| 2010 WACC North America Online AGM Takes Place December 18, 2010 |
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Following on the success of last year's first ever online AGM,WACC North America will hold this year's online Annual General Meeting 18 December 2009. WACC North America members will be able to cast their vote for the proposed slate for the Offcers and members of the 2011 Executive Committee from 9 a.m. Eastern, December 16, 2010 to 5 p.m. Eastern, December 18, 2010. using the polling capabilities of this website. A proposed budget for 2011 will also be adopted via this AGM polling method. To view the budget (as a pdf) please click here. Regional members will be e-mailed the access information to the members' only voting area just prior to the AGM. The proposed slate for the WACC North American Executive Committee includes both seasoned Executive Committee members and 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, only one new Officer will be voted on - George Conklin as Treasurer. Keith Knight will complete his 1 year term as Past President, and this role will become vacant. Continuing as officers will be Sheila George (President);Rebekah Chevalier (Vice President) and Jean Robinson (Secretary). Please scroll down to view the proposed slate of the 2011 WACC North America Executive Committee and Officers
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 | President Sheila George (U.S) | ||
 | Vice-President Rebekah Chevalier (Canada) | ||
 | Secretary Jean Robinson (U.S.) Video Producer,
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 | Treasurer 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
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 | Shirley Whipple Struchen Executive Director, Religion Communicators Council New York | ||
| Wesley ("Pat") Pattillo (U.S.) Senior Program Director for Justice, Advocacy and Communication
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 | Paul Edison-Swift (U.S)
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 | Trina Gallop (Canada)
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 | Erik Alsgaard (U.S.) Freelance JournalistPastor, St. Ignace United Methodist Church St. Ignace, MI | ||
 | Erin Green (Canada) Director of Communications, | ||
 | Paul de Silva (Canada) President, A4One Media, Toronto, ON | ||
 | Burton Buller (U.S.) Managing Partner, Buller Films LLC |
We welcome and introduce our new Executive Committee Members...
 | Gregg Brekke (U.S.), News Director, Publishing, Identity, and Communication, Local Church Ministries/Office of General Ministries, United Church of Christ, Cleveland, Ohio | ||
 | Ali Symons (Canada), Senior Editor, Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto, ON Ali Symons is Senior Editor at the Anglican Church of Canada, where she has worked since 2007. She manages online content and has helped develop several church-wide communications projects, including an ecumenical tour to promote Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Ms. Symons’s editorial experience includes positions at The Walrus magazine and several Canadian publishing companies. In 2006, she served as a communications specialist for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Bangladesh, where she supported local partners in sharing their stories of community development. Ms. Symons has an MA in English Literature from Queen’s University. | ||
 | Debra Mason (U.S.), Professor of Journalism, Executive Director, Relgion Newswriters' Association University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri Debra Mason, PhD, is a Professor of Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism and Director of The Center on Religion & the Professions, which works to improve all professionals' understanding of religion and help them serve a diverse public. In addtion to this, Professor Mason has served as Executive Director of the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) since 1997. RNA is a professional association that encourages excellence in religion reporting in the general circulation media. Aware of WACC since her dissertation days in the 1990’s, Professor Mason’s interest in WACC is because “ I believe passionately that communication is at the heart of efforts to achieve human dignity and peace for all peoples. I also strongly support WACC's research and media development work toward equality in media access and use, particularly as it relates to gender. I also believe religious freedom and freedom of communication are inextricably linked, and WACC seems to be organization that "gets" that better than anyone. I guess you could call me a true believer in all aspects of WACC's mission and work.” (from WACC N.A. News, August 2010). | ||
 | Kenneth F. Irby (U.S.), Senior Faculty for Visual Journalism & Diversity programs, The Poynter Institute. Kenny Irby is the Senior Faculty for Visual Journalism & Diversity programs at The Poynter Institute, the noted independant school for the education of working journalists and journalism educators, based in St. Petersburg, Flordida. He is an integral figure in visual journalism education,founding Poynter's photojournalism program in 1995. Mr. Irby leads seminars and consults in areas of photojournalism, leadership, ethics, and diversity. During his 15-year tenure at Poynter, Mr. Irby has traveled to Nigeria, Amsterdam, Denmark, Canada, Jamaica, Singapore, South Africa and Russia preaching excellence in photojournalism. He chaired the 2007 Pulitzer Prize (photography categories), lectured at the World Press Photos buddy training program, the International Center Of Photography, is a member of the Eddie Adams Workshop board is and a founding member of The Best of Photojournalism (BOP) Committee. Mr. Irby holds a B.S., photojournalism, Boston University (1983); Multicultural Management Fellow Graduate Certificate, University of Missouri (1988), Tampa Conference Ministerial Institute, Deacon ordination, (Bishop Cummings 1999) and Itinerant Elder ordination (Bishop Adams 2001), Dallas Theological Seminary completed coursework in the Cross Cultural Ministry masters program. |