The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) has established a new global office, staffed by two officers, to assist with applying its 2020 strategy of becoming a more global organisation.
The office is based at Agriterra in Arnhem, the Netherlands. José van Gelder has been appointed as global manager and Anne Kluivers as global assistant.
Both are from the Netherlands and work at Agriterra (www.agriterra.org). Agriterra is an international development organisation that supports farmers’ organisations in fighting poverty, with advice from experts from the Dutch agricultural sector.
“I am confident that the appointees will assist greatly in delivering on our 2020 strategy and in taking the federation to the next level,” says IFAJ President Markus Rediger. “Given the common interests between our two organisations – strengthening member based associations within agriculture –this arrangement is mutually beneficial.”
“This new team, along with hard work by the executive committee and the presidium, will move our federation further towards its goal of being an efficiently administered worldwide platform for agricultural journalists and communicators on every continent,” says Rediger. The IFAJ president also expressed the thanks of the federation for the work of retiring executive secretary, Connie Siemes.
José van Gelder
Jose has been active within the IFAJ since joining the federation in 2010. She organised the first master class in Belgium. From this year she has been the executive member for the Netherlands, a position she will resign voluntarily. Besides her new position in the IFAJ, she works as the senior communications advisor for Agriterra, a strategic position in which she is responsible for all corporate and international communications. As global manager at the IFAJ, Van Gelder will coordinate new projects, guild liaison and support, liaise with (potential) sponsors and develop programmes described in the strategy.
Anne Kluivers
Anne has a solid communications background, specialising in intercultural communications. Apart from having the right skills for the job, she is energetic and enthusiastic about the new challenge. She currently works as communications officer at Agriterra, organising all their events, applying new media and coordinating the organisation’s pool of volunteers. As global assistant at the IFAJ, Kluivers will maintain contact with executive members, guild secretaries and the presidium. She will be responsible for all incoming and outgoing correspondence, archiving and maintaining official documents. She will also manage the IFAJ website in cooperation with the webmaster, the communications committee chair and the presidium member in charge of communications.
