresia worked as a Communication & Networking Programme Officer for the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), a regional network engaged in the promotion of women rights in eight Eastern African countries. She also worked as a lecturer in Nairobi universities, and as a communication/ public relations officer for various organizations in Kenya. Teresia speaks English, Italian, some French and various African languages. |
||||
|
Mike Rowse Web-development Coordinator Mike started working with WACC in the fall of 2007. He graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton Canada with a combined degree in Multimedia and Peace and Conflict Studies. He is primarily responsible for creating and further developing WACC's websites. He speaks English, French and German. |
||||
|
Edgar Bernal-Martinez Edgar was born in Colombia, and has lived about half his life in Canada; as a result he is fluent in both English and Spanish. He joined WACC in 2007 as the Administrator Assistant, he is responsible for many of the day-to-day administration procedures, such as keeping membership records and entering payments of Media Development subscriptions into the database, providing support for the General Secretary and the Manager of Administration, coordinating the flow of information and resources as they relate to staff, visitors, and materials and many other duties as assigned. |
