The IFEX Council

The IFEX Council acts on behalf of IFEX network members, overseeing policy and dealing with all strategic and substantial matters facing IFEX. Council members are elected at the biannual IFEX General Meeting, and serve on the Council for two-year terms.

IFEX Council members for 2015-2017 are:

IFEX Convenor: Omar Rábago Vital – Centro Nacional de Comunicacion Social (CENCOS), Mexico
Deputy IFEX Convenor: Roula Mikhael – Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
Wesley Gibbings – Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers (ACM)
Ioana Avadani – Centre for Independent Journalism – Romania (CIJ-Romania)
Jillian York – Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Jodie Ginsberg – Index on Censorship
Erol Onderoglu – IPS Communication Foundation – bianet, Turkey
Benita Izemengia – Journaliste en Danger (JED), Democatic Republic of Congo
Zoe Titus – Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia
Edetean Ojo – Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria
Owais Aslam Ali – Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), Pakistan
Karin D. Karlekar - Pen American Centre, United States
Ed Legaspi – Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Thailand

The IFEX Secretariat

The IFEX Secretariat, based in Toronto, Canada, runs the day to day operations of the network.

The three main areas of work for the staff are: Information and Audience Engagement; Campaigns and Advocacy; and Member and Network Development.

• The Information and Audience Engagement team amplifies the reach and impact of IFEX member voices and creates original, engaging material to foster a broader and deeper understanding of the right to freedom of expression and information. It is responsible for IFEX communications channels including the website and social media.
• The Campaigns and Advocacy team develops network-wide campaigns and strategies that support and build on the actions of individual IFEX members and regional networks, seizing opportunities where we can have the most collective and measurable impact – including IFEX’s flagship campaign to end impunity.
• The Member and Network Development team supports the strengthening of IFEX members, regional networks, and the IFEX network as a whole. This is accomplished through direct support to members, convening skills exchanges and learning opportunities, self-serve organisational strengthening resources, and peer networking, as well as through meetings of regional networks and the biannual IFEX Strategy Conference.

IFEX Staff

Annie Game
IFEX Executive Director

Rachael Kay
IFEX Deputy Executive Director

Maureen James
Head of Funding and Strategy Development

Management Systems and Operations

Shahily Garcia
Head of Management Systems and Operations

Elena Romanova
Finance and Office Systems Administrator

Dustin Stern
Events and Administrative Assistant

Information and Audience Engagement

Leslie de Freitas
Head of Information and Audience Engagement

Juan Pablo de Dovitiis
Online Editor

Erin Woycik
Section Editor

Caro Rolando
Section Editor

Hiba Zayadin
Section Editor

Campaigns and Advocacy

Heather Orrange
Head of Campaigns and Advocacy

Matt Hatfield
Campaigns and Advocacy Coordinator

Matt Redding
Campaigns and Advocacy Coordinator

Ghina Dajani
Programme Coordinator — Arabic

Member and Network Development

Melissa Fuerth
Head of Member and Network Development

Adelaide Anuseh
Membership Coordinator

Kyle Harris
Member and Network Specialist

Cole Scigliano
Programme Coordinator