Future Trends in Governance

Date: 26/08/2021

Topic

A year has passed since IPPF’s governance reforms, driven by the General Assembly of November 2019, came to life through May 2020 Governing Council approval. This roundtable provides an opportunity to reflect on the implementation of IPPF’s governance in the past year and review lessons learned from the leadership role of young people that led to the reform. We will assess future trends of governance, given our changing and unpredictable world, as we continue to fight Covid-19.

Assisted by an external stakeholder familiar with the IPPF reforms, participants will be provided with the opportunity to have a better grasp of the Federation’s governance; assess what lessons can be replicated at other levels of the Federation to inspire, trigger and create the urgency for governance reform; and taking forward the lessons learned that could go beyond this pandemic era.

Date 26 August

Time 12:00-13:30 GMT

Registration https://weareinnovision.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9BPNpIoaSkCj3Tyd4oTM2A

Languages Interpretation will be available in Arabic French, English and Spanish

Introduction by

Gurminder Singh, Member of IPPF’s Strategy, Investment and Policy Committee

Moderator

Alice Ackermann is a twenty-two-year-old feminist activist. She has been an IPPF Governing Council from 2017 to 2020 and one of the three Panel Executive Committee members during the reform process. She is now a Board member of Le Planning familial (Member Association of France). Since the age of fifteen, she has been an SRHR counsellor as well as a peer-to-peer CSE educator in Strasbourg, France. She is a passionate advocate for meaningful youth participation, SRHR and democracy.

Roundtable Members

Susanne Suhonen is a member of Russell Reynolds’ Social Impact / Non-profit sector as well as Board and CEO Advisory Partners group. Susanne specializes in building effective boards by focusing on board performance, culture and leadership succession, as well as board refreshment. She works on executive and non-executive appointments and has a particular focus on diversity, equity and inclusion strategy assessment and formulation. She leverages more than 20 years of professional services and consulting experience to provide market-leading insights, assessments and talent development. Prior to Russell Reynolds, Susanne worked at McKinsey & Company. She started her career in the telecommunications sector strategy team. Susanne received her Ph.D from Helsinki Business School of Aalto University, Finland. She lives in London.

Kate Gilmore is a Fellow with the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.  She is Chair of the Board of Trustees for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Vice-Chair of Interpeace’s governing board, an advisor both for the WHO Human Reproduction Programme, and for Fondation Botnar’s work on young people’s human rights in the digital age.  She is a former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and was UN Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director for Programmes with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Prior to joining the UN, she was Executive Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International, based out of London, having been earlier the national director of Amnesty International Australia. 

Don Gunawardena is Chair of the National Council at Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka. He was previously Honorary Officer (Treasurer) of IPPF South Asia (SARO) until March 2020. Don qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1972 and held executive responsibilities at Carson Cumberbatch Group (CCPlc) between 1990 and 2011, including as a member on its Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Don is a member of IPPF Nominations and Governance Committee where his knowledge of governance at the international or national level; financial control and oversight; and risk management are extremely helpful. Don is based in Sri Lanka, South Asia.

Neish McLean is a transmasculine Jamaican LGBTQI activist and consultant. Neish is the Programs Consultant for the Caribbean at Astraea Foundation. Neish also sits on the Grant Making Advisory Panel of GiveOut and the Advisory Committee for the Act Together for Inclusion Fund (ACTIF). Neish is the Co-Founder of TransWave Jamaica and previously served as the organization’s first Executive Director. Neish has over 5 years of experience in strategy, governance, partnership development, fundraising and movement resourcing. Neish is the current Chair of the Nominations and Governance Committee.