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A personal message from the president of ICSD
Greeting! Some of you may not know that in July I assumed the
Presidency of ICSD from Frank Raymond. I want you all to know
that I consider this a great honor and privilege. I am thrilled
to service this wonderful organization in this capacity, but I
will need your help.
First of all, it is a significant challenge to follow in the
footsteps of the giants in social development: Dan Sanders, Jim
Billips, Shandi Khinduka, Chuck Cowger and Frank Raymond to name
a few. These men and others have provided outstanding
leadership and vision for this organization for the past many
years. I promise to do my best and uphold the traditions of
collegiality, transparency, and integrity that have guided ICSD.
For
those of you who were not able to attend our 16th
Biennial Symposium in Monterrey, Mexico from July 27th
– 31st this past summer, you missed a fantastic symposium. The
theme of the symposium was ‘Promoting Social Development and
Diminishing Inequality: Who Must be Responsible?” Hats off to
Kristen Ferguson, Hector Cuadra Montiel and Sandra Mancinas
Espinoza, co-chairs, who despite unexpected challenges, pulled
off a spectacular meeting. 352 papers were accepted for
presentation. Unfortunately, 105 presenters pulled out before
the symposium was to start. Kristen, Hector and Sandra shifted;
rearranged, adjusted the schedule and the program went off
smoothly. The plenary addresses, individual and panels, were
excellent. The cultural events provided a real expression of
the arts. I can’t imagine why all of the dancers didn’t fall in
a heap with the heat wearing those beautiful costumes. Talk
about professionals, they were fabulous! The symposium was held
on the campus of the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon.
Transportation was a bit of a challenge, but again, the
co-chairs had it all under control and we all moved from plenary
to sessions and back from sessions to plenary with little
difficulty. For those of you who are new to ICSD and have not
experienced a symposium, you have missed a real treat. This is
absolutely one of the best conferences you could ever attend.
There is a collegiality and hospitality that is rare and
generally non-existent at many meetings I go to. I haven’t ever
attended a bad session. Presenters are prepared, passionate
about their topics and welcome interaction. The international
connections you make at ICSD translate into life-long personal
and professional relationships. I cannot extend enough thanks
to our Mexican colleagues and the symposium co-chairs. As I
have after every symposium, I am looking forward to the next in
2011. Get your suitcases ready!
Plans are underway for the 17th Biennial Symposium in
Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 3rd-7th, 2011. You may wonder why
January and not the usual July format. Well, temperature wise,
I think January works better than July for Bangladesh. Mark
your calendars! Golam Mathbor and Nazrul Islam are serving as
symposium co-chairs. The theme, “Good Governance: Building
Knowledge for Social Development Worldwide” is very fitting and
timely. Put your thinking caps on and get ready to submit your
proposals for presentation. Sub-themes for the symposium
include: International Policy Limits, Establishing the
Millennium Development Goals, Role of Global Governance
Agencies, Responsibilities of Governmental, Non-Governmental,
and Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights and Social
Justice Issues. More detailed information will be coming soon.
I
feel like a new mother with the development of our newest
branch, Latin America. In Monterrey, our Latin American
colleagues voted to officially organize under the leadership of
Hector Cuadra Montiel elected as president. Congratulations!The
Latin American branch joins the Asia-Pacific and European
branches. Dr. Antoinette Lombard is working with her colleagues
in African and we are hoping that they will officially organize
by the time we meet in Dhaka in January 2011.
Finally, before I close for now, let me update you all on our
colleagues who have taken on new leadership positions in our
organizations. Gouthan Menon has agreed to serve as Secretary
General replacing Alberto Godenzi. Thank you Alberto for your
steady hand and all your great work! Jay Gabbard has accepted
the position as Associate Secretary-General for Membership
replacing Golam Mathbor who is moving into the role of Vice
President for Planning and Organizational Evaluation. Jon
Matsuoka will assume the position of Chair and Treasurer of the
Social Development Issues Board of Managers taking the torch
from Marilyn Flynn who has done an outstanding job increasing
institutional support and resources for the journal. Joe Leung
continues as editor. Thank you Dr. Leung. Our elected board
members are Chuck Cowger, Piotr Salustowicz, Ana Christina Viera,
Ce Shen, Michael Klassen, Antoinette Lombard, Brij Mohan and
Vijay Pillai. Thank you to those members who are continuing and
congratulations to our new board members. Karen Sowers
continues in her role as Treasurer, Mary Ellen Kondrat as
Associate Secretary-General for Communication, and Carol
Williams as Director of Information Technology. David Hollister
is continuing as the Associate Secretary-General of Regional
Branches. It has really been through David’s efforts and
persistence that we now have three operating regional branches
of ICSD. Last but certainly not least; Antoinette Lombard will
serve as our newsletter editor. Although I hate to give up that
task, I know that Antoinette will take the newsletter to another
level.
I
cannot tell you how pleased I am to be working with this
wonderful group of colleagues who are all passionate leaders in
the area of social development. ICSD is a great organization
because of the commitment and dedication of our members. More
information will be coming out on out 17th Biennial
Symposium. For those of you are have just started or are just
starting school, have a great academic year. For our
practitioner colleagues, hang in there, it will get better.
Stay posted for a great year for ICSD!
Barbara W. Shank,
President of
ICSD
More information on the Dhaka, Bangladesh Symposium will be found at:
ICSD Symposium
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