Promoting Communication for Social Change
Taking Sides
2010 WACC North America Executive Committee Elected in Online AGM Print E-mail

WACC North America held its first-ever online Annual General Meeting 11 December 2009.  WACC North America members cast their vote for  the proposed slate for the Offcers and members of the 2010 Executive Committee from December 8-11, 2009, using the polling capabilities of the WACC Global website.  The Executive Committee nomination was endorsed by 100% of voters. A proposed budget for 2010 was also adopted at the meeting.

The new WACC North American Executive Committee includes both seasoned Executive Committee members and 7 brand new members, bringing a rich diversity of talents and experiences to the work of the Executive Committee and WACC North America. At this AGM, new officers were elected, with Keith Knight completing his term as President. The new Officers include Sheila George (President);Rebekah Chevalier (Vice President); Jean Robinson (Secretary); Basilio Monteiro (Treasurer) and Keith Knight (Past President).

Please scroll down to view the 2010 WACC North America Executive Committee.

The full 2009 Nominating Committee Report may be read by clicking here...


2010 WACC North America Executive Committee

Officers and Directors

 

   

President

Sheila George (U.S)
Principal, Illumicom Communications
Lakeland, FL

Class of 2012
     
   

Vice-President

Rebekah Chevalier (Canada)
Senior Editor
Resource Production and Distribution Unit
The United Church of Canada
Toronto, ON

Class of 2010
     

Treasurer

Basilio Monteiro (U.S.)

Professor of Communications
St. John's University
Queens, NY

Class of 2012

     

Secretary

Jean Robinson (U.S.)

Video Producer,
Proclamation, Identity & Communication Ministry (PIC)
United Church of Christ
Cleveland, OH

Class of 2012

 

 

 

 

   

Past President

Keith Knight (Canada)
Communication Consultant
Guelph, ON

Class of 2010
     
   

Paul Edison-Swift (U.S)


Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Communication Services
Chicago, IL

Class of 2010

     
   

George Conklin (U.S.)

Communication consultant; founding member of ECUNET and Project Director of Worldwide Faith News; retired professor of communications, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley 
Berkeley,CA

Class of 2011


     
    

 

     
   

Wesley ("Pat") Pattillo (U.S.)

Senior Program Director for Justice, Advocacy and Communication
National Council of Churches USA
New York, NY

Class of 2011

     
    

 

    

Trina Gallop (Canada)


Manager of Communications
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Winnipeg, MB

Class of 2010

     

Erik Alsgaard (U.S.)

Director of Communications
Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church
Lakeland, FL

Class of 2011


We welcome and introduce our new Executive Committee Members...

 
   

Erin Green (Canada)

Director of Communications, Canadian Council of Churches, Toronto, ON - Class of 2012

Erin Green has served as the Communications Officer for The Canadian Council of Churches since early 2008. As staff person for the Council’s Communications Committee, Ms. Green works with communications experts from a range of Christian denominations. She is also very involved in planning the 2010 Interfaith Religious Leaders’ Summit, which will coincide with the G8/G20 Summit in Canada.

Ms Green's time is also spent as a full-time doctoral candidate in the field of theology & philosophy of science at Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology/University of Toronto. With a Bachelor of Science degree (Mount Allison University), a Master of Divinity ( Emmanuel College - University of Toronto) and a MA (University of St. Michael’s College), pedagogy is of great import to Ms Green; she is currently developing an ecumenical curriculum on faith and genetics.

     
   

Paul Schratz (Canada)

Editor, The B.C. Catholic, Vancouver, B.C. - Class of 2012

Paul Schratz has been editor of The B.C. Catholic since 1997 and is also former communications director for The Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia. Before moving to the archdiocese’s weekly newspaper, he spent 15 years in mainstream journalism, as a reporter, photographer, columnist and editorial page editor at various daily newspapers in Ontario and B.C. He and his wife have six children.

 

     
    

Craig Tower (U.S.)

Social Researcher, Baltimore, MD - Class of 2012

Craig Tower is a cultural anthropologist with a strong interest in media and social justice. During the mid 1990s, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, assisting villagers in the southeast of the country with gardening and forestry projects at a time when local radio had just been introduced in the area. Intrigued by the impact of this new technology, he decided to conduct research on this phenomenon as part of his doctoral training at Northwestern University. For his dissertation, he earned his PhD after 18 months of research on the adaptation of FM radio in Mali, evaluating how FM stations negotiated the expectations of international donors, on the one hand, and local audiences on the other. He is interested social justice uses of all forms of media, as well using the media to increase awareness of media and social justice issues worldwide.

 

     
    

Paul de Silva (Canada)

President, A4One Media, Toronto, ON - Class of 2012

Paul de Silva is a Gemini award winning Television Producer/Director/Writer and Media and Arts and Culture Consultant. His career has spanned television broadcasting, independent film and television production, journalism, public education, and inter-cultural communications.

He is President/Executive Producer of A4One Media, a multi-platform Media company.
He was most recently Project Director for Canada One TV, an application to the CRTC for a Diversity focused specialty TV/Internet channel and formerly Vice President of Programming for Vision TV /One, The Body Mind and Spirit Channel. In the six years he was at Vision he was responsible for commissioning documentary, drama, and music programs both in Canada and internationally. He was formerly Vision TV’s Director of Independent Production.

     

   

Burton Buller (U.S.)

Executive Director,Third Way Media, Harrisonburg VA - Class of 2012

At Third Way Media, Burton Buller produces television specials on select topics, develops and hosts Internet sites and produces a weekly radio program. In Canada, he served as Executive Director of Family Life Network, an agency producing more than a dozen radio programs in seven languages for international release.

With experience as administrator, writer, director, narrator, producer, cinematographer, editor, and videographer, Mr. Buller has a deep understanding and award-winning experience in media production.His productions have been broadcast on ABC-TV, NBC-TV, Hallmark Channel, National Public Television, The Discovery Channel, CBS:60 Minutes, The Learning Channel, FamilyNet, and multiple cable and broadcast outlets in Canada, Europe and Japan. Mr. Buller is also president of his own production company through which he produces programs for broadcast and general release, and distributes his own work to educational markets in the US and Canada.

 

     
   

Tiffany Vazquez (U.S.)

Graduate Student in Communications, St. John's University, Queens, NY - Class of 2012

Tiffany Vazquez, originally from the Bronx, NY.and proud of her Puerto Rican heritage, holds an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from St. John's University in New York. She is currently a St. John's graduate student in International Communications, and roots her interest in this area from her study abroad experiences in various European countries and India. Ms. Vazquez hopes to build an exciting and fufilling career by combining her love for global culture and film.

 

     
     
   

Sadie Miller (U.S.)

Graduate Student in Communications, St. John's University, Queens, NY - Class of 2012

Ms. Miller, a graduate of the Mass Communications program at St. John's University, continues her studies there as a first year graduate student in Communications. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Ms. Miller also serves as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Alumni Relations at St. John's as well as a part-time specialist at Apple Retail. She looks forward to serving on the WACC North America Executive Committee, to both expand her academic knowledge and apply what she has learned from her years of studies and experience.

 

 

     

 

 

     
     
     
     

 

     

 

     

 

 

Regional Contacts

President
Sheila George
U.S.A

Vice-President
Rebekah Chevalier
Canada

Treasurer
Basilio Monteiro
U.S.A

Secretary
Jean Robinson
U.S.A

Past President
Keith Knight
Canada


Members

Paul Edison-Swift
U.S.A

George Conklin

U.S.A

Wesley ("Pat") Pattillo
USA

Trina Gallop
Canada

Erik Alsgaard
U.S.A

New Members

Erin Green
Canada

Paul Schratz
Canada

Craig Tower
U.S.A

Paul de Silva
Canada

Burton Buller
U.S.A

Tiffany Vazquez
U.S.A

Sadie Miller
U.S.A


Staff Liaison
Philip Lee

WACC promotes communication for social change. It believes that communication is a basic human right that defines people's common humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates community and challenges tyranny and oppression.

The World Association for Christian Communication is a UK Registered Charity (number 296073) and a Company registered in England and Wales (number 2082273) with its Registered Office at 71 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6DX. It is an incorporated Charitable Organisation in Canada (number 83970 9524 RR0001) with its head office at 308 Main Street, Toronto ON, M4C 4X7.